How to create a successful website.
1. Research
Before you begin
Maybe you already have an established successful business, maybe you’ve just come up with the next best thing since sliced bread and you know it’s going to be a hit. Either way, before you begin to plan your website, it’s important to do some research about your business.
Customer
Who is your customer? How old are they? Are they tech savvy? Where do they live? What else do they buy? Would they actually buy your product or service?
It’s important to know your potential customers before you begin building a website. All these factors can alter how the website is designed. Font size, image quality, navigation, structure etc. all play an important role.
Competitors
If you don’t have competitors, could there be a reason for this? Has someone tried this idea before and it didn’t succeed. Is it financially viable? If you do have competitors, then who are they? Where are they located? Do they have a website already? How much do they charge?
You need to be either faster, cheaper, better quality or have something your competitors don’t have to create a successful business. Otherwise your customers will keep going to the same business they have been going to for years.
Difference
Most likely you have competitors. So what are you going to do differently? What sets you apart? Why should customers come to you instead of the guy next door? There are lots of ways you can be successful even with a lot of competitors, but you need to know what your difference is and sell it.
Trust and value
To create repeat customers, you need to build trust and show value. This will keep your customers from checking out your competitors. Maybe it’s your excellent ‘no questions asked’ refund policy that builds trust? Maybe it’s the Birthday Gift your customer gets every year that creates value?
2. Plan
What’s the plan Stan?
Not only will thorough planning improve the success of your website, but it will make the design and development process much faster and easier.
Purpose
What’s the purpose of having a website for your business? There are lots of reasons why businesses choose to have a website, and it’s not always the same. Knowing WHY you need a website can alter the design and content of the website.
- Generate new business leads
- Sell good and services online
- Attract new customers from google
- Provide more information to your customers
- A platform to make your business look professional
- Keep existing customers updated with the latest news
Creating content
When creating your website content, it’s always good to keep in mind your core business values discovered in Step 1. Will your customers be interested? What pages do you need for your website? Are there any features you want on your website?
- Blog
- Maps
- Online store
- Contact forms
- Image galleries
- Business hours
- PDF downloads
- Accept donations
- Newsletter signup
Images
Having great quality photos on your website can make a big impact and capture your customers’ attention. While photos captured on your iPhone might be good for Facebook, they’re probably not going to cut it for your website. Consider hiring a professional photographer, or using stock photography from iStock Photo or Unsplash.
Get it together
It’s important to keep your content organised. Sending files via email can get messy and sometimes too large to send, so it’s good practice to use an online storage system like DropBox or Google Drive.
3. Layout
Simplicity
Creating a successful website for your business is more than making it pretty. While it’s important that your website is beautiful, it needs to be functional, easy to navigate and reflect your purpose for having a website, which we looked at in step 2.
Key message
When a new customer visits your website, you have about 3 seconds to capture their attention before they decide if they’ll stay or leave. If your website is a bunch of small text with no images, chances are they’ll leave straight away. Figure out your key message or statement and put this at the forefront of your website.
Structure
Website layouts and trends are constantly changing. Deciding on your layout and structure can be critical for user friendliness. While most websites will need multiple pages and sub-navigation, consider a single page website. It’s great for businesses with only a few products and services and very easy to navigate.
Priority
Your customers shouldn’t have to click through lots of pages for them to find what they’re looking for. What’s the main content your customers are looking for? What do you want them to find? Consider this when structuring your content.
Mobile
Mobile optimisation is a must! Consider how your website is going to look on screens all shapes and sizes: from an iPhone to a large screen TV.
4. Develop
Be involved
While you may think the development process is out of your hands, there are things you can do to help with the effective creation and launch of your website.
Finding a website designer
Finding the right website designer can be difficult if you’ve never worked with one before. While some website designers may have a great portfolio, they might be terrible to communicate with, or never stick to deadlines. The most effective way to find a designer is through word of mouth. Do your friends, family or colleagues know anyone they can personally recommend? Can you find out who designed some of your favourite websites?
Communication
Once you’ve found the perfect web designer, and they’ve started working on your website, keep checking in with them. Ask if they’re waiting on anything from you. Are there any holidays they’re going to take in the near future you aren’t aware of? How long will the development process take? Depending on the project, it’s good to check in every week. If you’re working with Bowerby, then check in every day. This will keep everyone on track, and the project moving forward.
Deadline
Website designers and developers can be known for slow replies to emails and missing deadlines. Set a deadline for the launch of your website a couple of weeks before you actually need to launch. This will give you some breathing space.
5. Measure & Modify
Don’t let your website go stale
Once your website is launched, don’t leave it untouched for the next three years. It’s important to constantly revise your website to see what’s working and what’s not, then update your site accordingly. If you don’t revise, you could me missing out on potential business.
Review
Analytics
Google Analytics is a fantastic analytical tool. Install it on your website from day one and you’ll get lots of data you can work with to make improvements. You can see where your customers are coming from, how long they’re staying on your website, what content is popular, what devices they’re on and much more.
Feedback
Talk to your customers and see what they think of the website. Is it easy to navigate? Do they find it useful? This can be done verbally or even through an online survey with Survey Monkey.
Revise
Once you’ve collected the data, think about ways you could improve your website. Is there content that needs to be added, moved, edited or deleted? Are lots of your customers having the same frustrations with your website?
Repeat
Technology is constantly changing so make sure you’re website is evolving with the times. Review, revise and repeat.
