How do I create a Website that works well?
A website needs certain elements in order to succeed – mostly planning. Start with these 5 tips.
1. Plan the business
Start with the product or service, is there a market, a demand, an opportunity in the first place. Sell something offline before you try doing it online. Create a budget in your projections for design, development, maintenance and digital marketing of the website. The Marketing element will be significantly more than the initial cost of the website.
2. Plan the website
Draw up a layout for mobile first and then desktop, by doing a wireframe for each and tweaking it after discussion with team and customers. Engage your customers and get their input, to find out what they would like to see in the website. Can it serve them in some way? Answering questions, explaining your process, showing how to use your product or service etc.
3. Plan the design
Start on a rough mockup first draft design and get input on that from potential customers. Then get started on putting flesh on bone. Remember to design for mobile first, as this is where most visitors will start engaging.
4. Platform
Do some research and get the website platform that does what you need and that you can use competently, backed up with support from a good web partner. Any platform you use should ideally not be proprietary. Stay away from Wix or Weebly and Squarespace.
5. Market
Advertising is easier online, but it is a new science, so learn how to do Digital Marketing or get someone competent to do it for you. Work with someone who can supply testimonials and referrals. Call a few of these people and ask them how would they recommend you deal with this firm.
Planning is key to ensure that you get a website that delivers results. Depending on the size of the project and the budget available, the whole process can take from four weeks to twelve. This is Our Process.
Many small businesses will invest very little time in the planning and very little money in the production, just to tick the box. The result is predictably very little return. Worse again they will be missing out on the opportunity they could have been getting if they had done it well.
Stick with it and accept that the web is the way forward, the advertising medium of the 21st century, so this is important to get right and keep working on it. Results are usually a lot slower to come than you might think. Simply getting a website launched is not a quick way to generate sales, so you may decide to use PPC Pay Per Click ads for some time until your website is ranking on page 1 of Google organically. That ranking in Google will only come with great SEO search engine optimisation.
FAQs on – How to create a website that works well
How long does it take to create a profitable website?
The timeline for creating a profitable website varies greatly based on project size and budget. Generally, expect a period ranging from four weeks to 8 weeks to develop. And up to six or twelve months to rank on page one, depending on how competitive your space is, as you will need to out do your competitors. Every industry and every individual location will be different. An architect in a small town will be easier than a restaurant in a big town. You can look in advance during the planning stage to size up the competiition you will need to beat. That will dictate what needs to be done and it will give you an idea of how big a challenge awaits you. The more competitive the space the more work will need to be done and the longer it will take to get traction, to become profitable.
What are the essential components of a successful website?
A successful website must be well-planned, user-friendly, visually appealing, optimised for mobile, and marketed effectively. Add in all the great content that informs and or engages or both, and answers questions, to add value for the visitors when you do get them to visit.
Should I hire professional web designers to create my website?
If you lack expertise in web design and digital marketing, it’s wise to enlist proven professionals with a track record and a portfolio of previous websites like yours. And great Google reviews from current happy clients. They can guide you through the complex processes involved. Indeed they will have their own proven process. This is a really important move and can be a big investment in time and money, so invest in the best you can afford. If the budget is tight, consider doing this in stages. Talk to the web design agency and be up front about the budget. They can prioritise the stages to start getting you leads and sales to help pay for the next stage, one at a time. It is a good way of building up a relationship with the agency too. The sooner you move from seeing this as a cost and on to being a sales generation machine the better. Done well, this project will make you more money not cost you more money or opportunity. Done poorly, it may save you some money and cost you a lot of opportunity, that you will not get back later.
How important is Search Engine Optimisation for my website?
SEO is critically important for visibility and for driving organic traffic to your website. This is what gets you ranking and found in Google. High rankings in search engine results can significantly enhance visibility and profitability. On page SEO and conversion optimisation will help ensure that visitors will engage and make an enquiry or buy something. Having a website without good SEO is like having a bicycle with no wheels. It is still a bicycle, but it is going nowhere and is of no use to anyone.
What should I prioritise when planning my website?
Prioritise understanding your audience, clearly defining your value proposition, and ensuring that you have a comprehensive marketing strategy in place. Plan, plan and plan some more. If you get the right web design agency they will have a proven process for all of this, to make it easier for you.
