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Improve your business website with simple changes to the header and footer

Say you’re a mom whose kids badly need haircuts. A search for “hair salon for kids” offers some options, and you click to learn more.

When you arrive at a website, you see a bright, cheerful homepage with photos of a kid-friendly salon, complete with free stickers. You immediately see the address, phone number, and hours of operation at the top of the web page. Your first impression: perfect. You see they’re open, you call for an appointment and you get directions, without having to scan through their website for more info.

This section of a website, called the header, is a valuable but often under-utilized area. Here are some simple tricks to improve your customers’ experience by focusing on both this section and the footer.

Lesson Highlight: Create effective website headers and footers

The header is the first thing a website visitors sees. The information you include here can influence whether customers decide to stick around and explore your website.

Here are a few quick tips: 

– Include a tagline or slogan that summarizes what you do and what you offer.

– Tell customers what action to take with a “call-to-action.”

– If you’d like people to give you a call, be sure to list your phone number.

A strong header is important to introduce visitors to your site, but don’t forget to finish strong, too. The footer, or bottom section of a web page, is an opportunity to show your closing pitch. The information you include should support your goals:

– Repeat information from the header.

– Show contact information, like the business address, phone number and email address.

– Highlight special offers to encourage people to take the next step before leaving the website.

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Friday 15: Small Business Tips, is a series designed to help small businesses like yours make the most of their online presence. If you missed the July  post about monitoring the web with Google Trends, check it out here: Find Out What’s Trending on Google Search

You can read the full lessons and view more tips for growing your business online at www.gybo.com/friday15. Don’t forget to sign up to receive new lessons directly in your inbox, and make it a habit to grow your business online with Friday 15.  

On behalf of the entire Get Your Business Online team, I wish you great success growing your business.

Whitney Lemon – Friday 15 Host, Google Small Business Engagement

BIO: Whitney hosts Friday 15: Small Business Tips, Google’s series to help small businesses succeed online, in 15 minutes or less.  Friday 15 is part of Google’s Get Your Business Online program, providing small businesses with a custom domain name and web hosting- free for one year.

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