Small Business Website Checklist – 5 Things Your Website Needs in 2019

To help set your business up for success, we’ve pulled together our small business website checklist featuring 5 important things your website should have in 2019.

You’ll find some new software features such as a Facebook Chat, others you may already be familiar with but perhaps didn’t implement in 2018.

Need help with any of the below? Contact our friendly team of web developers and marketing experts who can help get your website and digital presence optimised. Call us on 07 3899 2977 or email us here.

1. Install an SSL Certificate on your website.

We cannot stress enough how crucial this is.

A SSL Certificate encrypts data that passes between a user’s internet browser and your website server. It’s recommended for all websites, not just e-commerce sites as it helps protect personal data you collect on your website, including contact forms.

Why do you need one? Google set a deadline of 1 July 2018 and since October 2018, any website that doesn’t have an SSL has been prominently displayed as ‘Not Secure’ by Google. Some browsers won’t even loads websites without SSLs, forcing the user to confirm they want to proceed to an ‘unsecure site’ which is a big deterrent for potential customers.

Google also indicated that not having an SSL Certificate would impact your organic rankings. Find out more here.

Haven’t got an SSL Certificate? You need one asap. Email us here. 

2. Ensure your website is mobile friendly.

With more and more customers searching via mobile devices rather than desktop, if you expect your website to convert leads – it needs to be mobile friendly with a responsive theme that’s easy to navigate no matter what device it is accessed from.

Why is this important?

Consumers now spend more than five hours a dayon their smartphones.


Source: Mobile Marketing Statistics, bluecorona.com

69% of smartphone users also say that they are more likely to buy from companies with mobile sites that easily address their questions or concerns.

(BrightEdge, 2017). Source: Mobile Marketing Statistics, bluecorona.com 

 3. Blog regularly.

Want to improve your organic Google rankings? You need to be blogging regularly.

 To get the best ROI on your blogging efforts your posts does need to tick a few boxes such as optimal length and optimised set up. This will give you the best change of ranking well for your desired keyword or phrase.

Not sure what to blog about? We always recommend starting with client case studies – a great way to showcase positive reviews and demonstrate your expertise and work!

We also offer flexible lead generation packages where we can do the keyword research for you, plan your blog topics and even write the copy for your blogs! Email us here to find out more

Why blog?

Organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. 


(New Media Campaigns, 2018) Source: Marketing Statistics, Hubspot

70-80% of search engine users are only focusing on the organic results. 


(MarTech, 2018) Source: Marketing Statistics, Hubspot

4. Consider installing Facebook Chat on your website homepage.

Make it easy for your customers to connect with you.

A common challenge we’re hearing from clients is that customers are becoming increasingly impatient and don’t want to wait 24 hours to receive a response from an online or email enquiry they’ve submitted.

Depending on your target audience, enabling FB Chat on your website homepage may be a great solution to make it super easy for potential clients to contact you.

It means that you’ll also get an immediate notification about the enquiry through Facebook messenger on your mobile devices.

You can also set up auto-responders which manage the potential customers’ expectations about how quickly you will respond.

5. Proactively requesting Google Reviews from clients.

Are you proactively reaching out to customers to ask for 5-star Google Reviews? You should be.

Having positive reviews not only helps with lead generation (helping drive word of mouth online), but it can help reduce the impact of getting a negative review.

People tend to publish a review when they have something to complain about – so get on the front foot and establish a good rating to begin with.

This will mean, that if you do happen to get a less than favourable review, it will have less impact on your rankings or positioning in the Map results in a Google search.

Why are reviews important?

93% of local consumers use reviews to determine if a local business is good or bad. 


(BrightLocal, 2017). Source: Customer Review Statistics

72% of customers don’t take action until they have read reviews 


(Testimonial Engine) Source: Customer Review Statistics

Brisbane Hosting & Website Hosting’s products and services include Website HostingDomain NamesDNS ServicesWebsite DevelopmentWebsite DesignWebsite RevampsWebsite Maintenance, Lead Generation Packages and Blogging, Social Media Campaigns and more.

Contact Brisbane Hosting on (07) 3889 2977 or via email info@brisbanehosting.com.au for further information.