Six top tips to create a website that will generate results

Pretty much every business we work with needs a website, whether it is to attract business enquiries, provide information or generate sales. However, we often meet new clients who are struggling to make their website work effectively to attract or convert customers into business opportunities. Here are some of our top tips to help you to get it right:

1. Start with the purpose, not the design

A beautifully designed website is all well and good but unless it’s easy to navigate, contains all the right messages and serves the business purpose you’re unlikely to see any return on your investment.

Look at your website as part of the overall marketing mix and ask, ‘What do you want it to do?’, ‘Who do you want to attract?’, ‘Who are your target clients?’, ‘How do you want them to use a website?’, To learn more, to buy, to book?

2. Say the right things to the right people

Having identified the purpose of your website you’ll know who your target audiences are. It’s important to identify your key messages for each of these audiences so that you can create relevant and engaging content for them. Remember, different audiences have different needs and priorities, so make sure you tailor your messages so that they are right for each one.

3. Make it easy to navigate

Knowing what you want to achieve and who you are trying to reach guides you through the development of the site ‘architecture’ or navigation. Think about how people will use the site with the aim of making it easy for customers to find their way around, find what they want and take the appropriate action – whether that’s contacting you or placing an order. From this we then produce a skeleton map each of the website pages (these are called wireframes).

4. Make it user friendly

Once the structure of the website has been decided the design phase of the project can begin. One of the most important parts of this stage is to ensure that you consider visuals for desktop, tablet and mobile devices as your new website will be responsive to different screen sizes. Here the creative ‘look and feel’ is important and time is spent making sure you have a site that accurately reflects your brand.

Once the visuals have been agreed the development of the site can begin.

5. Don’t forget SEO

Of course, all of this work would be in vain if no-one can find your website so make sure you consider your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) from the outset. Ensure every aspect of the site is designed and built in a way that works for Google, from the page titles, content and meta-tags to the site map, structure and responsive design. Because relevant content is absolutely key to good SEO, make sure you have pages available for key topics that potential customers might be looking for.

6. Think beyond launch

Launching your website is just the beginning. Getting to grips with your content management system (CMS) and regularly updating and evolving your content is essential for maintaining and developing a website which serves your business goals, your clients and Google!

Putting it into practice with York Against Cancer

As part of our work with York Against Cancer we helped to create their new website and followed our process to ensure that it would work effectively for them https://www.yorkagainstcancer.org.uk/

They now have a website that really works for them, it speaks to their audiences, showcases their services and work and, as a result, they have attracted many more donations. To read more about the process we went through with the York Against Cancer team, read our case study.

If you would like to learn more about our work please do get in touch or sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with our blogs.