A website is a great tool to help you achieve growth. It allows you to showcase products and services while helping you build credibility and gain customers. If your website is easy to use, visitors are likely to spend more time browsing it. There are several things you should consider before building and publishing your website, along with a good amount of planning. Here are tips that will help you create a stunning and engaging blog for both you and your customers.
1. Branding
Your website needs to carry the core message of your business. Customers need to be able to quickly understand what you’re all about. What is the aim of your website? Have a clear focus. Branding includes logo, tone, core message, color schemes, design, and fonts. The company logo gives the customers something they can easily identify. The tone should be consistent and connected to the core message. Color schemes, designs, and fonts should complement the core message, as well.
2. SEO Strategy
Your website needs to be as visible as possible. Make sure your website is optimized enough to appear on the results page of a search engine. Even being at the bottom of page one on Google can net you thousands of views a month. Customers will use keywords and terms when they use search engines that you will need to incorporate into your website. Google Adwords is a great tool for researching keywords.
3. Primary Users
In order to create a website that meets the needs of your target audiences, you must first find out who those people are and why they are visiting your site. Everything revolves around your target audience. To find your target audience look at your current customer base, check out your competition, and conduct market research.
4. Domain Name
Your domain name needs to be short, easy to remember and reflects the branding. If creating a website for a business, incorporating the business name is sensible. Your domain name needs to be memorable and posted across your social media platforms, however, keep it simple. Stick with a .com, use keywords, make it easy to pronounce and spell.
5. Call to Action
A call to action is a statement or question that motivates your visitors to do something. Incorporate a CTA on every page and make sure visitors are able to immediately complete the suggested action with a link, button, or contact information. For example, this could simply be “Follow our Facebook” with a link or button that will take the customer to your Facebook page.
6. Mobile Browsing
Mobile browsing is a top priority. 54.8% of browsing happens on mobile devices, which means not having a mobile-friendly website will cripple your site’s success. Ensure that images, texts, logos, and other elements are decipherable on smaller screens.
7. Budget
Websites are expensive, costing between $10,000 and $75,000 for a completely custom website. The cost will increase based on the complexity and number of pages. However, there is an option to build the website yourself which would cost far less, typically between $100 and $3,000 but would require more work on your part. The cost comes down to supply and demand since websites are very valuable to a business’s success.
8. Contact Information and Social Media
Social media is important in society, by incorporating social media profiles, social sharing buttons, brand influencers, your website will have more loyalty and be more interactive. Display photos, links, or logos of certifications to show qualifications. Think about how you want your visitors to be able to contact you, make sure to include email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses if there are any.
9. Design and Usability
Your blog needs to be accessible, active, and consistent. Having an active blog keeps your visitors engaged and can increase traffic. Consistency helps your site gain credibility and become a trustworthy source of information. Visitors will be more likely to use your website if it’s easy to use, make sure you have a navigation menu, headings and labels, and a search bar, these things will make finding information easier.
10. Website Security
No one wants to get hacked but websites get hacked every single day so website security is an important detail. You should invest in firewall services and server-side security tools.
Building your website is a key aspect in today’s market and there are many things you need to consider before finalizing and publishing. These tips will help you create the best website you can. Following these tips will bring you more website traffic and a smooth website experience for both you and your consumers. If you need help building your website or with any other aspect of your business, please don't hesitate to contact The Profit Link, a small business support team based in Memphis, TN. You can visit our website here.