5 Tips for Creating Compelling Website Pages
Your website, the hub, homebase and receiver of all search queries, local optimization efforts, social media marketing as well as traditional advertising. That is a lot of pressure and to think there are still many businesses that do not have a website seems unimaginable. Is this the product of the high unemployment rates where we are seeing a surge in more small businesses being created or a reflection of the economy and lack of funds? Maybe it is not that involved and as much as we gasp, it could be that they just do not feel that they need one. It sounds maddening to us as we spend such an incredible amount of time online that when we see someone on Twitter without a website, we wonder why. It is so easy to create a site that there are no real excuses but yet while it may be easy to throw up some pages are they compelling? Are they worth visiting and better yet, worth visiting again? Are they worthy of Google or Bing giving them the nod of a front page feature?
The Role of a Website
The role of a website is to attract new visitors, engage them and keep them long enough so that they buy. This is not that difficult of a conclusion to come to as we are in business to make money and our website is a contributing factor or plays a pivotal role in our overall marketing plan and execution thereof. How we execute the advertising and marketing plan is what makes us successful; unless of course the plan is flawed. The goals for a website generally focus on traffic as we are so eager and in need of a number that the real purpose of the website that will help to define the goals gets overlooked. Yes, we want the website to bring in traffic and perform well, but how? How do you plan on accomplishing this? It is not a 7-11 where you build it and they will come. If it were that easy, I would not be here night after night blogging and neither would you. We would be off on our yacht or in a cabin in the mountains enjoying the world as we raked in the bucks from all the visitors. I digressed … a late night dream moment of being on the high seas drifting.
5 Tips for Creating Compelling Website Pages
1. Platform & Theme. I would be doing a great disservice if I did not recommend WordPress for a self-hosted website. The ease of creating a WordPress site coupled with the semi- customizable and fully customizable themes/child themes make it the most functional, flexible and user friendly platform. The look of the site is what they are met with and see first upon visiting. Having a site that looks like less than professional sends a message. The design may not be as appealing to everyone however the platform in which it resides effects the user experience.
2. Design. The design some say is not that big of a deal. I may be biased however, a site that is clean, neat and designed with how the visitors will view the site through white space, photos/graphics lends itself to reflect upon the business structure and the importance they give to establishing their presence online. As a general rule, a site needs to be:
a) Easy to Navigate. This is critical as not everyone is arriving at the home page. Navigation needs to be present on all pages.
b) Easy to Read. Straight and to the point with search teams and utilization of industry standards/visitor association and lingo. We see this often where a site is filled with industry terms that seem foreign to the visitors. Talk with them in a manner in which they can understand and relate to. The idea is to have them read the page, comprehend and absorb the information to assist them in their buying decision.
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