Having an online presence, specifically a website, is essential for any organization regardless of its industry. A well-designed website builds the business’s credibility, solidifies its brand, and raises leads — all of which can drive up sales and simplify customer service.
Simply put, having a business website is one of the easiest ways to market a company. It’s also easy to make one as there are now tools and platforms that will make the process a breeze.
Still, there are a few things you need to keep in mind while building your site. Read on to know about the basic do’s and don’ts of building a company website to help you create one that embodies your brand and is useful for potential customers.
Do: Determine Your Content
Before web designing and formatting comes into play, the first thing you need to do is figure out who it is for and what kind of content you want to put on your business website.
Identify your audience and determine what they should see and expect from your site. Putting out the right content will attract your target market to your company site, secure their engagement, and even extend your reach when they share it.
Do: Make It Easy to Find
If you want to drive website traffic and growth, your target audience must find it first. That’s why the next step to creating a customer-oriented website is to choose a domain that matches your company’s name or is connected to it.
Implementing technical SEO best practices and content marketing will also make your business website easier to find and help you connect to a wider audience.
Do: Keep Your Website Clean
A few ads here and there are necessary to help the website provide services or information at no cost. However, don’t go overboard with it by putting one on every section of your site.
Being welcomed by a website popup is fine, but being bombarded with promos makes for a poor user experience. Remember that your audience visits your company website to read content and retrieve useful information — not to be flooded with ads.
Additionally, you should opt for a theme or design that offers a clean and simple look. This makes the site pleasing to the eyes and easy to navigate, both of which are important in maintaining audience engagement.
Do: Make It Adaptable to Different Devices
Another thing to keep in mind when creating a business website is to make it responsive to different devices. That means your site (and pages) should render well whether your target audience is visiting it through their phone, tablet, or personal computer.
Texts should not be too big or too small, images should still be of high quality, and headers should remain readable even if visitors are using their phones.
Ensuring your company website adapts to different kinds of devices secures a consistent and favorable experience. It also makes your brand appear professional and increases the credibility of your business.
Don’t: Use Too Many Colors
Colors are a great way to attract and engage visitors, but they can also be distracting and cause confusion. That’s why it’s important that you stick to a color palette that embodies your brand, allows other elements to stand out, and offers value to your visitors.
You can use a color generator to give you an idea of which hues blend well with each other and make your brand recognizable. Another way to do so is by hiring a professional website designer.
Don’t: Let It Run Slow
Website speed matters if you want to keep your target audience engaged. Unless they have no choice, visitors are likely to leave if the site doesn’t load within three seconds.
A slow company website can tarnish your brand and lead to a loss of revenue since the visit did not result in a purchase or other profitable actions. It also affects the SEO ranking of the website, meaning low page load speed could make it difficult for you to reach a wider audience.
You can improve the rendering speed of your business website by opting for a performance-optimized hosting platform, compressing your display images, and cashing the web pages of the site.
Don’t: Make It An Easy Target for Hacks
Protecting customer information is vital for any business, so it’s important to ensure the security of your company website. Doing so prevents hackers and cyber thieves from stealing sensitive data that could jeopardize the operation and integrity of your company.
Keep your business website secure by using a secure sockets layer (SSL) connection, using strong passwords for administrative systems used to run the website, and keeping your software updated.
Implementing security policies for all computer-related operations should also be followed, especially if it involves moving sensitive documents in your office network.
Final Thoughts
Customers expect a smooth browsing experience whenever they jump on a business website. Meeting this expectation is vital to the success of the company, especially if your goal is to connect to more people and reach a wider audience. Following the practices listed above ensures the growth of your website, establishes your company’s reputation and keeps your customers satisfied with your service.