Kleinburg Brewery
- design
- / web
Your website is the first impression viewers have of your business. Hopefully you already have a website when reading this. But, perhaps you are thinking about an upgrade and you don’t know what to do or look for.
No matter what business you are in, or what products you are trying to sell, and now even with the increasing importance of social media, your website is very important.
Just look at it this way… your website isn’t just a page with text, it’s the introduction to your company, its the lobby to your store or business, and it’s influence is as important as the way you dress to your job interview. Failing to do so, can cost your business new visitors turning into customers.
The way you market your website today can be quite challenging, but, without these essentials steps increasing the performance of your website can be very tough.
Website Design and Visuals
I don’t know about you, but when I browse online for a product or service, the first thing I look for is how visually appealing the website is. The design of the website is what builds the credibility of a company. Once again, let’s go back to the example of an actual store. Most of us will not walk into a store for the first time if it looks old and creepy. Same theory applies for your website, if it looks out dated and doesn’t even work properly on latest devices like tablets and smartphones, chances are that visitor is gone before you know it.
Ask your self the question: Am I making design a priority? Look at your competitors online, do they have a website design that puts yours to shame? Have you ever asked some of your customers to give you feedback about your website? These are simple questions that can help you understand where you stand about the design of your website. If you think that your website needs a face lift, feel free to contact me and I can help you achieve the look you desire.
Navigation and Speed
Have you noticed that today people are getting more and more impatient? Navigation and the speed of your website can definitely make your visitors lose their patience and go somewhere else. Now you ask yourself… well how do I improve the speed and navigation of my website? Easy!
1. You will need to make sure that whatever graphics or images you have on your website are web friendly. If you recently got your website re-designed and developed, and you have noticed that it takes forever to load, than chances are that the images being used are very high in quality, and have not been saved for the web. This can also cause your website to go offline, especially if you have a lot of traffic. Web hosting companies can have a cap on your monthly bandwidth, so if your images are a few MB each, that cap will be reached in no time.
2. Navigation is very important. If your visitors have a hard time navigating through your website, and can’t find what they need almost instantly… well guess what? Away they go.
When developing your website, always make sure you create a sitemap that is easy to navigate, keep the most important information always visible (ie. phone number, email, location etc…) because if your visitors can’t find them chances are they will go elsewhere. Now this is not just about your contact info, but also the way your pages are setup, and how one navigates from one to the other. Keep it simple, that’s what most people look for when going on a website… simplicity.
An important tool is Google Analytics. This tool is free and it will give you important stats about your visitors. An important stat to look at is the bounce rate. If this number is high it means that your visitors are leaving within a 10 seconds time span. It will also tell you what pages they landed on and what page they left. If you notice that your visitors are leaving on the same page, than it needs to be analyzed and something needs to be changed.
Building a proper website can be an overwhelming task when trying to do it yourself. It can take a lot of time, and if it’s not done right it can end up costing you more than hiring a professional. These are just some of the fundamental principles that can guide you through the process of hiring a web designer and developer, giving you the right tools to help you ask the right questions, and get the website of your dreams.