Want to know how to create a great website? Follow our 7 top tips to make sure your website totally rocks… 

1. Get mobile: the importance of being phone compatible 

It’s not just teenagers that have their face constantly buried in a screen, it’s businesses, it’s clients, it’s you and it’s me. It’s not sociable, it’s not pretty, but it’s what we’re all doing whether we like it or not. 
 
Simply put, the sooner you make your professional website mobile friendly (and by that we mean optimised to be easy to use on smartphones and tablets, not just desktops and laptops), the more hits you’ll get on your site – and, more importantly, the more clients you’ll get coming back to do business with you. 
 
When someone is mobile, they want a completely different experience from your site. They’re busy, they’re on the move – they want the facts and they want them right now. They don't want to pinch and squeeze the screen just so they can read the text. They need to be able to view your website quickly and easily. Your website must be fully responsive for mobile users. 
 

2. Copy that: leave it to the professionals 

If people read your website and there’s a spelling mistake or a grammatical error, you will look unprofessional, and the chances are they’ll take their business elsewhere. But beyond that, any copy you include needs to be well-written, engaging, and relevant. If it isn’t, no-one is going to read it and there’s no point in it being there. 
 
Furthermore, your copy should be crammed full of relevant keywords that are appropriate for your business, as it is these that will get you ranking higher on search engines, which means more vital traffic. 
 
If you don’t know how to do these things, there is nothing to be gained from giving it a go – your website, (no matter how smart, how new, how brilliant), will not get the hits it deserves. Leave it to a professional copywriter. Don’t know one? Your web designer definitely will. 

3. Strike a pose: image is everything 

Pictures are incredibly important. Without them your website is a sea of words that will look far too daunting for anyone to want to swim in. Videos are even better – any content that can be gazed at without having to engage the brain too much is basically a winner. Images and videos will attract people to your website, keep them on your site longer and make them think more about what it is you’re doing. They’ll also boost your SEO (search engine optimisation) rankings too – which is exactly what you want. But images need to be right – not the wrong shape or size, not too generic, and definitely not blurry. Professional images are best. Need to know more? Luckily for you we’ve got a whole blog on the subject: here

4. Time for action: engage your users 

Make them do something. By that we don’t mean just use your business, (although that’s the eventual aim), we mean engaging with something on your site – this is known as a ‘call to action’. It can be anything from subscribing to a newsletter, filling in a contact form or responding to a survey. Why? Because an engaged visitor is worth ten times more than a passive observer – once they’re doing something, they’re invested, they care, and they’ll remember your site – and that’s a big hurdle leapt for your business. 
 
It also means you can monitor traffic more closely – how your users behave can dictate how you organise your web design, so users are seeing exactly what you want them to see. 

5. Be there (and don’t be square): the importance of contact 

When it comes to web design your contact details need to be very easy to find, no matter where your visitors are on the site. They need to contain a very straightforward way to get to you – and the more ways the merrier. Then being responsive to any contact is absolutely vital. If you provide a phone number, pick up the phone; if you give them an email address, reply to their message as soon as you can. Being responsive makes you look more engaged, more effective, and more efficient – which are all things people want in a good business. Even if your answer is not exactly what they might want to hear, should they need you in the future, they know you’ll be there. 

6. The time is now: Keep up and keep it current 

If it’s clear your website hasn’t been updated in a long time, frankly it doesn’t give a great impression. And what’s more it won’t do your SEO rankings any favours. Mix it up – change the look, change the images, change the feel. Give users returning to your site as much to look at as people who’ve never been there before. 
 
Every time something interesting and newsy happens, put it on your website. Won an award? Shout about it. Made your hundredth sale? Tell us about it. Your successes will make you look like a more dependable company, and the fact that your professional website is current makes you look tech-savvy and on-the-ball. 

7. Blogging is the future: do it 

Effective websites have blogs. We’re not just saying that because we think blogging’s great (which we do, by the way). Updating your website with regular, informative, targeted blogs works. Why? Because every time you update your website with new content, Google is watching – it knows what you’re saying and it’s taking note of all those vital keywords. Give it what it wants and your website will climb and climb up the SEO rankings. 
 
So blog, and do it regularly – the more regularly the better. But just as with general copy (above) it needs to be good, otherwise you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Get a copywriter, make friends with them, and make sure they know who your target audience is, what it is you would like to say each time, and the tone you would like to strike (this doesn’t have to be formal, but it does have to be readable and informative). Bob’s your uncle. 
If you think your business would benefit from a new website and you don't know where to start, why not have a free 10 minute phone consultation with it'seeze Horsham. Call us today on 01403 610125 or send us an email, and we'll get a date in the diary. 
Tagged as: Online Marketing
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