Without a professional website, no business can succeed in the 21st century. And with the advent of the 2020s, the web presence of companies is such a fundamental requirement that all competitive companies must run the best possible website. Like many online activities, it can seem awfully simple at first glance. However, we can run into a lot of mistakes that break into our business at the beginning of website creation. In this article, we present the critical factors that need to be taken into account at the very first moment of planning.
Website creation from a marketing perspective
how can our company’s website be really punchy? The most fundamental mistake we encounter as an online marketing agency is that companies do not take into account that the website is basically successful if it can reach many visitors.
It is worth noting that the traffic to the website of new businesses is very small, near zero. Unless we have a very well-known brand, we have no chance of getting relevant traffic to our website without marketing activity. In fact, even if we manage a business that has been running for years and decades, the question still arises: how can we introduce more people to our products and services?
The answer will be online marketing. And the website is one of the most important parts of the online marketing machine. Whatever tactics and strategies we use to generate traffic, our website needs to adapt to the tools.
Getting started with website design
The first step is to determine what website you want for your business and how to improve your existing website. The goal is to attract the most relevant visitors to our site as early as possible in the early months. This is what we need to build on in the long run, showing why it is worth working with us or buying our products. Below are the criteria we need to think carefully about before website creation begins.
Types of website visitors: paid and organic traffic
Visitors to our website can basically be divided into two categories: paid traffic and organic traffic. We can increase the former primarily with Google Ads, Facebook, and other advertising space. The latter is reinforced by SEO and social media activity. The two options work harmoniously with each other and it is a transgression to exclude one method or another if we want to reach our potential customers as much as possible.
Choosing the right website framework
The first steps in designing a website include choosing the right framework. There are basically three different types to choose from:
Unique development: its advantage is that it can be tailored to your specific needs up to the last pixel and feature. The disadvantage is that it is the most expensive solution, and it is also difficult to replace the developer. Most development companies are reluctant to take over a unique website from someone else, leaving the original partner in a monopoly position.
Open-source CMS system: medium customizable for individual needs, but meets the needs of most companies and webshops. The most common CMS nowadays is WordPress, but we often meet Joomla and drupal websites as well. In the short term, it is more expensive than rented websites, but in a year or two, the expense will be res8. In addition, the developer can be replaced relatively easily if necessary.
Chartered website (SaaS CMS system): these platforms are often advertised as free websites, but it is not worth jumping into the bait. To become a usable company website, you need to switch to monthly extra services. Wix and Webnode are also widespread today. Among webshops, Shoprenter and Unas also operate in SaaS (Software as a Service). The biggest drawback is the extremely limited customization, as these pages cannot be edited at the code level at all.
Custom-developed websites are programmed by web developers and can be fantastic, but not everyone can afford the higher design and maintenance costs involved. This is more of a world of large and multinational corporations. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, on the other hand, are much better off making their website in an open-source CMS system. The most popular CMS is WordPress, which we can’t go too far with, as this framework is known to most online professionals.
The great advantage is that it is not necessarily necessary to call a specialist for small modifications, since a lay user can also learn the basics of WordPress. However, it is worth choosing a well-able company, because WP can also be used to create very good and very bad websites.
Designing the content that appears on the website
Once you have the framework, you can design the content. This will give the website its soul and express what our business is all about. First, consider what pages you’ll need when presenting your business.
We need to pay special attention to the home page and so-called landing pages: these are the pages where users first arrive. Often, product category presentation pages and service descriptions are considered landing pages. For these pages, you should consult online marketing experts: it’s a good idea to do keyword research and finalize drafting with a marketing copywriter.
After landing pages, you can create content: you need to write about us, the company’s vision, collect images in the gallery, collect catalog and product description PDFs, and list our partners and references. Finally, customer information and legal documents (e.g. GSA, terms of use, terms of purchase, data management, cookie policy) should be supplemented to the list. Neither the web developer nor the marketing consultant can do these, but can only advise.
Finally, we must always make our company’s specialization and competitive advantages (USP) visible. It’s not just the visuals, it’s the compactness of the information that’s important. We may be able to talk for hours about why it’s worth choosing us, but we need to convince a potential customer quickly (the average session lasts 1-3 minutes), so we need to express ourselves succinctly and efficiently.
