Taking the decision to create a new website or even refresh your existing one is a task not to be taken lightly. There is an abundance of criteria to think about, and you need to make sure that not only does it look the part, but it’s also driving traffic and sales too – because that is what it’s all about, right?
So when you’re ready to take the plunge and enlist a web design agency to create your online sales tool, there are a few things to consider before setting off.
1.HEARD OF KISS?
No, not the band silly, it means Keep It Simple, Stupid. This is the principle that most design works best when it’s straightforward. It is a mantra that lends itself well to the sometimes confusing world of web design.
2.HAVE A PLAN OR DESIGN STRATEGY
This one may seem obvious, but for any project to have success, there needs to be a solid plan. Make sure you know what information needs to be included, the message you need to convey, the brand identity and most importantly the return on investment (increase calls, revenue etc).
3.THINK ABOUT THE USER JOURNEY
Visitors to your website want to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Think about the journey they will have to take to find the information they want, and try to keep this down to a maximum of three clicks.
4.REMEMBER YOUR CONTENT
The text on your website is a vital part of the design process. There is no point having a fancy, funky looking website with old and dated content. After all, this is how your company’s personality comes across – check out our blog post about writing web copy if you get stuck for ideas.
5.SOCIAL SHARING
If your site impresses someone, they are going to want to show people via social media. Make sure you include social sharing buttons on every page so that users can easily share what they like with their friends and followers. The more brand reach, the better. If your website also includes a follow function, ensure you make this clear too.
6.IMAGES
Make sure the images you use portray your brand in the best way possible. Too many stock photos can look cheesy, so try not to over do it and keep the images relevant to your business and brand .
7.CALLS-TO-ACTION
Visitors want clear instruction of what to do next when they land on your site – they want to know where to go and what to click. So make sure any ‘sign up’ or ‘click here for more’ statements are obvious and on every page. Remember if they can’t find it easily they will leave your site!
8.WHITESPACE IS OK!
Leading on from the KISS principle, you shouldn’t be afraid of whitespace. Every single area of your website doesn’t need to be filled with text or images. The page needs to be broken down into bite size chunks and understandable, this makes the content easy to digest for the user, as they aren’t getting bombarded with clutter.
9.MAKE IT RESPONSIVE
The amount of users accessing websites through mobile or tablet devices are ever increasing, so it’s definitely worth making your site responsive. This means allowing your site to adjust to the screen size and making sure it looks the same no matter what device it is being viewed on.
10.SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION
Your website won’t show up as a result under relevant search teams unless you have an SEO strategy behind it. Optimising your site is complicated, and takes a lot of knowledge to get right, so unless you really know what you’re doing, it’s best to get a marketing agency to do it for you.
Once you have designed your site, created your content and made sure it can be found in search engines, you are almost good to go! Final checks include things like cross-browser checking to ensure it works on all different types of browsers (Firefox, Chrome etc), proofreading and checking all the links work… and breathe!