Building a website is an important step in creating a successful digital marketing strategy as well as consumer access.
 
Unfortunately, sometimes a website can be the downfall of even the best companies. A poor website can result in lost business in the blink of an eye, so it’s imperative to create a site that people will enjoy.
 
So what makes a great website?
 
The answer to that is revealed by answering these questions first.
 
Question One: How Will You Get People to Visit Your Site?
This comes down to what marketing techniques you will use to influence your target audience. You’ll need to figure out a way to reach your desired demographic and get them to visit your site. This can be done through search engine optimization/marketing (SEO/SEM), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), social media branding, display ads, direct mail, etc. A good way to figure out what works for your business is to look at the cost-per-action (CPA) of each technique to find out how much you spent getting the customer to your site. Then choose the one that produces the most results with the least amount of overhead.
 
Question Two: What Will the Visitors Want to See?
What makes a great website is often based on profiling your customer base. Knowing why the potential customer is visiting your site will help you give them a better experience using the website, and result in conversions. In order to do this, you’ll need to figure out what the customer needs before they visit the site. In other words, if you think people are visiting because of your helpful blog, make that the landing page. Or if your company makes a well-known product or offers a popular service, make those quick links from the landing page to make finding that information easy. Visitors usually only read about 28% of the content on a web page, so trying to put all the information right on the homepage is counterintuitive. Guess where they want to go and make it easy for them.
 
Question Three: What Is the Purpose of Your Site?
Basically, what do you want your customers to do when they get to your site? Do you want them to buy something? Are you trying to raise awareness about a certain topic? Are you just trying to get them to sign up for a newsletter? These questions will help you design a website that tailors to the customer but pushes them in the direction that you want them to go.
 
While these are all important pieces of figuring out what makes a great website, most of what you’ll do will be trial and error. Don’t be afraid if your first attempt fails; use the information from the first run to improve your next one.
 
Looking to improve your website? Call MRN Web Designs today.