Designing websites that work

A website should be a key component of your marketing strategy. You need to consider what you would like it to do for your business:

generate sales leads
establish your credibility
promote your skills and services
provide information
build a list for regular email marketing campaigns

For many businesses, a website supports the general marketing activity, much like an online brochure.

But how do you go about designing a website that works?
Your website needs to appeal to your target audience.

What products and services are you offering? Why would anyone want to buy them? How do you position your company in your prospect’s mind?

Talk to your existing clients. What did they buy from you? Why did they buy from you? What problems or pains did you solve for them?

Attract attention

The home page is the most important on your website. If you get it wrong, visitors will not absorb your message.

Compelling copy about your products and services should be written from the perspective of your target audience. Focus on their issues and problems and how you can solve them.

Give people a reason to contact you by creating a call to action. This could involve them giving you their details in return for a benefit, such as a report or an hour’s free consultancy.

Navigation and presentation

Make sure that the navigation is logical, self explanatory and consistent throughout the site. People should be able to find what they want quickly.

Do not just rely on menus — use boxes, colour and text-based hyperlinks.

Design your layout carefully and avoid layouts that resize automatically; screen resolutions can vary from 800 x 600 pixels to 1600 x 1200 pixels and beyond. If your site resizes to the full width of the browser window, it could be difficult to read.

Content is king. In order to achieve top rankings on the major search engines, like Google, you need to ensure that the copy on your site includes the sort of key phrases that people searching for your type of service will use. This falls under a separate topic called search engine optimisation (SEO).

Online marketing

Consider promoting your site online via pay-per-click advertising or banner advertisements.

If you find this confusing, we can help. We can design a new website from as little as £500 plus VAT.

If you want a site that works for your business, give us a call today.

To learn more call Tim Baugh on 01707 392552 today!

Our Marketing for Growth programme click here >>

Generating new business via networking .. click here >>

How to use Email marketing effectively .. click here >>

You need a communications strategy .. click here >>

How to build a website that works .. click here >>

Downloads:

The Marketing for Growth PDF flyer .. click here >>>