A well designed and developed website can do wonders for your business. It can help you make a great first impression, build trust with customers and of course attract those all important customers. Think of it like having a shop that is not only attractive but also located on the High Street in town. A poorly designed website may end up turning customers away. Just like a real shop, if customers find it hard to navigate or difficult to find what they're looking for, they'll likely leave and go somewhere else.
To put it simply, good website design and development are crucial in today's digital age. It’s the foundation of your online presence and plays a significant role in how your business is perceived online. So, don't treat your website as just another task to tick off the list. Invest in professional website design and development and watch your SME thrive in the digital marketplace.
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The Importance of Website Design and Development for SMEs
As we put it above, in its simplest term your website is the virtual version of a shop or office. It's the place where your customers can visit you, learn about what you do, see your products or services and even make purchases all from their contemporaneous location. Just like you'd want your physical shop to be attractive, easy to navigate and welcoming, the same principles apply to your website. That's where website design and development come in.
Website design is all about making your virtual 'shop' look good. It's the process of arranging things like colours, images and text on your website to make it attractive and easy to use. It's like the shop window display and layout that entices customers to walk in and browse around.
Website development is the backbone and structure that supports your attractive website design. It's the behind the scenes work that makes sure everything functions properly, the doors opening, the tills working, the products stocked and visible. It's what makes your website accessible and usable on different devices, loads pages quickly and keeps everything secure from any cyber issues.
You can put together a website on your own, there are lots of easy to follow tools and no end of not so easy to follow tutorial videos, the question is, will it be fully effective? Professional website designers and developers have the skills and knowledge to build not just a good-looking website, but one that works well and achieves your business objectives.
10 Steps to Building an Effective Website
1. Define Your Purpose: Before diving into design and development, define the objective of your website. Is it for selling products, offering services, providing information or for branding purposes? Your website's purpose will guide its design and functionality.
2. Identify Your Target Audience: Understand who you're aiming to attract and connect with. Knowing your audience is crucial to building a successful website. Knowing your audience will influence your design choices, content creation and even your imagery or logo. Tools and agencies can help with market research and user behaviour analysis.
3. Plan Your Content: Good content keeps visitors engaged and well planned structure ensures a smooth user experience. List the main pages you need - Home, About, Services, Contact Us - and any other sections relevant to your business. Ensure your site is filled with high-quality, SEO-friendly and relevant content.
4. Choose Domain and Hosting: Your website needs a memorable address and a reliable host to ensure speed and uptime are optimal. Your website's design should not only be attractive but also reflect your brand identity. Many website builders offer pre-made templates that you can customise to suit your brand, but be aware if it will be a bit “samey” with your competitors.
5. Design with User Experience (UX) in Mind: Your website should be easy to navigate and visually appealing. Customise your chosen template or theme by adding your brand colours, fonts and logos. Remember, consistency is key in branding. Your content communicates with your visitors and persuades them to take action so ensure it is also clear, concise and compelling.
6. Build with SEO: An SEO-friendly website ranks higher on search engine results. Optimise your website for search engines by using relevant keywords, meta tags and descriptions. SEO helps increase your website's visibility and brings in organic traffic.
7. Mobile Optimisation: With more people accessing websites via smartphones, having a mobile optimised site is crucial. A responsive design automatically adapts to the device used and lots of domain hosts offer this functionality although typically not free.
8. Integrate Social Media: Social media connectivity can boost site traffic. An agency can integrate social media buttons seamlessly into your design.
9. Test and Refine: Before launching, test your website's performance on different devices and browsers. Check load times, links and ensure all features are working correctly. Try to break it, try to get lost. Regular ongoing testing ensures all website elements function correctly, don’t just create it and leave it sitting never to be looked in on again, remember, first impressions lasting impressions.
10. Analyse and Improve: Once you're satisfied, it's time to launch. But remember, website design and development are ongoing processes. Regularly update your site with fresh content, monitor its performance and keep up with technological advancements. Continually monitoring your website's performance helps identify areas of improvement.
Building a website is an adventure, a journey. Take it one step at a time and consider seeking expert advice if needed. With a bit of data led planning and creativity, you'll have a website that not only looks great but also helps grow your business.
I Have a Website Already, How do I Know if it’s Fit For Purpose
If you're wondering why your website isn't performing as expected or why your visitors leave as quickly as they arrive, it's time for a website audit. A website audit is a health check for your site, identifying potential problems and areas of improvement. Here are some step-by-step guidelines we use and which might help you conduct a thorough website audit.
