If you do not as yet have an online presence for your business, chances are that, like many entrepreneurs in the same boat, you will spend a good deal of time trying to get the website design just right. And once the site is up and running, it will work hard for you; bringing in new visitors and converting new sales leads every week.
For most small to medium sized businesses though, that might not be enough. By following these simple web development tips below, you can make your website work even harder and actually deliver the sales generation expectations that you have for it. You’ll reap big dividends over the long-term if you do!
Getting It Right
Creating a successful business footprint online is all about creating a good overall web/website strategy for the business. Your website is the best tool you have to portray your company’s image and to establish brand credibility. Here’s how you can ensure your website continues to work smartly for you every day:
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1. Setting Expectations - Before you even start thinking about colour schemes, content or graphics, you need to set expectations around what it is you wish your website to accomplish – what will your website do?:
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• Generate maximum traffic for your site?
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• Convert casual visitors into paying customers?
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• Informing your audience about your products and services?
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• Presenting a strong, professional and corporate image of your business online
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•An authoritative website online for your business where visitors return for answers, downloadable manuals etc
Based on your expectations, you can then start visualising what your website will need and what it will look like once completed.
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2. Check-out Your Competition - Once you know what it is you want out of your website, start arming yourself with information about what your competition is doing to achieve those objectives. Your web designer will also benefit from having a “point of reference” to aim for, if you are able to provide him/her with concrete examples (of competitor websites) to draw inspiration and/or direction from.
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3. Collect Relevant Information - Next, it’s time to assimilate all the necessary information about your business:
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• Product information – text, pdf documents, excel files, photos etc
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• Sales offers – prices, run times etc
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• Videos – try to have them on Youtube too so as to get more exposure
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• Product manuals
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• How-to-guides etc.
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• Case studies and testimonials
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• Information on the company and your company ethos
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• Partner companies & suppliers – if you are comfortable in divulging some of that detail
It is essential to have all of this material available for review by the web development company when you start discussing details about web design and layout.
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4. Visualise Your Brand - As a result of your information gathering exercise, you need to start visualising how you wish to position your company’s brand online. Regardless of whether you are a multi-national company, a small-to-medium enterprise (SME), or a sole trader – branding is important. Your website design company will use your vision to create an image for your company in the minds of your customers and let them get more connected with you, develop familiarity with your brand and trust in your company.
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5. Professional Consultations - Consult with a professional web designer and finalise your website. Make sure you not only provide all of the information gathered in Step#3, but also discuss (in great detail!) your branding and image expectations from Step#4.
Such consultations shouldn’t just be limited to initial design, but must be a regular occurrence – every 3 or 4 months. Business environments aren’t static, and neither should the design of your website.
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6. Review Proposed Designs - Ideally, your web designer should offer more than one option for how your company website will look and feel. Review all the proposals to ensure they meet your business objectives. This review process should be part of your frequent (quarterly or semi-annually) website review strategy to ensure you are keeping up with the competition, and that your website is constantly refreshed with up to date content.
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7. Testing - The best advice anyone can give about website testing is: Test…and then test some more! Business shouldn’t underestimate the damage a poorly-designed or malfunctioning website can do to their brand, image and reputation.
Test the finished product across all main browsers (Opera, Safari, Google Chrome, MS Internet Explorer, Firefox) and all devices: Tablet PCs, Super widescreen Macs, small smart phones, Blackberrys, HTCs, Samsung etc.
As indicated several times throughout this article, getting websites designed “right” isn’t a one-time effort. If you want your web presence to continually work hard for you, it is essential that you have a formal website review, enhancement and refresh strategy in place.
If you wish to succeed in business, you not only need to keep up with your competition, you also need to out-do them! Doing this right would mean meeting with your web hosting and development company several times during the year (more frequently if your business environment changes frequently) to review upgrades and enhancements to the site.
You'll then arrive at a point where your competitors, and your competitor’s customers, are regularly checking out your website – that's when your website starts to take off and become the best salesperson you have. If you would like to discuss the above with a professional Dublin web services team, call us on 01 6216866 or email info@myit.ie
