Considering the modern-day competition, a website is a must for every business. It is because the internet has become the go-to place for consumers looking for information on anything from locations to product reviews. So, having a well-designed website can set you apart from the competition. If you are selling one or more products, it can help you reach a wider audience and grow your business with minimal cash outlay. Plus, it will make it easier for the customer to know what your business is about.
With all the accessible website builder tools, making a website is not a huge hassle anymore. Regardless of the platform you choose, the following guidelines will help you create a site that is polished, user-friendly, and reflective of your business’s best qualities:
6 Steps Here
- Prioritize Mobile Responsiveness
There is a reason why we have put this point right on top. According to well-documented stats, nearly 73% of millennials prefer to shop online. What is more, the average American adult spends more than five hours a day on their phone. The figures reveal that it is a must for a business website to adapt to mobile devices. Having a poor mobile user experience also has a detrimental impact on your website’s search engine rankings.
Professional web developers like Thrive Engine make your website mobile-friendly by opting for a responsive design. With a responsive design, a website will automatically adjust its dimensions to fit any screen size. This ensures that the site will always look its best regardless of the size of the user’s browser window.
Discreet use of pop-ups also helps to make your website mobile-friendly. Pop-up ads are annoying for anyone using a mobile device to browse the web. One of the things that annoy users is that the “X” mark that is not always clearly visible. If you have to include ads, you should make them as unobtrusive as possible. Below are just a few tried-and-true tricks for subtly incorporating pop-ups:
- Only activate the pop-up after the reader has scrolled down between 60% to 80% of the page
- Create visible and functional call-to-action buttons for the pop-up
- Integrate a mobile-friendly layout similar to the pop-up window
- Pick A Domain Name
One of the key components of any website is its domain name. It is the URL that you will promote on social media and give out to current and potential customers. It is equally important to select a TLD. This is the last part of your domain name, and it typically ends with a .com, .biz, and .net. That said, there has been a rise in the use of TLDs that deviate from the norm. Such domains could end with .nyc, .agency, .marketing, or .law.
After deciding on a domain name, the next step is to check its availability and register it with a domain controller. Ensure you are not infringing on someone else’s legally protected brand by conducting a thorough copyrights search. Suppose your ideal domain name is already in use. In that case, you can either directly contact the current owner to inquire about purchasing the name from them or utilize a domain-buying service to contact the current owner on your behalf.
- Find A Hosting Service
Having settled on a domain name, the next step is to pick a hosting provider. Choosing a hosting provider is essential, particularly if you intend to perform the majority of your business activities through your website. Web hosting gives your website content a physical location. Therefore, finding a hosting service that provides adequate bandwidth for the volume of visitors you expect to your site is essential.
Look for a plan that allows you to increase your bandwidth as your needs grow, even if you only intend to use a tiny portion of it at first. When deciding on a web host, safety should also be a top priority. Choose a web hosting service that handles normal web maintenance and provides security features such as an SSL certificate.
- Add Visuals
Have a look at the homepage. Is it text-dominant? If yes, you need to add visuals. Pictures make the site more appealing to visitors since they break up long passages of text. Feature at least one image that represents your company, team, and products and services. If you do not have a skilled in-house photographer, you should invest in professional photography.
The same goes for videos. Put together a video of you greeting customers or demonstrating to them how to use your products. You can upload it to YouTube or any other video hosting platform and then incorporate the code into your website.
- Maintain Consistency
Visitors will have more faith in your website if it maintains coherence throughout. Websites with inconsistent design elements, such as typefaces, color schemes, text sizes, and photos, come across as amateurish. And users might get disoriented in little to no time.
Apart from that, website navigation relies heavily on consistency. Users may become confused if they find a search bar on the top right of one page but the top left of another. So keeping your site’s design, layout, and navigation constant will give visitors a more positive image of your business and encourage them to spend more time exploring your site.
- Test It Out
Performing a thorough test before a website’s official launch is a crucial step in website building. It enables you to identify any bugs or issues upfront. Speed, dependability, and compatibility are just a few of the things to look for while evaluating your website. Keep in mind the importance of cross-browser testing for your website. A website or its particular feature may function properly in a desktop web browser but look awful on a mobile device.
Conclusion
Regardless of the industry, maintaining a solid online presence is important for every business. Quality online presence paves the way for expanding your audience, engaging your current clientele, and eventually ballooning up your sales. All of this starts with establishing a website that conveys the distinctive offerings and message of your company. In case you are on the fence about how to go about creating a top-notch business website, going through this post would have given you a lot of clarity.