Top Design & Content Features for Your New Broadband Website

Whether you’re an electric utility moving into broadband, or you’re a well-established telecommunications organization, it might be time for a new website. Now more than ever, your customers are using digital communications to research, enroll in, and manage their internet services. In recent years, broadband providers have also become more involved in their local communities, a well-planned and well-managed website can help bridge that connection between your team at your utility organization and the people you serve.

When working through any website redesign there are some basic things to consider, but there are also some features and elements that are more specific to broadband providers. Here are the top design and content features to consider when first designing or redesigning your broadband site.

Home Page Priorities

Having a clean and well-organized website navigation is an essential part to a successful website, as well as some interesting home page images or graphics, but what about everything below the fold? What makes good material for home page features?

Informational & Call to Action Sections

When prioritizing home page content, using website analytics or other user tracking tools can be helpful. If you have access to these items, use them to help determine what pages your site visitors are navigating to most. You can then find ways to get them there quicker with call to action buttons or sections on the home page.

Do you get a lot of phone calls and emails about things on your website, but customers just don’t know where to find them? Consider building sections for this information on your home page that can then link to more in depth information elsewhere on the site.

If you print or email a regular newsletter or have a magazine that is sent to your broadband subscribers, consider repurposing this content within a news section on your home page so that your customers don’t miss a thing. After all, you’ve already invested into producing the content; repurposing it is another way to take advantage of assets you already have to strengthen the messaging.

By The Numbers & Data Sections

If your broadband project is currently growing or expanding, consider a fun “by the numbers” ticker on your home page that you can update quarterly. It’s a fun and highly visible way to inform both current and potential customers that you’re continually working to serve them better. It doesn’t always have to be about miles of cable or number of customers—you can also feature data on education assistance programs, businesses supported, and more.

Custom Illustrated Footer

Let your customers know they’re in the right place by procuring a custom illustration for the footer section of your website. Feature your recognizable landmarks, common outdoor activities, city or rural area, local industries, and more—all completely tailored to you, your service area, and the people you serve.

Services & Rate Plans

Clearly mapping out your services and rate plans is an essential step to building trust and credibility on your website, but it’s also a way to reduce your phone and email traffic on related items.

Even if you only offer internet service, you’ll want to be sure that any options available to customers can easily be found on your website. Organizing that content by price or by speed helps site visitors quickly scan the basics of each offering, and helps them to determine if they want more information on any particular rate plan.

Residential or Business

If it’s not clear whether a service is intended to be residential or business focused it can be confusing to know where to begin. Requiring business customers to scroll through all of the residential information before getting to the services they seek can be frustrating. If you have different services and pricing available between residential and business, consider splitting those items in your menu or within a menus sub-pages, or ensure each package or plan is clearly labeled for one or for both applications.

Supplemental Info with Real-life Applications

While providing the more technical specifications about your broadband services is vital, it’s also important to provide some relatable, real-life applications alongside the official jargon.

• Is this plan better for the typical web surfing, or for high-speed online gaming?
• Will it support multiple users on multiple devices, and is it ideal for video streaming?
• Can it support household members who both work from home and engage in at-home virtual learning?

Make sure to tie in how customers will actually be using these services, as well as the kind of support offered for them, and what it takes to upgrade when they’re ready.

Information on Expansion

If you’re working with a third-party fiber expansion project provider, such as CrowdFiber, they may have tools available for you to utilize that will inform your customers of progress on your expansion of service. Otherwise, you can utilize items in our Signature Collection of Web Apps to get then information out.

A home page news section in a great place to publish updates on expansion and project progress, and these items can easily be linked on your social media posts with a chosen native link image. These news posts can also be linked via email and text blast without having to post the update in multiple places.

Fresh Offers and Upgrades

You can have multiple news categories and sections with your Powerful website, so consider creating a page and category specific for new product releases and information about deals and upgrades. We also offer built in customizable alert banner is an easy way to grab the attention of site visitors with both urgent and non-urgent information, like construction alerts or like short-term discounts and deals.

Easy to Find Support & Resources

When offering a broadband service, your customers will run into technical issues from time to time. Whether it’s information on setting up devices or email, or having a clear funnel for support calls, you’ll want to convey that information as clearly as possible on your website. Anticipating your customers needs, and making it easy for them to reach your support team, builds trust and improves their overall experience. Consider adding Frequently Asked Questions to the Support section of your website, or embed tutorial videos that make it easily for them to troubleshoot before they send an email or place a phone call.

Providing helpful resources for your customers doesn’t have to stop at support. If you have partnerships with other local businesses, let them know. When offering just broadband internet or phone, provide a list of streaming services they can sign up for or links to local television providers. Help customers understand how to make the most out of their high-speed internet.

Conclusion

Whether you’re an electric cooperative getting into broadband, or a telecommunications company who already focuses greatly on their internet services, have a plan when launching or redesigning your broadband website. Gearing your website toward the site visitors wants and needs will strengthen the relationship and make their experience with your utility organization, and your website, a good one.