Why Your Website Is A Reflection Of You And Your Business
Posted on 23rd July 2020 at 10:52
Your website is the digital face of your business. It should reflect exactly what you, your business and services offer. Every aspect of your business must be on show on your website. So, how do you go about sending the right message?
It's all in the branding
Your brand has certain characteristics, and your website should have these attributes front and centre. The design of your website should demonstrate your colour scheme, it should feature your logo and major messaging – and all of this should be consistent across your site.
Your brand is your identity. It is how you cultivate the way you are seen by customers and clients. Ideally you should have total control over this, and it should form a central part of your overall marketing strategy.
The layout should be organised
We’ve all visited websites that are very confusing, with a layout that has been poorly planned and is far too busy. You wouldn’t run your physical shop like this (and if you did you wouldn’t get too many customers) so why do it online?
Think about the user experience for your website. When customers land on your page, what are the things you really want them to see? Try and narrow it down so you are not trying to cram too many things onto your homepage.
Make your sales funnel clear and easy to understand. Ideally you should be able to navigate from the home or landing page to the checkout or form page within a few clicks. Make sure that you have clear and visible calls to action on every page and that pathways are clear.
There is little that’s more frustrating than finding a website that features goods or services you want but it seems impossible to get the right information or to the right part of the site.
A disorganised website speaks volumes about you as a business. That’s why it’s worth taking the time or money to make sure you get it right.
Messaging
In order to stay on brand and keep organised you need to spend some time thinking about your core messaging. What is it that you most want to get across to your customers? If there is one thing you want them to take away from your site, what would it be?
These are the questions you need to ask in order to get your messaging right. Once this is in place then it is much easier to think about layout, branding elements and other aspects of website design.
Offer solutions
Don’t spend page after page telling your customers about you. They have come to you because they have a problem that needs solving. If you can offer them solutions, then you stand a much better chance of success. Yes, there is a place for a short bio and adding a personal touch is very important, but make your customer the focus of your site rather than you.
Explain how your brand is different and how you intend to solve your customers’ problems. If you can offer a unique solution to their problem, then it is all the better.
Keep it up to date
If you visit a company’s website and find that all the content is old and out of date, if it is obvious that no one is looking after the website, then you’ll be off as quick as a flash. Not keeping up to date is a sure sign that something is wrong in the business.
We’re not saying you have to overhaul your site every couple of months, but you do need to keep content fresh. Post blogs and videos about your latest projects on a regular basis. Set aside some time each week to do this and don’t let things slide.
Customers want to know that you are active and engaged in what you are doing. If you’re not keeping on top of your site, then this is a big turn off and they may simply go elsewhere.
Content
As well as keeping your content fresh you need to keep it relevant, accurate and good quality. If your content is riddled with mistakes, if it’s poorly researched or offers nothing of use to the reader, then you might as well not bother.
Don’t be afraid to express opinions. That doesn’t mean you need to be controversial, but you can have a voice. If you are an expert in your field, show it.
Make sure that all your content is proofed and checked for errors. Even small mistakes can reflect badly on your business. Sloppy content is not a good look. If this is too much for you to take on, then hire a copywriter or an editor to keep things in shape.
Hosting
Another major turn off for visitors is a slow site. People make decisions about whether a website is worth hanging around on at terrifying speed. Within a few seconds they can decide whether they’ll stay to look or go somewhere else. So if a page is loading slowly, you could lose them.
If you would like to test your website speed, CLICK HERE for the Google speed tool.
Make sure that your site is hosted in the right place, with enough server power to keep things at a decent speed.
Your website is your primary online presence. Yes, social media is important and should be part of your digital strategy, but you need to build everything around your website. That’s why it is such a reflection of your business and why it is so important that you are creating the right impression.
If you would like to know more about how to create a website that works for you and sends out the right message to your customers, then get in touch with a member of our team at it'seeze Web Design Knutsford. We will work with you to create an easy to use and affordable website that sends out all the right signals.
Tagged as: Branding, Website Strategy
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