Your website is your shop window for your prospects and existing clients. It should attract and engage visitors to keep them on your website for as long as possible.
Clear and bold call to actions with simple messaging and an easy to navigate menu is a solid foundation to build your website on.
If you’re looking for a new website to be designed and developed to help grow your business as part of your wider marketing strategy, here’s our top web design tips for businesses to consider.
1. Build your website with a good CMS
You need a good framework to build your website on. These days that means using Content Management Systems (CMS). Once the website is designed and developed, it enables easy upload of information so that content updates can be managed by you or a digital marketing agency.
2. Simple and engaging content
Review all your company information including your ‘about us’, case studies, product information, contact details and pricing. No is the perfect time to update everything. Read your content and ask yourself is it clear, accurate and informative. If you think of who your target client is, then write content that speaks to them.
Make sure that your URL for these pages says exactly what’s being talked about on the page as this help with SEO. So, if you’re an accountancy firm talking about Corporation Tax or Self-employment tax, name the specific URL just that.
3. Easy website navigation
When you design the menu and site map, think about the layout and whether it’s relevant and easy to navigate. You want visitors to find things quickly to help reduce the bounce rate and to keep them looking through your website for longer.
4. Calls to action
It’s not just about a clear menu, but it’s also about adding clear call to action buttons. These are often used for inbound marketing campaigns to drive visitors to: ‘download ebooks’; ‘sign up to a newsletter’; ‘book a consultation’.
5. Images
This forms part of your content too. It makes the website more engaging and easier on the eye. But don’t forget to upload the right size as too large and this could impact on the speed of your website loading and affect your SEO. Resize images so they are under 1200pixels wide. You can also install a plugin that means that whoever uploads an image to your CMS website it will automatically be resized.
6. Should websites have a blog?
Absolutely! A blog is vital for a business website to be seen in organic google search because it provides a dedicated space for uploading fresh content regularly. This keeps the website up to date and engaging for prospects, current clients and also the search engines.
The one job of a search engine is to get the best result for the person searching for a particular term. Therefore, providing content with helpful tips, advice and links, will help your website rise in the search rankings.
7. Be targeted
Your website needs to appeal to your target audience. We refer to this as an online persona which is a made up stereotypical customer. So, this is where a blog page can allow you to create specific content which answers the challenges of your audience.
8. Optimise your website
Any digital marketing agency you work with will tell you about Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags and H1/H2 headings. A web designer can provide you with simple training on this once your website has been developed. Or you can engage a digital marketing agency to manage this for you moving forward.
9. Back up your website
Most CMS websites provide modules to allow you to back up and to make safe against hackers. Do what you can to make it safe. A digital marketing agency that designs websites will usually incorporate regular backs ups into their ongoing management fee, so make sure you ask about this when you look to engage a web developer.
Web Design Consultant Croydon
If you’re a Croydon business and need help with your website design and development book a free consultation with the Smart Cow marketing team. As an inbound marketing agency in Croydon, we create and design websites for accountants and the local businesses.