Whether you are launching a new business or bringing your existing one online, the thought of building a new website can be very daunting. Sometimes you don’t even know where to start… Here are some steps that we think might be useful to set you on your way:
1. ASK YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR WEBSITE TO DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
There are infinite answers to this question but here are a few of the common reasons businesses should have a website:
To Simply Bring Your Business Online
Would you like to simply establish an online presence so people can find your business and contact details easily? We like to think of such websites as digital business cards or an online extension of your actual business cards… The main differences (apart from ink vs pixels) being that a digital business card will give people more information about what you do and it can be found by more people than you could possibly give your business card to in real life. And of course, it can make it easy to contact you and provide the signposts to follow you on social media or sign up to a newsletter.
To Build a Brand
In today’s world, a website is often the first experience a potential customer or client will have of your business. Therefore, your website should be a true reflection of your brand – not only in terms of design but also in terms of your message and business offering. Not only should a website be inviting, informative and clear, it should be engaging and give visitors a reason to return through interesting content or upcoming product launches.
To Sell
An online shop can reach far more customers in a day than even a shop in the centre of London could and it has been predicted by in a recent report by the analysts Retail Economics for the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson that online sales are to overtake high street sales in the next 10 years. Therefore, if you have products to sell, the sooner you open an online shop, the better! Of course, physical products are not the only thing you can sell online. If you are selling a service, you may want to integrate a booking system into your website, which can also take payments. Many businesses sell digital products for customers to download, such as e-books or online courses and of course, many products and services are sold on a subscription basis.
There are several eCommerce models nowadays and almost anything is possible – you just have to decide which model is best for you.
2. PLAN YOUR CONTENT
How many pages would you like your website to have?
Even the smallest business websites typically have at least 3 main pages; a home page (often also referred to as a landing page) to introduce a business, an “About” page and a “Contact” page. That would be the minimum size of a business website that we’d generally see. However, most business websites boast additional pages and features, such as a gallery, a blog, an online store or a booking system.
Once you have established how many pages you’d like, the next step is to decide what content you’d like to see on each page. While the right copywriting set in the right tone to reach your target audience is vital, we all know a picture can say a 1000 words and so, special consideration must be given to the imagery you would like to depict your business, whether that is sourced from your business’ own photography or a selection from an online stock library. Many business websites combine both.
3. THE LEGAL SIDE
While this is perhaps not the most interesting part of planning a new website, it is extremely important and cannot be overlooked. Usually linked from the footer area, most websites have a “Terms and Conditions” page, a “Privacy Policy” page and a “Cookies Policy” page. Since the GDPR laws came in May 2018, most websites also feature a Cookie Consent pop-up window to collect visitors’ active agreement with the site’s use of cookies. Of course, if you are selling products or services, you may also want to include a “Terms of Service” page and/or a Shipping, Returns and Exchange policy page. While it is always best to seek a lawyer’s advice on this, there are many websites out there that offer online legal templates that can be customised for your business.
4. THE MARKETING STRATEGY
A website can become a desert island if there is no marketing strategy in place to lead people to it. The marketing strategy should also include “Call To Action” or engagement points on the website itself to ensure that the people who do land on it, will have a reason to come back.
A Marketing Strategy to Support Your Website and Business Should Ideally Include:
Active and Engaging Social Media Presence
Your website should have links to your social media accounts in the footer or header to allow visitors easily connect with you off-site in the greater digital landscape. Followers bring more followers and social media activity anchors your site in the present moment. If updated regularly, it will show that your business is dynamic and alive and could become one of your greatest marketing tools for growing brand awareness and attracting warm leads to your business.
This all may lead to another question – what social media accounts should you have and how can you grow a following? Well that’s another day’s blog post! But we will say at this point that less social media accounts done well is more than a half effort across every social media channel.
An Online Business Newsletter
Safely out of reach of social media algorithms that can prevent you from reaching your community without advertising investment, this is one of the oldest but sharpest tools to reach your clients or customers directly. Ideally, your website should have a newsletter sign-up form that can be integrated with an online newsletter distribution platform such as Mailchimp. An incentive, such as a discount code or the promise of a free useful guide or consultation, can be highly effective in growing your online mailing list.
A Blog or News Page
A blog or news page that is regularly updated, will ensure that your website always has useful, fresh content that is relevant to your business or target market. It can establish your business as a leader or authority in its industry, give a voice to your brand and build credibility. It can also be used to create content to your newsletters and will serve your website well in in its SEO efforts, as those search engine spiders always love new content to crawl.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Speaking of search engines, attention to SEO from the outset will increase your website’s chances of appearing in the higher ranks of organic search engine results for keywords and phrases that relate to your business offering. There are quite a few factors beyond a blog to be considered and implemented for strong SEO but when done well, this can be one of the most highly effective ways to bring new customers and clients to your business.
5. CREATE A GREAT USER EXPERIENCE
Commonly referred to as UX, the experience that a visitor will have once they arrive upon website is as important as planning the experience that they would have if arriving at your business in the real world. How does it look? How helpful and welcoming is the reception area? Will people be able to find what they are looking for easily?
With 67% of website traffic coming through mobile devices these days, it goes without saying that your website should be mobile-friendly but apart from ensuring that the website will adapt to the appropriate screen-size, special consideration must be given to the navigation and journey through a website, which is bound to be different across a desktop and mobile layout. A great website design will provide an easy-to-navigate experience on any screen.
We hope these steps are useful in planning your website. If you would like any help in designing and building it or with any of the steps mentioned above, please do not hesitate to get in touch! We would love to have a conversation.
