Content/Simplicity
Maybe you’ve heard the moniker in the past… ‘Content is KING’! There is a reason for this! Good content provides your audience with value and is much more likely to be shared or engaged with. Your content can be used in many other places as well; make sure you’re thinking about the bigger picture (social media, search engine results etc). Write often, even if it is small and bullet points. Get rewarded for consistency from Google understanding your target market.
You can spend all the time in the world making your website dazzle and flicker… sure it may look good, but do your users really care about that, or do they just want to contact you and book a job?
It’s also important to ensure your content isn’t unnecessarily cluttered and hard to read. This is a sure-fire way to lose your audience and confuse them. Keep your content simple, direct and make sure that it guides your audience to take the action you want….. See next point.
Calls To Action
So you’ve got your message across and your user has found their way to the information they wanted. What now?
Don’t let the user aimlessly click away. Give them an option to engage with you directly. Whether this is a contact form, download link or simply a link to another piece of relevant content, ensure that there is a call to action.
Remember, users, are on your site for a reason. Line your content up with appropriate calls to action (and please don’t put 10 different CTA’s on the page, this will just confuse people). Clear, direct opportunities for your users to take action.
Audience/Display
In 2020, almost 70% of global website visits came from mobile devices, and this number is showing no signs of slowing down. Think about your audience… put yourself in their shoes and think about how you would find your site.
Yeah, it’s great to have a website that looks great on your desktop computer as you build it, but if this doesn’t translate onto a mobile device you may be shooting yourself in the foot and losing a huge portion of your audience.
Most website frameworks allow your site to resize and change depending on the device so spend a little more time developing your website with mobile devices in mind and you’ll reap the rewards in the long term.
Analytics/SEO/Tracking
Yep… there are three components to this one. Just because you’ve built your website, doesn’t mean your work is done. You’ll need to ensure that you’re tracking users on their journey to ensure that your website is working to achieve your business goals.
By connecting your website with tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and various SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) tools, you will be armed with the information you need to keep improving your website over time.
These tools will help you discover what users are actually searching for, how long they are staying on your pages, what CTA’s (Call to Actions) are working or not along with a myriad of other data points. Use this information to evolve your website and stand out from your competition.
We use the team at RAW.com.au to review our clients SEO.
Security/Backend
Whether you sell products or services on your site or not, security is incredibly important. Start with an SSL certificate (you know the little padlock symbol next to the address in your browser) so that visitors feel comfortable handing over information and interacting with the website. Having an SSL certificate also helps with your Search Engine Results (in a nutshell, Google likes to see that you have one).
Most website backends allow you to install security tools that will help keep things running smoothly in the backend, updating plugins, stopping hackers trying to access your website etc.
Take a moment to think about what framework you want to build your website on. Whether you use an online website builder such as WIX or you utilise open source software like WordPress or Joomla etc, this decision will impact what options you have in future so don’t just dive in without first giving it some thought.
If you’re thinking about building a website or revamping your existing presence, book a meeting with us and we’ll help guide you through the process to maximise your interaction with your audience.