A Comprehensive Guide to Building Your First Website

In today’s digital world, online content has an increasingly vital role in the success of a business. From monitoring your social media accounts to enhancing your blog, everything you do plays a critical part in optimizing the image of your company.

However, one of the most important aspects of your business’s online reputation is designing a website that attracts the right kinds of customers.

For many consumers, your website is the very first impression they get of your company. Presenting your brand in the wrong light may deter some customers or cause you to fall short of reaching your goals. On the other hand, taking the right approach towards building a strong website can significantly boost your chances of success. That’s why top business leaders know that hiring a professional to develop a website for them is essential to increasing their customer base.

There are many skills that overlap to generate the best ideas and strategies for making your website. There are four major elements to a successful website:

• that it’s functional
• that it looks good and reflects your business
• that it reads well
• that it achieves your marketing goals

While a web developer or programmer will create a website that functions perfectly, it may not look on brand or have clear copy. It’s rare to find a single person who is good at everything; sorry, this may include you too.

That’s why it’s best to hire experts with proven know-how to create and implement your website; like us at The Barbauld Agency. We have experts in each of those disciplines who work together to build effective and sharp-looking websites for our clients.

The job of your website creation team is to help you create a website that leaves a positive impression on customers and expands your target audience. To ensure that they do their job in the most effective way possible, it’s important for you to take a few crucial steps before reaching out to them. By doing your part in preparing ahead of time, you’ll not only make their job easier, but you’ll also ensure that you get the results you want.

The very first step towards designing a business website is understanding what your goals are. Every website serves a unique purpose, and this purpose is ultimately what defines your website and the target audience you hope to attract.

Consider what you want visitors to gain from spending time on your website.

• If your main priority is to sell products or services, then you naturally want your website to entice your customers to purchase these items.
• If your goal is just to provide a source of important information to readers, then you may want to talk to your developer about setting up your site in a way that teaches visitors something valuable.

No matter what your goals are, take the time to map them out before you speak to a web designer. This will help you stay true to your vision.

Budgeting is essential to staying on track as you look for the right person to develop your website. From the price of hosting, to the cost of regularly updating the look of your site, every cost needs to be taken into consideration. Don’t forget to ask about the cost of ongoing website security, too!

Once you know all the costs ahead of time, you’ll be better equipped to have your business website designed. After you speak to your designer, make sure to openly discuss the costs involved in the website development process so that you know what to expect in advance.

You may not be an expert on web design, and there’s nothing wrong with that. At the same time, it may be helpful to familiarize yourself with some basic web development jargon, such as domain names and servers. This will make it easier for you to follow along once you discuss your website with a developer.

Once you’ve figured out the logistics of building a website, you need to have a plan in place. Having a clear sense of direction will allow you to better communicate your ideas to a web designer so they can build the site you want.

If you want your website to get the right kind of response from viewers, you need to focus on branding. By optimizing the way you present your website to viewers, you’ll have a better chance of capturing their attention and maintaining their interest in your business.

When you’re developing your branding strategy, there are a few crucial questions to ask yourself.

• What type of content do you want to present on your website? This step ties in with the purpose that you defined earlier. It’s important for your content to stay true to your website’s purpose, because this will help your customers understand what your business stands for.
• How do you want to organize the information on your website? Keep in mind that the content you display on your homepage is the information that your readers will see first. Make sure to prioritize this content so that your readers see the most pertinent information as soon as they visit your website.

Branding your website well goes far beyond putting your logo at the top and having the same colors. Take a wider look at everything that visually represents your business from your building, your business cards, even employee clothing requirements.

Take note of the feel of your brand. Are you family-focused, up scale, modern, old-timey, minimalist?  If your brand is fresh and modern, showing that you keep up with current trends, you don’t want the online face of your business to be outdated so that potential customers might overlook you.

It is also extremely important to make sure that your customers can easily identify you when they search for you online. Make sure your branding is cohesive throughout all of your business so that you are recognizable and memorable.

The layout of your website directly influences the way your customers perceive it. Think carefully about the various aspects of your website’s layout, such as the following:

• Color scheme
• Navigation bar structure
• Header/footer
• Banner
• Mood/vibe

Each aspect of the layout plays a vital role in the overall presentation of your website. By planning out all the details ahead of time, you’ll have a clearer vision for your website that a web developer can help you bring to life.

Phones and tablets are ubiquitous in today’s tech-savvy society. As a business, it’s your job to cater to all of your customers’ needs, whether they prefer a desktop or mobile experience.

If this is a new consideration for you, take a look at a few companies’ websites on your mobile device. Compare some of your local businesses to larger well-known companies just to get a feel for the difference of the experience.

Not only will a mobile friendly site help improve your overall user experience, but it’ll also allow your website to reach a wider group of people, which can help expand your target audience in the long run.

In today’s world this is an element that cannot be overlooked. It is no longer a simple disadvantage to have a clunky mobile website; it is a serious detriment. Your business will not rank on Google if you do not have a mobile friendly website; which equates to blacklisting yourself. It isn’t worth paying the money to have a website at all if you can’t easily be found on google. One final thought: your site must be mobile friendly.

Creating a website for your business is a major step towards building your brand and expanding your audience. However, this goal isn’t meant to be achieved alone. Starting with a vision that you believe in, your website design and development experts will provide you with the tools you need to help it become a reality.

If you are ready to get your website dreams rolling, or need to update your existing website, get your notes in hand and contact The Barbauld Agency. Our team of experts are ready to help grow your business!