Planning out a website for your screen printing shop can be overwhelming. You know how crucial an attractive, effective website is in helping people find your screen printing business online and then encouraging them to do business with you. To create that effective website, there are certain elements your website should have to make it appealing to both existing customers and new potential clients.

1. An updated, attractive design that differentiates you from the competition

First impressions matter. Any potential customer that visits your website will make an immediate judgment about your screen printing business based on the overall look and feel of the website. Your website design needs to be updated and attractive. It also shouldn’t look too much like your competitors’ websites. You want a website design that immediately gives your customers a positive feel for your business.

2. A clear audience

Who are you trying to reach through your website? If your answer is “any potential customer,” your website is lacking the focus it needs to be effective. Your website — and your screen printing business — should have target customers. You should know who your likely customers are, whether they are event organizers, local sports teams or businesses looking for corporate branding, and your website should speak to those likely customers. You can appeal to multiple customer personas via your website, but you should still know who your audience comprises.

3. Intuitive navigation

When websites are confusing or hard to navigate, website visitors give up and leave that website. Through visual cues, good layout and clear navigation pathways, your website visitors will be able to find their way through your website more easily. You can test your website’s ease of navigation by having family and friends, or even employees who aren’t familiar with your website try to find a specific bit of information on your website and then assessing how easily they can do so. You also can use free online tools to track the movement of your website visitors’ clicks so you can see how easily people are finding what they’re looking for.

4. A good “About Us” story

The “About Us” section of your website provides an excellent branding opportunity. It allows you to tell your brand’s story in a way that will speaks to your target audience. Use this section to build trust with your target audience and give them a sense of why they should choose to do business with your screen printing shop.

5. Easy-to-find contact information

If you want to frustrate customers and potential customers, make it difficult to find your company’s contact information. Online forms that allow your customers to submit their information and requests for quotes or more information are great, but visitors to your website also should be able to find a phone number and email address for your business quickly and easily. You might consider a website design that keeps your basic contact information at the bottom of every webpage.

6. Customer testimonials

Customer testimonials, or case studies, are a great way to build trust and show potential customers how your screen printing business can benefit them. Customer testimonials can be simple quotes or reviews from customers that you post on your home page or product pages, or more detailed stories laid out on a dedicated testimonials page.

7. Real photos

Stock photos can give your website a visual boost. It can help you plug in professional-looking images where you need them. But an overreliance on stock images can make your website feel generic and fail to give potential customers a real feel for your business. Incorporate as many of your own business photos as possible into your website. If you don’t have enough photos of your business or products in action, plan a photo shoot with your employees to get the pictures you need for your website.

8. Social media integration

Integrating your social media accounts into your website helps keep your website up to date. You can integrate social media on your website by including links to your social media accounts or by having a scrolling feed of your social media posts. You also can engage customers by providing a place on your homepage for them to upload their photos of your work to your social media accounts.

9. Calls to action

What do you want visitors to your website to do? Do you want them to contact you for a quote? Join your email list? Place an order? If don’t know what you’re looking to achieve from your website, you’re unlikely to achieve it. Know the outcome you want from your website, then prompt your website visitors to take the desired action with formal calls to action. Calls to action can be a direct “Request a Quote,” “Place an Order” or “Subscribe to our eNewsletter.” Or, they can be more subtle, such as “Click Here for Pricing,” “See Some of our Prints” or “Talk to One of Our Sales Representatives.”

10. Obvious messaging about your products and services

Overall, your website needs to contain clear messaging about what your printing business does. Visitors to your website need to understand your products and services and how those products and services can benefit them. All of the other elements of your webpage, from your “About Us” section to your photos to your calls to action, should reinforce that messaging.

When you’re designing, redesigning or evaluating the website for your screen printing business, there is a lot to consider. These 10 essential elements provide a great starting point for developing a website for your screen printing business that attracts, appeals to and converts potential customers.

Looking for some more tips on building a website for your screen printing business that really performs? Check out these blogs:

The Top 5 Steps You Should Be Taking to Keep Your Screen Printing Business’s Website Up to Date

Creating a Mobile-Friendly Website for Your Screen Printing Business

Smart Strategies for Optimizing Your Business’s #1 Marketing Tool