Pro Tips for Creating Your First Website

Every new business needs a comprehensive, professional website. Getting started can seem intimidating if you have never had a website before because you do not know where to begin.  

Below are tips on how to build your first business website.

1. Have a clear goal

Every business website is different because people offer different services, and they can vary depending on what your business does. If you want your website to be a portal where consumers can purchase products, then you should create it with that goal in mind. If you offer services and you want clients to call you, then create a website that makes this possible. If you create a website without a clear goal, it will only cost you a lot of money and time without providing you any benefit.

2. Have your targeted customer in mind

A good website should be customer-centric. You should design it with your customers in mind so that the information they seek is presented in an organized and interesting fashion.  This way, a customer can see the real you and build trust in you. It also makes it easy for visitors to complete the actions they have in mind quickly, whether it is buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter, or contacting you for more details.

3. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Having the best website is a total waste of time if no one can find it. You should ensure that your website ranks highly on Google, as this can give you much exposure to customers looking for your products or services. Doing search engine optimization properly gives you a huge return on investment.

4. Summarize your homepage

Since your home page is the main entrance to your site, it should clearly describe how clients will benefit from your services, products, and content. If visitors do not quickly figure out how your website can help them, they will quickly close the page, and they are done with it just like that!

5. Make landing pages for specific topics

The homepage of your website may not necessarily be useful to everyone that visits your site. To target more people to your site, you should create landing pages that deal with specific topics. For example, if a visitor is looking for how your product is applied, he/she should be able to easily land on the page that is dedicated to this subject.

6. Use images and videos

Using real photos goes a long way by adding interest to your visitors. You should add images of the products you are selling, services that you offer and you can even include teamwork images. People who visit your site want to see what they are buying and from whom they are buying it from. Research has shown that text stories are boring, while stories told visually are engaging. Including visuals such as images and videos will make your website more appealing to view.

7. Your layout should be straight forward

No one likes clutter. Therefore, avoid putting too many things on your web pages. Make a simple, clean, and organized site since it can work best with everyone. The design should be simple. Stick to a few colors and textures. Avoid using too many different text fonts so that visitors can navigate through the website with ease. Your website should be more intuitive so that visitors can find what they are looking for quickly. To get your project from the creative concept to completion, you need access to different types of specialist skills and knowledge. Everything from layout, design, and information architecture to the choice of technology and content management systems should be done professionally. That’s why you should enlist Web Design services. A web designer will seek to understand what you need and create a design for you to review. The professional will then take the agreed design and coding to ensure it works across different devices and screen sizes.

8. Keep updating your website

Having an up to date website is crucial because if a visitor notices that your content is not current, then your website will lose all credibility. Keep updating your site to add content and also delete any obsolete information. Do not bury good information very far so that any visitor who visits your site can find it.

9. Make it easy for visitors to contact you easily

Visitors should easily be able to contact you. Therefore, your contact information should be readily available. For instance, you can place this information on the footer of each page of your website so that it is easy for visitors to find it. Your contact information should be a click away. If you make it hard for visitors to reach you, then they may not even bother, and you end up losing potential customers. You can even incorporate features like live chat to easily converse with your clients.

10. Provide relevant information on your webpage

People seek to get answers from the web. If your website does not provide the answers that visitors are seeking, they will move on to the next website to get answers to their questions. People always want questions of who, why? when what, and how answered. Do not be afraid to be transparent, as it works. Provide prices of products and services. Information-rich sites have effectively converted visitors into serious clients.

11. Create content that builds trust

It is essential to create content that explains how your business is qualified to provide unique products and services. You can include a brief history of your business achievements. You can do this on the ‘About Us’ page. You can even include a photograph of the founder. You should also dedicate a page to testimonials and customer reviews, and you can link this page of reviews on Yelp or Google. Having endorsements from third parties helps build the credibility of your business, in return, gaining your customer’s trust. Customers usually buy from trusted companies.

Building a website can seem challenging, but it is not. You only need to have your goals in mind as you create it, keep it up to date and ensure it is attractive and easy to use. Once your business website is up and running, do not relax because the process is not over. You may be thinking you have done all there is in the making of the website, but remember that building a website is not all there is to it. A company’s website is never complete. You need to keep working on it as your business grows. Always keep the needs and wants of your customers in mind when you are adding content to your website.