How to Create an Effective Website

A website is a fundamental aspect of your marketing strategy. It is ultimately the platform customers venture to, to see what your business can offer them. Without a website, you are ultimately handing your trade over to your competitors.

If you have little or no experience in web design, it can be challenging to comprehend how to create a website that’s guaranteed to generate leads; but the good news is that you don’t have to be technically-minded to make use of the basics.

If you are unsure how to go about creating a great website, the below tips should come in useful during the design process:

Have a plan

Before you start creating your website, it’s best to have a rough plan in place. You need to be sure that your website adheres to the requirements of visitors, which will only work if you have considered the journey they must go through within the website – from the moment they click onto the home page, to making a sale.

Consider the structure of pages, the content they’ll read, and whether the site is user-friendly. By creating this plan and regularly observing it, you’ll create a quality website that’s suited to your target audience.

Include social share buttons

Marketers are aware that social media is the perfect place to promote their company, which is why many businesses are now adding social share buttons to their website. Social sharing is essential to make it easier for website visitors to share content that they’re interested in and, ultimately, gives your business exposure to a whole new audience.

If your website is lacking social share buttons, you’re certainly missing a trick. The button will display a figure of the number of times it has been shared, which gives the impression that your content is essential. Share buttons work best on blog posts, which are great for gaining the attention of a wider audience.

Icons can be added for social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, without users having to copy and paste the web link in the browser.

Implement call to actions

Once your visitors land on your website, do they have any idea what to do next? If not, your website isn’t going to be much use. They won’t know which pages they should be clicking on or which actions to take if they are left without guidance.

Make it clear to potential customers what they should be doing to help remove the difficulty of conducting a sale. Call to action buttons can be added to each page to inform the user on what to do next, however, try not to make them look spammy by integrating them into the website without considering whether they’re necessary.

Think about the design

If your website isn’t appealing to the eye, it isn’t going to go down well with visitors. It’s usually the very first impression visitors get to find out more about your company, so if they’re off-put by the web design, it’s unlikely they’ll be interested in making a purchase.

A professionally designed website, on the other hand, will give the impression that your business is credible, reliable, and has authority.

Make sure you’re keeping up to date with the latest design trends and choose a theme that reflects your company’s style. If you’re in any doubt about how to create an attractive website, it would be well worth seeking the help of a professional web designer.

Keep it simple

Your website should be straight-forward and easy to get around; if not, you’re already facing a losing battle. Visitors don’t want to have to guess how to use a website or read through chunks of text – they wish to get what they want quickly.

Over the past fifteen years, the human attention span has shortened to just 8.25 seconds, which scientists believe is even less than a goldfish. This is typically down to the developments in technology, which means people no longer must think for themselves. With this in mind, if a visitor finds your website tricky or overwhelming, they’re likely to click off with immediate effect.

Research has been conducted to find out how people find their way around websites, and interestingly, people simply scanned the first page they clicked on, rather than reading through everything. If people can’t find what they’re looking for, they are likely browsing through competitor websites instead.

Your website should be uncluttered, simple, and organised to give the user the best experience. Here are some top tips to take into consideration:

• Use concise sections of text and bullets where possible
• Have a simple navigation system
• Make use of white space

 SEO

If you have no background in marketing, you may be unaware of the importance of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for your website. This is the practice of improving the quality of your website and generating traffic from potential customers who have a genuine interest in what you have to offer.

SEO is a combination of finding out what people are searching for online, the answers they are pursuing, and the use of targeted keywords within your web content.

By using these keywords, your website will be ranked higher on search engine results, which makes your business much more visible to those who are actively searching for the products and services you offer. According to research, 62% of consumers turn to search engines when they’re on the lookout for something in particular over any other form of browsing.

It takes years of experience to learn the ins and outs of SEO; therefore, it would be advised to hire an external SEO Perth service such as PWD to manage this aspect of the website for you.

Mobile optimisation

Research has proven that most websites are now accessed via a smartphone device, so if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, it’s certainly something you need to think about. A mobile-friendly website improves user experience by making it faster and easy to navigate and keeps your customers visiting your site.