What do I need for a kick ass website?
Anyone these days can get a website. You can go to one of those dodgy free platforms like Wix or Go-Daddy and build it yourself – easy right?
Well no…not if you want your website to actually do something besides just sit there with no traffic, because no one knows it exists. Do you want to get your brand out into the online realm? Perhaps you want an ecommerce site to sell your products? Perhaps you want to increase sales online? Well let me save you the hassle now by stating – these websites ARE NOT GOING TO DO IT for you!
What you want is a dynamic, original, one of a kind – functional website that stands out amongst the crowd. You want it to SHINE ONLINE! You want it to be easy to navigate, load in a breeze and entice the viewer to stay on your site and take up what you are offering.
Here is out list for a kick-ass website:
A well thought out site with an appropriate number of pages for your business.
A pre- designed theme manipulated to enhance the vision of your brand and business or better yet – a custom built site that will showcase your business online.
Call to Action buttons that will take customers where they want to go.
A customer wants to feel trust from a website. They need to know you are going to look after them and that you are serious about your product or service. Each link, button or icon needs to work quickly and effiently to keep the customer on your page and lead them to a purchase.
A Responsive site that works on a multitude of varying platforms. From Apple, to android, to laptop and more you need to ensure that your site works on different devices.
Fast loading of your site. You want to make sure that your site comes up in an instant! People are impatient creatures and so if your site takes too long to load the you have lost the customer as they move on to something else. Where your site is hosted can affect the speed – you want to make sure your site is easily accessed.
The ability to examine google analytics as its tracks your entire website.
SEO – Your website should be search engine optimised to assist users in finding your website through Google search. It should reflect the keywords provided that will best target your customers and have access to a google sitemap to further assist your websites SEO as you build and grow.
Your site should be submitted to major search engines so that your website will be indexed by Google, Bing etc and be added to Google Places as well so it is easily found online.
Social Media Inclusions and integration -a good website will have social media icons on your website so that visitors can “like” and “link” your website with their friends and colleagues.
Professional Photography – professional photography speaks volumes to potential customers and clientele and whilst you may initially cringe at the thought of outlaying money for this service it can be used in numerous different ways, not just your website. It is a marketing necessity.
Original, creative Content – A good web company will offer a content authoring service – that will tailor content to target your primary keywords which will enhance your SEO. It will be proof read and edited to ensure professionalism and continuity.
We would love to tell you that all these components are free – however we all know that you get what you pay for in this world and building a website is no different. If you want a kick-ass site, then you need to be prepared to be serious about its inclusions and costs. Given that online marketing is the predominant marketing tool used worldwide – you need to adjust your costs accordingly and see the benefits of making your website an asset for your business. Only then will your business be recognised and work for you. Because at the end of the day – a kick-ass website equals a powerful resource in the development of your business.