Investment in websites have become imperative for companies to maintain their presence in digital space. The first question any prospective client asks is the address to your website. Be it for company information, or for sales, every business requires presence on the internet. The company website determines the identity and the quality of your business or product.
Hence it is very important to know what goes into developing a website. What are the factors to be kept in mind while designing and developing your own website? The web development should target viewers’ loyalty and offer a comprehensive package of solutions under one roof.
1. Clear definition of your requirements
It is very essential to list down the reasons why you want a website. To ensure that you cover all elements, prepare detailed answers to the what, who, where, why and how for your website. The website should be compatible with multiple viewing interfaces like desktops, tablets or mobiles. Would you want it to me more visually dominant by adding images or more informative by means of scripting? Identify the ratio of text and graphics on your pages to create an attractive and balanced look for your webpage. Identify your target audience and compose the content to meet the stated requirements.
2. Choosing an appropriate domain name and hosting partner
The domain name is the brand identity of your business. Key factors for finalising the domain name are easy recall and minimum scope for misspelling. The chances of featuring higher in search engines is a result of the domain name amalgamating easy spelling, SEO factors and brand individuality.
The hosting server is the backbone of any website. Depending on the scope of your business and its web requirements opt for the most apt server. The hosting server should be able to support images, videos, graphics etc with good speed. The hosting server should adapt on multiple user interfaces. It should be able to provide smooth and faster responses to any technical hitches as they arise. The server should regularly evaluate the security threats to protect the integrity of the website.
3. Intuitive navigation and rapid response time
One of the essentials of developing a website is quick and efficient access to all the information it provides. This requires a well designed navigation system that guides the customer seamlessly across all the webpages. Complicated navigation issues reduces positive customer experience and leads to loss of customer base. Design a flowchart of the site so that customers can navigate the site easily to access the information they want. Add a comprehensive sitemap with the help of Google webmaster tools.
To increase your brands online presence and appeal, remove all the underperforming pages and resolve loading issues if any. Periodic review of the site to check swift uploading of contact forms, log-ins, customer reviews etc., is important from users perspective for the website.
Ensuring clean navigation, comprehensive sitemap and periodic review to enhance page response time, will go a long way to get repeat customer hits.
4. Appealing parent page
The impression made by the parent page creates a lasting impression on customer mind. A visually appealing parent page helps to generate customer interest. Information about products and services should be put forth in clear and concise manner. Effective placement of the headlines, company logo, navigational assistance and graphics should be the core plan of the parental page. Ensure your contact information easily.
Connectivity with various social medias and the interaction element with customers should be given prominence in the parent page. Ideally, the parent page should have an attractive layout with minimum clutter so that the headlines or services are highlighted.
5. Graphics and layout
To ensure quality in the design of your website, make sure it is clean and appealing. Avoid large images or copious text that distract the viewers from the primary purpose of the site visit. Look for simple and clear formats that provide intuitive navigation to the customers.
Choosing the colour scheme to garner positive response from your target audience is vital to the appeal of the website developed. Use elements of colour therapy to design your website, logos and defining company attitude to attract customers. Ensure that the visual layout of the website blends with the logo, branding and key marketing elements of the company.
Save the graphics to your site in suitable formats like JPEG or GIF. Uploading a large file size may increase the response time of the page, adversely affecting your customer feedback. Use fonts that are browser-friendly, attractive and legible in size and form.
6. Integration with Social Media
It is very essential to have a notable presence in the social networking platforms on the cyberspace. As per SEO statistics 84 % B2B marketers use social media in some form or the other to influence consumers. (Source: http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics#Social%20Media) Social media has become a brilliant source to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers by providing all required information and also adds a personal touch to the otherwise mechanical platform.
Facebook , Twitter ,Pinterest ,Linkedin etc., have become a very effective tool in the most popular and influencing source of marketing in today’s world namely word-of-mouth advertising. The customer helps you in increasing brand awareness by giving reviews and also feels connected with the company’s latest developments.
Hence having social sharing links is indispensable on your webpage as they facilitate easy sharing of product pictures and brand promotion videos.
7. Originality
It is crucial to choose customer – relevant content that is original, high quality and is appealing. Ensure quality of keywords and relevance to the company, brand image and its products/services. While including links, verify credibility of sources. Check duplicity of your content vis-a-vis publishing softwares like Copyspace. The stock images used from external sources should be copyright free.
Research well on Keywords to develop a SEO-friendly code and content to improve search engine ratings of the page. Select an appropriate Content Management software (CMS) to provide backend services for your webpage. Without an efficient CMS, the website can be logged with unnecessary information that can delay response time of the webpage.
In this age of digital media, a web page becomes the face of company online. Maintaining a high quality webpage requires these considerations to generate customer interest, improve traffic and generate further leads. Keeping these technical and creative inputs as guidelines, developing and hosting websites for your company will give you successful results.