If your company website is in need of a refresh and you are wondering about how to begin, our questions below will help you get started off on the right foot and avoid some common mistakes.
Whether you are a marketing manager or the business owner, it is important to get your website built correctly from the start.
Failure to do this right could mean spending more money in the future, wasted time and effort, and sending out the wrong messages to your customers.
At StudioRav we’ve worked with hundreds of companies to help them develop their online offerings in a cohesive and professional manner.
Think carefully about each of these questions to ensure your webdesign project goes in the right direction:
What is the main aim of the website?
This is a really important question because everything will be based off it.
If you are looking to sell products then maybe you should go for an ecommerce site.
If you want users to learn more about your business and services, then a brochure style website is more appropriate.
If you are looking to build a community then you will require more interactive/social features.
Being clear about the aim of your website means you take time to really consider what functionality you need and what the website will actually do when it goes live.
Many clients lose sight of this and they decide to add in lots of extra features that do not align with the main aim of their site.
You also get the issue where some clients don’t factor in enough to achieve their aim.
So put together a list of what the website should achieve in order to be clear what it needs to have on it.
Who is your target audience and what do they want to see?
You should always be clear as to who is going to visit your site.
The more accurate and specific you are, the better.
For example:
- Product buyers at medium and large hardware companies
- Landlords and estate agents looking for property management
- Business owners who require extra support and advice
- 25-45 year olds looking for fashionable clothing around the fishing niche
By defining your audience in this way you can put yourself in their shoes and cater your content around them.
Think about what they want to see, what adds value to their life, and what will keep them engaged on your site.
If your response is – this is for everyone – then in reality you will dilute your brand and end up serving no one.
What are your USPs?
Many times we lose sight of what we actually offer, and what makes our service better than the rest.
By defining your USPs you can better promote and explain your services to people who come to your website.
Why should they use you and not a competitor?
Why is your business the right choice for them?
What 3 things do you offer that others don’t?
For example:
- At StudioRav we offer a friendly, non-technical approach to website management.
- We offer flexible payment terms without any restrictive contracts.
- We provide free training and ongoing support to our clients.
Your USPs should be visible on your website and you should educate your visitors using clear text and graphics.
What are your competitors doing?
Market research is always a good thing and you would be surprised at how many people don’t look at their competitors.
If you have an idea for a website then it makes sense to compare it with other companies in your industry.
After all, your customers will also look at multiple options, not just yours.
If your competitors have amazing, beautiful sites and you have a budget-looking basic setup, then you will struggle.
You need to ensure your company website stacks up against its competitors and if they have certain features, then you need to consider adding those in too.
Of course, don’t be led by what your competitors do.
The idea is to stand out from the pack and offer something extra to what they do.
How will people find your website?
One of our most common bits of advice to our clients is:
If your website goes live today, what are you going to do to market it?
The reason we ask this at the start is because many people do not actually consider this.
As a marketing professional or someone who works in business you should have some basic understanding of how you will promote your business.
Some ideas could be:
- Via social media channels, groups and engagements
- A Google ads campaign
- Email marketing to our subscribers
You should think about this to ensure your business gets as much help as possible in generating traffic.
Even if you create a beautiful, all-singing-and-dancing website, without visitors it will not do much.
Therefore, we always recommend that you put together a marketing strategy as early as possible so you can think about how the website fits in with it.
What ongoing support and management do you require?
If you really want your business to grow online then you need to work on it consistently.
This means adding fresh content, blogs, articles, or products.
By keeping your site up to date you send a message to search engines that it is active (this helps move it up the rankings), and you show your customers that your business is also active.
The worst thing is visiting a website which has not been updated since Christmas 5 years ago.
At StudioRav we offer website management as one of our core services and this can take whatever shape you want including monthly content added for you, technical support to ensure the site is running smoothly, email marketing and more.
By knowing what you need you can adequately budget and plan for it, ensuring future success.
Get in touch with us to find out how we can help you and your business grow more!