New Website Not Delivering on the Promise? How to Avoid the Pitfalls
How can you stand out when you’re one in a billion? That should be the fundamental question you ask yourself when you’re considering a new website. There are SO many websites out there – 1.86 billion and growing by the day – and it’s easy to end up feeling like yours is a very small fish in one very, very big pond. That is why you need an effective website design and build strategy.
And you’d be right.
Building a strong presence online takes time and your website needs to be set up to reflect that. At soVision IT we often find that clients with the best performing websites are those that have prepared for the long game from the start, spending their efforts on building a really robust, customer-centric, functional, and user-friendly site using effective website design & build.
What can you do with effective website design and build?
Creating a website that is visible in this sea of billions is not about using the brightest colours, having the flashiest logo, or concentrating all your time and money on snazzy branding. If you want to avoid a website that fails at the first hurdle you need effective Website Design and Build services, take note of these key points:
Create good landing pages
Most users will stay on a landing page for less than 10 seconds. That’s 10 seconds, or less, to catch your customer’s imagination, engage them in your products or service, and persuade them to want to find out more. If your landing page or pages aren’t up to scratch they’ll be gone before you even knew they were there. Think about the content you’re using and the way you’re putting that information across. Boring or ‘seen it before’ just won’t cut it.
Build it for your customer, not for you
Sorry to be frank but your website isn’t about you…it’s about your customer. You should be thinking of the person who will be clicking onto your website at every stage of your design build. If you’re using your website to wax lyrical about your company and all that you have achieved, you have really missed the point. This is about what you can do for your customer. And they need to be able to see that instantly (or within at least 10 seconds) from your website.
Keep control
Many people assume that using a bespoke CMS for your website build is a superior option. We disagree. At soVision IT we only recommend what’s right for you. It might be a proprietary CMS such as WordPress or Umbraco, or it might be a dedicated CMS. It really is about what puts you, the customer in control and provides the functionality you need. It’s also worth remembering that a bespoke CMS’ can make it difficult (and sometimes impossible) to move your website without having to start from scratch all over again. It can also be much harder to make your own changes to your site without having to go to your provider to make every tweak, taking up precious time and money. You really don’t want to feel held hostage by your website provider!
Use plug-ins to your advantage
Proprietary CMSs such as WordPress also have the advantage of quick and inexpensive additional functionality through the use of many Plug-ins. They give access to a huge number of different plug-ins that can add user-friendly features that are very effective in boosting engagement. For instance, if you decide that you’d like to turn your website into an e-commerce one you can add WooCommerce and start selling directly from your website. They are easy additions that have big impacts.
Simply put, when it comes to your website, it really is all about making sure it meets the needs and expectations of your customer. Fail to do this and you will disappear into the online ether. But take your time to make wise decisions in the design and build process, along with keeping your customer in mind at every stage, and you will be building the foundations for a really impressive, high-performing website that attracts your customers and even more importantly keeps them engaged. So Website Design & Build has never been more crucial.
If you’re at the website design and build phase and need a little help to get started just get in touch with us here at soVision IT. We’re always happy to share our tips and experience to help businesses get their websites get off to the very best start.