The great thing about redesigning your business website, once you make the decision to go forward, is that it gives you a wonderful opportunity to fix any past mistakes you might have made. If you never liked the wording on a certain page, for example, or didn't feel that your old site was worth the money you put into it, then now is the perfect time to get your online marketing plan back on track.
The most important thing, however, is to not replace the old mistakes with new ones. If you are redesigning your business website, here are seven things you should think about from the start:
Nothing beats a great, eye-catching design. When your site looks great, visitors have a much better impression of your business, and that's something you should never underestimate from a sales point of view.
SEO should be one of your first considerations. If your website can’t be found on Google and the other major search engines, then it doesn't really matter how great it looks, or how wonderful your products are. Make sure you're speaking with your business web design team about search engine optimization from the first day.
Don't overlook the importance of web hosting. Often, business web hosting is built into a web design quote, so owners and managers don't give it much thought. Having high-quality hosting can affect the security of your website, as well as its search engine positioning and loading times, so don't overlook this part of the process.
Your business website should be expandable. Not everything that you'll ever want on your new business website is on your mind now. For that reason, make sure it's scalable, and that you can add pages and content in the future if needed.
Don't forget social media marketing. It's easy to think of social media marketing – and the heavy use of websites like Facebook and Twitter – as just another passing trend, but the hundreds of millions of people who use them daily suggest otherwise. Make sure you have things like Twitter feed, and a link to your company's Facebook fan page, integrated in your new design.
Online videos can help boost sales and lower returns. Online videos cost less to produce than ever, and more customers have access to them. With that in mind, why not use them to show off your products, provide care and cleaning tips, or just let customers get a behind-the-scenes look at your company?
Your website is for more than just marketing. Obviously, most business owners and managers tie Internet profits to things like online sales and leads. Don't forget, though, that your business website can also be a great tool for making your company more efficient in other areas, like recruiting and finding vendors to work with.
A big part of success in business – online or off – is avoiding past mistakes. Keep that in mind, and plan your business website redesign very carefully.
