Lockdown during the Coronavirus has proven to be a major challenge for several businesses. However, one unexpected opportunity this period of solitude has offered is the chance to make re-design your website and make new changes which offer a better user experience. Marketing, social media engagement and SEO are other areas you can focus on improving with all of the extra time you have at home as well, but for this blog post I am going to focus specifically on design changes that will hopefully increase conversions while also giving your visitors a fresh look that makes navigation and purchasing easier for them. With all of that in mind, here are the 7 key steps you need to take in order to create the ultimate website for your business!
Define The Purpose Of Your Website
When considering how to make a website that will strike a chord with your target audience, the most important task is to establish what the exact purpose of your site will be. Are you wanting to collect customer details, such as an email address? Perhaps your goal is to drive sales to the next level or to simply provide information about the goods and services you promote? Whatever the end goal of your website might be, you need to know what it is and how to design it so you can achieve its purpose.
Stay Focused On The Task
Once you begin to re-design your website, it’s tempting to consider other aspects of your online operation as well. Maybe you think an app could become a useful asset or your marketing campaign could utilize a brand new pay-per click company you just came across. Remember that these are processes which can wait until later. For the moment, it’s advisable to stick with your core goal, which is to complete the re-design of your website.
Carefully Plan Your Website
Creating a site map, complete with a wire-frame of pages, is an essential aspect of any re-design process. You can do this on your own or in conjunction with a hired web designer if you prefer. Plan how each page will look and work out a logical navigation process to guide users through your site (this process is called an funnel). Think about how many pages your site will need to have and the type of content which will be available throughout your website.
Create Engaging And Relevant Content
Once you have the wire-frame and web template in place, you need to begin thinking about content. This will depend on your specific goal and industry, but whatever niche you’re in, you should aim to become a go-to source of information and inspiration for your visitors. The more you can show Google that your site is an excellent source of information, the higher you’ll find your site climbs up the rankings – and that means even more traffic will find your business online.
Add Color And Graphical Elements
Once you’ve created the basic format of your website, it’s time to add some color and cool graphical elements. If you want to learn how to make your website really stand out, it’s worth taking some time to read articles about the use of color and how it influences visitors. If your current color palette accurately reflects your brand then you won’t need to make changes there. But, make sure the images you select for your website really resonate with your target audience. People value authenticity, so if you can populate your site with your own photographs and imagery, then that’s an extra bonus!
Test, Test And Test More
Don’t forget that your website will be representing your brand 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. That means it needs to be robust and fit for purpose. The only way of ensuring that every single visitor will have the optimum online experience on your site is to test it. That doesn’t mean just viewing your website on a laptop and desktop. Ideally, you need to check a wide variety of platforms and operating systems to make sure every visitor is having the same experience. If needed, ask friends and family to test your site out using different devices. Your website should load quickly and display seamlessly across every type of device and screen size. Trim pages down if necessary to make sure they load as fast as possible, keeping your visitors engaged and interested.
Publish Your New Website
Once you feel completely satisfied that your website is as good as it can be, it’s time to publish it online. That doesn’t mean you’re done, though. You need to check back on your site regularly, ensuring that it still works flawlessly across all platforms. Tidy up any dead links as soon as you come across them and keep a close eye on your analytics. You can use this data to tweak your site and make any necessary changes that will keep your visitors happy and returning regularly.
