When it comes to your own business it can be easy to liken them to babies, we nurture them from a small dream into reality, only ever wanting the best for them along the way. You may face some challenges but one thing that shouldn’t cause you a headache is designing your website! So let’s take a look at how to design the perfect website.
It might seem simple, even easy to advertise your business online and some people may assume that a few quick Googles on “How to Design a Website” or “What makes a good website design” will suffice. But, when it comes to your baby…sorry we mean your business, only the best should and will do!
So, don’t skimp on your website design and skim-read through lacklustre articles, instead take some advice from the experts in Web Design and Digital Marketing. We at White Digital know how challenging designing your own website can be, from eCommerce to B2B businesses. Nevertheless, here is a step-by-step guide on how to design the perfect website and some tips to keep in mind before unleashing your business on the world wide web.
1–Choosing a website builder or Website Design Agency
2 – Defining your Pages and Website Layout
4 – Content, Content and more CONTENT
Step 1 – Choosing a website builder or Website Design Agency
Starting off with the most crucial step, choosing your website builder or design agency. When it comes to your website builder (also known as a CMS) you need to pick the perfect platform for your business to be built on and grow. You will also need to think about what type of business you are as some platforms are better than others for certain types of businesses.
- B2B Business – Do you sell your services or products directly to other businesses? Examples of these are marketing businesses and software services for businesses.
- B2C Business – Want to provide your services directly to consumers? Examples of these are window cleaning, hairdressing and estate agent services.
- E-Commerce Business – Have you got lots of fancy products that you sell directly to your customer base? Examples of these are clothing shops and sporting goods.
- Charity or Informational/ Government Business – Looking to provide the latest and greatest information to your patrons or viewers? Examples of these are The Coco Charity or your local government website.
Some website builders such as Shopify and SquareSpace are very user-friendly and perfect for a small E-commerce site that sells limited products. However, they might not be the right fit for larger websites with the ambition to grow into other product categories or B2B businesses.
Larger Sites
If you are looking to build a larger site with ample room for growth, then WordPress is one of the best website builders around. Not only can you build an amazing-looking site but it will also be super responsive and fast! WordPress allows you to add products, blogs and pages with ease…if you know the right plug-ins to use.
Top Tip: A Plugin is similar to an app on your phone. It enables the user to add to or improve the functionality of your WordPress website, you can download or buy them.
Whether you build your site on Wix, WordPress, Shopify, Magento or SquareSpace it’s probably best to ask the experts on which platform your site should be built, designed and used. Hiring a Web Design agency will also maximise your site to its fullest potential in terms of design, functionality, responsiveness, speed and so much more. Also, if anything goes wrong along the way, the agency will know how to fix it and fast!
It is also a great option if you have limited experience in website design and let’s face it, most of us are not comfortable with coding! Looking to get your business online get in touch today or are you looking to improve your current site? Get a FREE Website Analysis (MOT) today and see how your business stacks up.
Step 2 – Defining your Pages and Website Layout
Moving on to planning out your website and page layout. If you’re starting from scratch, you might want to sketch out the layout of your website on paper before you begin dragging and dropping elements or downloading plugins to your site. Also, many of the website builders we have suggested come with helpful templates, which are pre-designed layouts.
Another option is working with a design agency, they will do all the hard work for you and create a custom website layout and bespoke pages for your site. If browsing through thousands of layouts and researching the best website design agencies in the UK sounds like a daunting task, don’t worry we can help. Check out some of the work we have done for previous clients in the White Digital Portfolio and see if we can help make your online dreams a reality.
Top Tip: If you are stuck on where to start with your website layout why not check out the competition? Take some inspiration from their layouts to help create your own.
Step 3 – Claiming your Domain Name
Moving on to your domain name or better put your business’s online address. You need to make sure this is clear and easy to read as it will be what your visitors will see in the browser’s address bar immediately following the “www.”
Occasionally your chosen domain name might already be taken by another company if that is the case then have a play around with the spelling or add UK at the end. The quicker you claim your domain, the more likely you will get the one you want but time after time we see businesses do this far too late in the design process, so don’t wait around.
Here are some of our Top Tips when choosing your domain name:
- The longer it is, the more likely it is that visitors will spell it incorrectly.
- Steer clear of symbols, punctuation, and numbers.
- Your domain name should include your name or the name of your company.
- Include words associated with your company in your domain name if your company’s name is not available.
Step 4 – Content, Content and more CONTENT
It’s time to get down to business and prepare the material that will be published on your website. When we are talking content, we mean any logos, videos, photos and text that need to be viewable on your site. After all, what’s a great-looking site without some substance?
Try and make engaging user-focused texts and use eye-catching but appropriate images throughout your site. You will also need to make sure that anything published on your website is 100% your own content, or obtained legally. If you don’t then the consequences can be major, from your site being taken down to lawsuits!
If you are sitting there worried that your content writing skills might not be up-to-par or don’t have a flare for design, then hiring a digital marketing expert might be the thing for you. We will not only create grammatical masterpieces but we can also help to increase your impressions and site traffic through our skills.
Top Tip: When creating content, think about your target market. If you are designing clothes for hip and trendy teens, then you will want the content’s tone of voice to be fun and use slang. However, if you are providing legal services then you might want to take a more corporate and informational tone throughout your site.
Step 5 – SEO and Marketing Matters
Nothing is more satisfying once you develop and upload your website than seeing the number of visitors, impressions and clicks increase. But, did you know that implementing an SEO strategy may drive more traffic to your website?
SEO is not easy to summarise but essentially it looks to improve your website’s keywords, backlinks, user experience (UX), and any technical issues. If you want to dive deeper into the world of SEO, then read our blog post What is SEO? The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide.
SEO is time-consuming and something you will have to constantly keep up with. It is not an instant fix, instead, it takes months of research and development but if you are patient, it can increase traffic and ultimately sales.
As a business owner you have a lot to think about, so hiring an expert in SEO might just be the smartest decision for your company. We at White Digital have years of collective knowledge and skills in SEO optimisation, so check out our SEO Services now.
