As was discussed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, a website is an essential part of most companies’ success. Unfortunately, attracting a customer base via the internet is not as easy as simply throwing up a homemade website and calling it a day. No, the truth is, a poorly designed website is often just as bad (or even worse) as having no website at all. Below you will find three more tips for designing a sophisticated business website:
Consider its compatibility with mobile devices.
Like email is often substituted for traditional letter writing, so too have mobile devices replaced many people’s laptops as their primary means for browsing the web outside of their homes. Therefore, it behooves many companies to design their website with mobile device compatibility in mind. Every business will want to ensure that their sites are – at the very least – fully functional over a mobile device. Not only does this make your site appear more professional, but you never know when a customer might need last minute access to your site. For example, perhaps a client is on their way to your office and realizes that they forgot to copy down your address; if your site is not compatible with their mobile device, they might not be able to find your address or even a phone number to call you for directions.
Other businesses might want to take it step further and design a completely separate website for mobile device compatibility. Still others might even find it wise to develop an app for their business. Before taking either step, however, it is important to evaluate your market. A mobile version of your site or a downloadable app could be a smart option for your company if:
- Your target audience is young
- Your target audience has a middle to high standard of living (and would therefore be more likely to own such a mobile device)
- Your field is such that people will often need or want access to your business website while on-the-go (Examples include restaurants, banks, and hotels, among others.)
- Many of your customers subscribe to your email list, and your emails often contain links back to your site (because many people check their emails from a smartphone just as often as from a computer)
Be patient.
Regardless whether you hire a web development agency to design your website or if you do it in house, a good website will take much time to create. It will do you little good to have a website if that website is poorly designed, so it will probably take a significant amount of time for your website to get up and running on a satisfactory level. Not only will you want to take the time to develop quality content (that you’ve proofread, proofread, and proofread again!), but your site will also need a number of other elements.
For example, the content that you use must be original. Google and other search engines make it easier than ever for other websites to sniff out plagiarism. All website owners have to do is copy and paste some of their own content into the search bar to see which other websites have used that same word-for-word text, or they can use Copyscape or another plagiarism sniffing tool. If you’re caught plagiarizing other businesses’ website copy for your own site, the consequences could be severe.
In addition to good copy, pictures and other graphics are also a necessity. And don’t even think about merely Googling for photos to “borrow” for your website. Go the legal route and purchase stock photos through an appropriate provider such as istockphoto.com or fotolia.com.
So yes, these things take time, but there’s also no reason why you can’t take a not-quite-complete website live in a beta version. As long as your site is presentable and it has a reasonable amount of content (enough that a first-time visitor would be fooled into thinking it was a finished site), it makes sense for you to launch it. After all, just because you know your site isn’t quite finished doesn’t mean that your visitors will.
Invite customers to take action.
Finally, good websites invite their customers to take action. This means a number of things: First, it means that you’ll want to include plenty of links. Don’t just inform customers that you’re running a two-for-one special on custom flash drives; also include a link to the page with the products.
One thing that cannot be stressed enough is the impatience of most website visitors. If you’re expecting them to enter search terms or click around your site to find what you’ve just advertised to them, you’re going to be severely disappointed. So if you want them to visit a certain part of your site, tell them so, and give them the immediate means to get there.
Another part of inviting customers to take action involves making it very easy for them to contact you. If it makes sense for your company, consider including an embedded “Contact Us” email form at the bottom of relevant pages. This is extremely helpful because customers are much more likely to use such a form than to copy your email address and send you a message from their own email account. If you do include such forms, be sure to link to them often throughout your site.
Your website is your ambassador, representing you and your company to those individuals for whom the internet is their primary source of information, so it’s crucial that your site makes a great impression. By inviting your customers to take action, designing your site in such a way that it is accessible from mobile devices, and not rushing the development process for your site, you stand to greatly improve your company’s image in the public eye.
