Website your window to the world
Today marks the launch of our brand new website and blog (yes, we've formally entered the blogosphere!). We hope you will take a look around and explore the new features. The design and development process has had its challenges - mostly due to our team being so close to the project - after all, how do you capture everything that's good about your business in one website? So, to kick off this blog, we thought we'd give you a snapshot of the points we returned to during the development process to make sure we were on track and focussed.
Taking the big picture perspective, your website is the “window to the world” and more often than not it provides that vital first impression to your potential customers. It's a medium that must strongly communicate the values, goals and messages central to your business. Large or small, your business' credibility and appeal will be judged by the look and feel, content and usability of your site.
The key to good website design is to balance the design and creative aspect with useful and appealing content. The content needs to engage with your target market and be easily found by search engines. There is no point in investing in fancy graphics if there is no useful information for the visitor, or they have to blindly navigate through pop-ups and animation to get to the good info.
Whilst it might seem obvious, be sure to identify what your business offers, what it does and why it should be of interest. Always ask yourself, what do my potential customers want to know? A surprising number of websites fail to do so.
Update your site frequently. The web is constantly changing and it's amazing how quickly something becomes outdated. An inflexible site that goes without updates for months and can't adapt to the changing nature of your business is not a successful site.
Remember to offer your prospective customers a real taste of why they should spend their valuable time browsing your site. Offer plenty of opportunities to engage with them and ensure your business efficiently follows up any enquiries made. Finally, bear in mind that a website is not the be all and end all. It's just one component, albeit a significant one, of your overall marketing and communications strategy and activities.
- Leslie Wapler, Marketing Manager
The material on this web page comprises the personal views of the author and does not represent the view or opinion of communikate et al. communikate et al accepts no liability for the content of this web page.
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