When you set up a website, there is no point doing a half-hearted job. With so many other sites to compete with all over the web, you need to think about the ways that you can stand out from the crowd. And like many things in life, careful planning goes a long way towards achieving success. So, before you start rushing to get your website live as soon as possible, it is worth thinking about some ways that you can create a hit site through quality design, informative content and a great overall user experience.
Simplify Your Aims
Many people fall into the trap of creating a website that is overly complicated, meaning that the aims get lost or diluted at some point down the line. You should be able to sum up your main goals in a single sentence; everything else should be secondary. Once you know what you want to communicate with your customer, you need to think about how you will do this as simple and effectively as possible.
Think About What Sort of Design You Would Like
Modern design trends are always changing so it is worth doing some research into what is currently popular before you go any further. Many sites these days are quite minimalist, so don’t think that everything needs to be overly complicated in order for it to be successful. White space around the edges of a page has an elegant feel and also helps to improve reading comprehension. Ultimately, you want to avoid clutter as much as possible as this is a major turn-off for website users.
Also, think about designs for your platform; what works for Shopify is not necessarily going to be effective in terms of the best HubSpot website design. Look at your competitors too.
How Will People Find Your Site?
It is all well and good creating a fantastic website, but if no one is able to find it, there is not really much point. Your first port of call will be getting more info on the domain name, whether you are naming your site after your existing company or coming up with a clever name to draw people in. Probably the most important factor of website promotion is SEO, so you need to carefully structure the content before the site is actually built. Then, it is time to think about PPC, email marketing, social media and any other promotional techniques you can think of.
Prioritise Speed
We have already talked about it a little bit, but making your website simple has another clear benefit; it means that it should be quicker. In today’s fast-moving world, people are less likely to put up with long loading times. So, those fancy graphics may look great, but people probably won’t stick around to see them if the site takes an age to load.
Responsive Design
Nowadays, the most commonly used device to access the internet is the smartphone, so making sure that your site is responsive should be central to your site building plans. Making life easier for all your site visitors who use a wide range of different devices can help to make you stand out from the crowd.
