A business's website is an essential part of its overall success. It is a central component of its marketing strategy, as pretty much all marking materials will use the web address to point the customer towards. What this means is that you need to pay particular attention to your website and the user experience. To get you started, here are a few things to consider when you come to create or update your business website:
Remember, a well-designed, transparent, and user-friendly website can significantly influence your business's success in the digital realm. Investing in it is paramount.
Before creating your website, you need to develop a strong brand. A brand will give you a colour scheme, a logo, a way of using language, taglines, key messages, etc. A brand is essentially your company's personality, complete with a philosophy of business. It is something that is developed by paying close attention to your ideal customer - so that means you need to do your customer research. On your website, write a brand page where you outline your brand narrative. If you have a good creation story, then use the page here. Your brand will become the foundation for all your marketing, and that includes your website.
A lot of businesses create a website that does not flow properly. The menus are not ordered logically, and as more things are added, it becomes a bit of a mess. You need to plan your website and create an easy-to-use navigation style. Try not to go over seven menus heading on each page. Ensure that the menus have pages and sub-menus which actually make sense under their title. Make sure there are no broken links and have a link back to the home page on every page. Try and imagine you are the customer. Are the things you want to find easy to locate?
A website isn't a website without content. Content is the name given to all the pieces of communication on your site, the text, images, video, gifs, infographics, etc. It all needs to be in line with your brand and clear in its intention. With the written word, choose clear, concise language that is as simple as possible. With images, make sure they work in harmony with the text, not in competition with it. Same goes for everything else. This may mean you need to redo your whole site and cut out anything irrelevant. Make sure your content is created with SEO (search engine optimisation) in mind. This ensures that your site is discoverable on the search engine.
In today's digital landscape, transparency is key. Integrating a clear and accessible cookie policy on your website is not only essential for building trust with visitors but also a legal mandate in many regions. Cookies, small data bits stored on users' devices, enhance the user experience, and a concise policy about their use ensures visitors understand how their data is managed. Incorporating an opt-in or opt-out feature, in alignment with regional regulations, further solidifies this trust, fostering a robust bond between your business and its customers.
If you are struggling with any aspect of creating your site, you can always outsource some or all areas. You can outsource marketing or just the SEO section of it. You can employ writers for your content or buy images and get actors to make videos if you wish. It may be worthwhile getting small business website design packages to help you create an awesome website. Remember, your website is an essential piece of marketing. The whole world could see it, so invest in your website, and your business will benefit as a result.