In the modern era it is unlikely that a business can get by without a website of some kind. With that in mind, what are some of the more common mistakes and what should you be doing instead?
With only a few exceptions, purely brick and mortar businesses are becoming somewhat outdated, as most companies view having an online presence as both a form of advertisement and a metric of success.
A website is crucial to a company’s long-term goals, as often it is the medium through which the majority of people will engage with a business. It is, in a sense, the first point of contact and can likely attract or deter consumers based on the experience they have.
For that reason, if you are building a website to promote your business, it is important that you avoid some of the common pitfalls.
It’s all in the name
I can’t stress enough how important it is that you give serious thought to the domain name of your site. This is how visitors, clients, consumers, employees and other interested parties can locate and pursue your site and it informs search engines in relation to your site’s content.
A great domain name is typically short, simple and memorable, it should help direct traffic to your website and helps you to flesh out your identity as a business and brand. So make sure it isn’t convoluted, incorrect or boring. It is essentially your identity online, so make it a good one.
Keep it simple
When you are designing a website, particularly if you create it through a third party, it can be tempting to throw in all the shiny bells and whistles, to make your website stand out. However, this often makes a site appear crowded, difficult to navigate and unsure of its own direction.
Arguably, our attention spans are not what they used to be and nowadays people want to source and read information quickly and conveniently. If your website is not clearly laid out, or if you have to dig to find what you are looking for, then it is likely that the site visitor will go elsewhere. So keep it clean, simple and to the point.
Remember to stay mobile
Designing a website to show off your company and highlight all that is good about it is a fun and exciting way to promote your business. When you envision people browsing your site you probably have an image of the brand widely displayed across a desktop computer or laptop, but in all likelihood, a lot of people will probably engage via their mobile phones.
In this day and age, all websites need to be mobile-friendly, which means the adoption of larger, easy to read writing, condensed links and touch-friendly buttons. Research suggests that a considerable portion of the global population owns a smartphone, so make sure you are appealing to them.
More fast, less furious
Nothing is as likely to compel someone to quickly leave your website as a lack of speed or slow loading capacity. Perhaps we all need to slow down but most people will jump ship if a site lags and are unlikely to return until they know for certain that the speed issues have been resolved.
Slow speeds have the potential to divert traffic and damage revenue. However, there are a number of ways you can ensure greater functionality.
Firstly, if your site runs a lot of images, make sure they are compressed or of a reasonable size. Secondly, use caching features to minimise the number of requests being made to the server. Thirdly, when choosing your web host, do your research to ensure that it meets the requirements and demands of your website. Lastly, make sure to regularly remove any file, document, plugin etc, that doesn’t need to be on the site.
These are just some suggestions for improving your website’s speed, there are dozens more, so make sure you put as many as you can into practice and you will see a difference.
Accessibility matters
I like to think that we are becoming a more socially aware and respectful society. Certainly as consumers and stakeholders put more pressure on businesses to implement DEI initiatives, we are getting there, bit by bit.
Designers and employers, regardless of the diversity of a company or who they think the website is for, have a moral obligation to make a site accessible to all. That may be in the form of audio or visual technologies or features for people with hearing or sight loss, or other conditions that may prevent full engagement.
Ultimately, designing and running a website to promote your business is an excellent way of engaging with consumers and getting your message out there. Other factors to consider would be ensuring it is secure, resilient and regularly updated so as to stay relevant, but no matter what decisions you make, just remember to keep it simple and accessible to all.
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