5 helpful tips... before you embark on that new website!

We could probably write 1001 Website Dos and Don’ts (maybe we will, that could be a fun project), but in this blog, we share just 5 tips to take note of before the website building begins...

Set Goals

Before you spend a cent, get clear on what you want your website to achieve – increasing sales, generating leads for your sales staff, honing a business process, building an email database that you can market to, becoming more visible on the Internet than your competitors… Whatever your goals for the website, make them measurable and achievable, and make sure your web designers know about them, so they’re forefront in the design and development process.

Become a Spy

Find out how your competitors rank on Google and for what keywords, then trawl through their websites to glean what works well and what doesn’t, what you like and dislike. Make sure to check out what similar businesses in non-competing markets are doing, too. And don’t forget to report all this back to your website design partners!

Prioritise Content

Not only will well-written, rich content get you ranked higher on Google, it will also engage visitors attention better, and translate into sales. Someone smarter than us once posed this question: Imagine a customer approaches you in person. This customer already wants what you offer – they’ve come to you looking for it. Now imagine the only words you can say to them are the words on your website home page, verbatim. Would they buy from you? Put together a plan of attack for creating your content. Does anyone on staff have the talent and the time to write web-friendly marketing text? If not, set aside some budget for a professional website copywriter.

Don’t Forget Mobile

Research how many visitors are viewing your website from a mobile device, and consider building either a very mobile-friendly website, or even a pared-down mobile version of your website. Within the next 3 years, more people will be browsing the Internet from a smartphone than a desktop computer, so it makes business sense to think about a mobile strategy, considering the needs of mobile customers differs from desk-bound customers, and how you might satisfy those needs.

Trust your Partner

Before you choose a website designer, do your research. Discuss your business with them and make sure they’re care about and understand your goals and challenges. Find out what makes them different or better than other website designers you could partner with. Ask them about the results they’ve achieved for their clients, or better yet, ask them if you can speak to some of their clients yourself. And when you choose them as your partner, trust them. Let them guide you to achieving your objectives – after all, they’re the experts.

Totali are specialists in web design that works - creating websites that achieve your business and marketing goals. Click here for a no hard-sell website quote and proposal. 

7th of December, 2011, By Arron Edwards.