1. Review Your Website’s Overall Health:
Start by assessing the general performance of your site. Check page loading speeds, responsiveness and mobile-friendliness. Tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix can give you an overview of your site's speed and performance.
2. Check SEO Performance:
Use an SEO tool like Google Search Console, SEMrush or Moz to check for any SEO issues. Look at your site's metadata, keyword ranking, backlinks and if there are any broken links. Make sure your site is indexed correctly by search engines.
3. Assess User Experience (UX):
Evaluate your website's navigation structure and design and ask yourself honestly if it is user-friendly. Is information easy to find? Is the design visually appealing? Remember, a positive user experience can lead to engagement which leads to conversion.
4. Review Your Content:
Check if your content is up-to-date, relevant and adds value to your audience. Ensure that it is free from grammar and spelling errors and aligns with your brand voice and messaging.
5. Analyse Your Competitors' Websites:
Identify who your main competitors are and examine their websites. What are they doing well and what can you improve on? Understanding your competition can offer valuable insights.
6. Evaluate Website Security:
Check if your website is secure and has an SSL certificate (your URL should start with 'https' if it does), particularly if you handle sensitive customer data. Website security not only protects your site but also influences SEO rankings and imparts a sense of trust to new visitors.
7. Track Conversions and Goals:
Use a tool like Google Analytics to check how well your website is achieving its goals. This could be newsletter sign-ups, completed contact forms, product purchases or any other desired action a visitor can take on your site.
8. Review Social Media Integration:
Ensure your social media profiles are clearly visible and linked correctly from your website. This helps in increasing your brand’s visibility and makes it easy for visitors to engage with you on different platforms and navigate back and forth. Is your branding consistent?
9. Check Legal Compliance:
Ensure that your website complies with necessary regulations such as GDPR. Check if your privacy policy, terms and conditions and cookie policies are up-to-date and clearly accessible.
10. Get Feedback:
Get real user feedback. Tools like Hotjar can provide heatmaps and user recordings to help you understand your users' behaviour better.
A website audit is also not a one-time activity. Regular audits help keep your website healthy, improve performance and ensure a great user experience. Whether you're an SME or a large enterprise, a well-audited website can make all the difference in today’s competitive digital landscape.
How Much Will a New Website Sting Me?
How much does a website cost? – It's a common question among owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) looking to establish or revamp their online presence. The answer, however, is not as straightforward as the question itself. The cost of a new website can vary greatly, depending on the intricacy of the design, complexity of the functionality and numerous other factors. A good friend paid £10k for his site, some years later we designed our own site which would be mid-range of our pricing structures, much less that he paid and in reality our site would suit him much better.
Before we dive into numbers, it's important to understand that a professionally designed and developed website is an investment, not an expense. It’s the heart of your online presence and a powerful tool to connect with potential customers. The absence of a site will cost you much more than the investment in one.
Understanding the Core Costs:
Website costs can broadly be divided into three categories; Design & Development, Domain & Hosting and Maintenance.
Design & Development are often the most significant expenses. A basic website with a simple design, a few pages and limited functionality can start from a few hundred pounds. A more complex e-commerce website with advanced features and custom design will run into thousands if not 10’s of thousands of pounds.
Domain & Hosting are the digital 'real estate' for your website. A domain name can cost anywhere between £10 to £50 a year, while hosting can start from around £5 a month for basic plans to over £100 a month for advanced solutions.
Maintenance is something many businesses overlook. Regular updates, security checks and potential additions to your site are all part of ongoing costs. These can range from £50 to hundreds of pounds a month, depending on the level of maintenance required.
Budgeting For Your New Site:
The key to budgeting for a new website is to spend smart and identify what is crucial for your business based on the steps we outlined earlier. If you’re a small local business, you might not need an extravagant website. A simple, easy-to-navigate site may serve your needs perfectly. If you're planning to sell goods online, investing more in an e-commerce platform and secure payment portal will be necessary.
When determining your website budget, consider the potential return on investment. A well-designed, user-friendly website can attract more visitors, engage them effectively and ultimately lead to higher sales or conversions. This potential increase in business should be factored into your budgeting.
As a general guide, industry experts suggest that SMEs should consider investing between £1000 and £5000 into their website. Every business is unique and the final figure should align with your business objectives, customer needs and overall business strategy.
Remember, your website is a direct reflection of your business online. Cutting corners may save money in the short term, but a poorly designed, badly functioning website can cost you potential customers. Consider your website an investment into your business's future and budget accordingly.
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