Creating a modern website
21st-century websites must also follow important trends and technical conditions. These will be the settings that allow other websites and service providers such as Google or Facebook to judge our website to be quality. The user experience (UX) will also be increased and confidence in our website will be deepened. Let’s look at the most important of these:
Speed: a slow web page immediately deters the user. We have a maximum of 2-3 seconds for the relevant information to load on a device, otherwise, we may lose the visitor. It’s a good idea to use caching features, upload small images, and avoid running complex, an optimizing snippet.
Responsiveness: more than half of internet traffic is via mobile phone. We definitely need an optimized mobile display to give our users the best experience. In addition, users are even more impatient with this interface, so it’s important to be able to provide the information you need to make a purchase/request for quotation as quickly as possible.
Security: With SSL encryption and secure payment service, not only will users feel more confident on our website. Different ad platforms also prefer trusted websites, so we can buy more clicks at a lower cost.
User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX): In our previous article, we detailed the golden rules for this. When designing a website, we need to think carefully about these two aspects, as it is very difficult to correct mistakes in hindsight. Let’s be purposeful and consistent during the shopping or contact processes. If you find that there is too much churn in the sales process, we will remedy the problem.
Don’t be a one-pager (one-page) of your website: Usually, neither advertise nor SEO can effectively be called one-pager web pages. There are a few rare exceptions, but when it comes to the introduction side of a company, it’s a good idea to avoid this solution.
Dynamically expand the website: Static pages cannot respond properly to changes in our company. Let us allow ourselves the opportunity to change and expand in the future. A really good and modern website is always up to date.
Do not assume too deep menu hierarchy: the page should be easy to see and browse. If you hide content 5-6 clicks deep (5-6 clicks from the homepage are required to open it), no one will likely find it and it won’t appear in the search engine. The content depth should be up to 3 clicks and priority pages should be included in the main menu.
The role of quality text content on the website
The wording of web pages is a key part of the success of website creation. It is in vain to write information that we consider relevant from our own perspective on the website if it cannot be interpreted by our users. For example, it is a common mistake to use jargon while trying to sell our products and services to ordinary customers with low technical knowledge. But we have also encountered websites where there were only three lines of introductions. However, it is also a mistake if too much and too long un articulated text appears on the website.
Moreover, you need to comply not only with the marketing aspects of the text but also with the SEO plan. We’re going to need keyword research to do that, too.
Online advertising compatible website
For a website to be able to direct users to it with ads, quality and relevant landing pages will be required in the first place. For example, a printing company makes very high-quality paper bags in vain if it doesn’t appear anywhere on the website.
And for webshops, it’s important to apply hierarchy levels and create relevant bucket categories. In each ad account, the time comes when automation will be required and only a fully functioning webshop system that meets advertising requirements can serve it. If the categorization is inaccurate, the return on campaigns will below.
SEO compatibility considerations
Search engine optimization (SEO) will work on principles similar to landing pages optimized for ads. However, the time horizon for technical implementation and development includes variations.
Optimization based on SEO considerations resembles a huge cruise ship, while PPC is more like a truck. In the case of SEO, the direction, cargo (content) and the stations to be affected must be properly determined from the very first moment, otherwise, we can only correct the incorrect design with great effort. At an early stage in website design, it’s a good idea to choose your primary targeted keywords and start setting up technical and content settings.
Continuous improvement
A really good website is practically never made, as both the competitive and the market are constantly changing. At the same time, we and our website need to change. The content of the website can always be expanded with new pages and posts. Landing pages should be optimized based on results.
Changes must also be constantly followed, for which the replacement of social media platforms, which change every few years and become popular and then responsive, is a very good argument. In addition, it is possible that in a few years’ time the proliferation of the 5G network will significantly transform the techniques of website creation. We don’t know what the future will bring, but it’s certain that today’s modern websites will be obsolete in five or six years.
Summary
In our post, we listed a number of critical factors that are a condition for successful website creation, but there are a lot of settings, technical modifications, and content tricks to be taken care of. The final advice we can give is to make sure that the website is aligned with the company’s values, but also to show the experts’ suggestions. Website design is a very important task, so it is not worth looking at lightly.
