As business owners, we are always looking for ways to improve and grow our business by creating a quality website. There are many ways to achieve growth and development within your company. One of the easiest ways to gain global awareness and marketing is with your own quality website. Put your stamp on the world wild web. However, the application of turning that good idea into reality can be a costly exercise and somewhat daunting. Human nature is to search for the quickest, easiest and most affordable route to reach our end goal. There are some core components that we overlook when applying this method to a website, such as the vital aspect of quality.
Why is it Important to Creating a Quality Website?
There are many advantages to having a well-designed website, however, it’s easy to be put off by the costs involved. You might think that paying extra for a website is extravagant and not really needed, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. While there are many benefits to having a quality website, these are our top 3.
The Look
This is a big one. As in other aspects of life, looks are important. From the size of the fonts to the colour of the background, retaining consistency throughout the site with the above mentioned can really make your site stand out from others as it presents itself in a clear, homogeneous, and organised light. This subsequently casts your business in that same light, creating a sense of certainty to who you are as a business. A great deal of time and experience is required to get a site “just right” for the customer.
The Design
The first step in good quality website designs. This includes the more obvious choices, such as matching the colour scheme of the website to your business’s branding and public image. Selecting industry-specific images for headers, and using complementary fonts. One standout trait of a quality website is its ability to be responsive so that it looks great on any platform from high definition monitors to cell phones.
The Placement
The all-important placement spans from headers to modules and call-to-action buttons. Where you place a button is almost as important as what the button does. A quality website designer will know exactly where to place a button in order to draw the customers interest towards it.
The Animations
Something that is often overlooked, is a well-placed animation. Many sites lose out on business, simply because they didn’t catch their customers’ eye in time, and the customer closed the web page. However, a well-designed, quality website makes use of parallax backgrounds, number counters, and header images that transition on a loop. A simple animation is all that’s needed to “hook” a customer and keep them browsing through your site.
The Functionality
Functionality is vital to creating a quality website. It doesn’t help to have well-placed buttons and objects, if they don’t do anything, aside from frustrating the customer. Ultimately you when you receive an angry call or irate message. Having call-to-action buttons that work, sending you and the customer an automatic email helping keep you in the loop and have a record of all the goings-on. While at the same time providing excellent service to your customers. Other functionalities that are needed are interactive maps, built-in surveys, and search bars, to name a few. A quality website needs to work smoothly, efficiently, and cleverly.
Other functionality that enhances a quality website, is an eCommerce platform. Any quality website should have some form of eCommerce set up on their system. If it’s not done properly, you’ll be left with disgruntled customers taking their business elsewhere. An eCommerce system that works, is easy to navigate, looks good, and engages the customer’s interest!
The SEO
The third aspect that makes up a quality website is SEO and analytics. Even if you have the best-designed website in the world, it won’t count for much if no-one sees it. This is where SEO (or “Search Engine Optimisation”) comes in. What SEO does, is send data to Google to notify them of your presence. Google then goes through your site to determine the quality of the page names, content, and links. If your website designer followed the proper naming conventions for pages and images, then Google will list your site in their search results. Putting your site higher up on the listing and ultimately getting your site to appear on the first page of a Google search, depending on what keywords your website uses.
Having a good analytics system set up on your site is equally important, as it tells you what customers are buying, looking at, and how long they’re staying on a page. By knowing what they want, you’ll be in a better position tailor make your site to suit your client’s needs.
Closing Note
Websites are the new ‘front page ad’ in the Sunday paper. So do your research and work out how you want to present your business to the world. Create a quality website can really change how your business is perceived and help take you to the next level.
If you have any questions please contact us.