We recently wrote about the importance of having your brand strategy in place before beginning the website design and development process. Remember, that’s because your website is a tactical piece of the brand strategy puzzle. We also gave you some tips for finding the right web design agency to get the job done. So now it’s time to get down to business and begin the important process of designing a website.
Ringing Your Digital Doorbell
Your site is often the first place consumers will interact with your brand. Perhaps they are looking for information, want to learn about your offerings, or purchase one of your products. You need to be sure they have a good user experience in order to develop brand loyalty.
We’ve put together 10 website tips to help you create the site you want and your customers need.
1
For a smooth process, assign an experienced project manager to communicate with the team and keep everyone on task. Establish clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and create production schedules that delineate each step in the process and its deadline.
2
Start the development process by creating a site map to outline the type of information you want to include and how you want to organize it. Then develop a wireframe to give a visual structure to the site.
3
Design the site with the user experience in mind. Do research on your target market and their purchase patterns to help dictate the design and flow of your site. Be sure it is easy to navigate, moves at an optimal speed, incorporates the latest security measures and is responsive for use on all devices.
4
Make sure your brand identity and brand positioning appear near the top of the homepage (above the fold) to make clear your offerings and what makes your brand different from your competitors.
5
All imagery, colors, fonts, iconography and design elements on the site should be predefined in the branding process, not created specifically for the site, to ensure consistency across all of your brand touchpoints.
6
Content is king! Write content to educate your audience. Consumers often rely on digital content to inform purchasing decisions, so use your expertise to provide the content that will make users look to your organization for the quality, credible information they need.
7
Integrate SEO optimization tactics from the get go, not after the site is designed. It doesn’t matter how amazing your site looks or how valuable the content is because it won’t be seen if it doesn’t rank on the first page of search results.
8
Configure tracking and set up conversion goals within Google Analytics to monitor and report on your digital initiatives. Link your CRM data to track the customer journey through all phases of the sales cycle. This data will provide crucial insights into how people interact with your site and brand and will guide you in developing strategies to influence further brand engagement.
9
Prior to website launch, perform user testing. Invite people or even use an online testing service like lyssna.com to gather qualitative feedback and measure the usability of your site. This information will help improve the interactive experience and ultimately user satisfaction.
10
After launching the site, it is imperative to schedule periodic site maintenance (monthly or quarterly) to keep the site functioning at the highest level and keep all of your content current.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Your website is the strongest link between your brand and your customers and prospects. Take all of the necessary steps in the design and development process to ensure that your audience can find your site and that it provides a unique user experience that will encourage repeat visits and build brand loyalty.
