Business Web Design Tips
Need Tips For Building a Business Website? Designing a website for your business can be daunting, especially if you have little or no knowledge about web design. Nonetheless, having a website that accurately and elegantly represents you on the web is extremely important. Your website is an important face of your brand, and consumers will often base their opinions on your business from your website. This includes, but is not limited to, how well your responsive website is on mobile devices, if it loads blazing fast, and if it’s easy to navigate. These are just a few factors to consider, and it is often helpful to have a Denver web designer to guide you through all the elements, as it can quickly become overwhelming.
Write Plenty of Content
The old phrase ‘content is king’ remains true to this day. This may sound obvious, but let us explain why having content is so important:
First, visitors need to know who you are and what you do when visiting your website. Clear and easy-to-read text and images are extremely important to convey this message. It’s worth spending time on the copy users will see when first hitting your website. See some of our other articles about writing great website content if you need SEO copywriting best practices.
Second, having media, such as infographics or videos, helps visitors visually learn more about your business instead of reading plain text. This is a great opportunity to show your creativity and passion for your product or service.
Lastly, getting a professional photographer to create imagery that captures your brand can add even more unique content that can be added across the website.
Define Clear Goals
Every business website has a different purpose and goal. Why are you building your website? Do you need to drum up more business and have regular leads coming in? Are you trying to have a website that your current customers can use to access data? Do you need a portfolio to show images? These web design questions can greatly inform your web designer and, ultimately, the flow of your website. It’s easy to go to either end of the spectrum, going with upscale web design or going as cheaply as possible.
You may also like: An Ultimate Guide to Website Design Costs in 2023
Make Easy to Find, Calls to Action
When a user is on your website, you want them to be able to interact easily. This could mean filling out a contact form, getting a free download, or scheduling a service. This is one of the fundamentals of how to make a good website and should be taken very seriously. If you can get a user to interact with your website, you are much more likely to get them to convert into customers.
Make Your Purpose Easy to Understand
When a user comes to your website, it needs to be extremely clear what you do within seconds of landing on the home page and without scrolling. Some of the ways this can be done is with text, images, and accreditation badges. Landing on a home page that is difficult to understand is a huge turn-off, and will likely cause visitors to bounce (leave the website). Make what you do easy to understand, period.
Guide: Web Design Trends & Forecasts for 2023
Show Customers What You’re Going to Offer Them
Why should a customer hire you over the competition? This is a question you should be continually asking yourself. When potential customers come to your site, offering them something is a great way to get them to interact. If you’re service-based, offer them a free consultation or their first appointment free/discounted. If you sell products, give them free downloads in exchange for their email address (which can later be used for an email marketing campaign). This offering will help consumers get introduced to your brand and business, putting them just one step further into your sales funnel.
Develop a Site Map:
Your site map is the structure of your website, so it should be carefully considered before you start building. This site map will include which main pages will be showing in the navigation bar up top, also called ‘parent pages’, and pages that may be nested underneath, also called ‘child pages’. Once you’ve developed a goal for your business website, consider these parent and child pages and how a user may want to see the information you’re offering. Consider making your call to action a parent item, and if you offer many services or products, add those as child pages.
Purchase a Domain Name
Your domain name is what the URL will read when a visitor is on your website. While some services offer free domain names by adding their extensions before it, such as websitebuilder.yourbussiness.com, this doesn’t look professional. Research what domain names are available, and ask a Denver web design expert to help you if you’re having trouble. Domain names should generally be short, easy to remember, and have an appropriate TLD, such as .com or .org.
Pick a Reputable Host
A web host is a server that your website will live on. What is a website server, you ask? Think about a server as the plot of land that your website lives on. Without this plot, how could you build a site? A server is essentially a computer that is online 24/7/365 and is accessible to the public.
It is very important to research your hosting company to make sure that they have a high guaranteed up time, top-level web security, and customer service that is easy to reach in the event of a problem.
Hire a Denver Web Designer With a Great Portfolio
Building a website for your business is a ton of work, so when it’s finished, you should love it! Because of this, take the time to vet web designers and look at their portfolios. Make sure that they have designs that are made from scratch, not templates, and that they create aesthetics that ultimately represent the business and brand. Discussing your relationship with the website designer after the launch is also important. Will maintenance be included? Will there be a monthly fee? Websites are not a one-and-done operation, so it’s important to consider how you will maintain and update them in the future. Finding a website marketing company in Denver, New York or any other major city should be somewhere for you to start, as being able to meet with your design in person has huge advantages.
Plan for Your Websites Growth in Mind
Just like all products and services, websites grow and change over time. When you launch your business website, you may use it to display your work but later decide you want to sell products. These factors are important to consider since even though you may launch without certain features, planning them ahead can set you up for less work once they are implemented. Make sure your company and developer have a plan for your website maintenance.
Find Examples
One of the best website tips we can give is to find examples of websites you like. Look for websites that are both within and outside of your field. This serves many purposes: It can help inspire you on what you could do with your site in terms of design and function. Then, it can give your web designer a more concrete picture of your vision, making it easier to correct your website design with fewer revisions. For example, websites are a huge key to getting your website right and can provide ideas that you may not have come up with otherwise.
Stay Away From Templates
Website templates can be appealing because of their ‘plug and play’ nature. Even though it may be easier to paste your content into someone else’s formatting, you must ask yourself, is this really how I want to represent my business? Would I ever take this approach when providing my service or creating a product?
Beyond this, templates often have very clunky code. They are difficult to customize, making them poor for SEO (search engine optimization), so updating them in the future can be a pain.
Tell a Story
You’ve worked hard to create a business from nothing, so make sure to show what makes you great! It’s worth spending time to tell customers about your story and why your product or service can help them. When people feel like a business they are purchasing from has a great vision, they are more likely to become long-time customers, instead of one-time buyers.
Always Have a Contact Form
There are very few instances where you’d want a business website that didn’t include a contact form. A contact form is essential to communication between you and visitors on your website. Even if you’re not actively selling anything on the site, having a contact form can help potential business interactions come to fruition.
Use Beautiful Imagery
Whether you use stock photography or hire a professional photographer, spending time on fantastic imagery is highly valuable. If you plan on using stock photos, pick images that look organic and are not overly staged. If hiring a photographer, consider shooting several scenes and looks. Try having images of your workers, the space you work out of, and artistic shots of objects in your space. All of these can be used in different ways on your business website and will add a layer of depth to the design.
Final Takeaways
You’ve spent an immense amount of time, energy, and money on your business, so when building your website, make sure to follow these steps to ensure it represents you well. Having a quality website can be a major factor in generating leads and, ultimately, sales. Whether redesigning your website or building one from scratch, make sure you get the most out of your hard-earned money.