Building a useable website can seem daunting. Here is a quick guideline to help you on your way.
All About the Content
To ensure that your website is appropriately listed, the content must be enclosed within the tags so that search engines can read it. Additionally, your content should be distinct and effectively convey your message. You should highlight the unique features of your product or service that differentiate it from your competitors. This is known as your unique selling proposition or USP and should be communicated clearly and immediately when a user lands on your page. Keep it simple and organized. Your website should be easy to navigate and understand. Use clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points to organize your content.
Make use of Meta Tags
The title and description tags are your two most important tags when it comes to referencing your page content. Meta keywords rarely have any impact what so ever on your pages listings.
Format Your Content Well
It is very important to break up your content with italics, bold text, bulleted lists, etc. Well formatted content makes your pages more accessible to visitors but the search engines also. Visitors scan across your page rather than read it so it makes sense to format your page so it can be browsed yet still convey your message. Make it mobile-friendly. Many people access the internet using their mobile devices, so make sure your website is optimized for mobile screens.
Code Properly
Having proper progamming in place is quite simply a must. Web standards have changed substantially over the years and it is important to make sure your pages validate both html and css. Think of it this way. How effective could you get your point across if you were talking swahili. Your code is no different. Why make it difficult for the search bots to index your content? Website speed is crucial for user experience. Also, make it fast. Optimize your images, minimize code, and use a good hosting service to ensure your website loads quickly.
Easy on the Eyes
Graphical elements play a huge role in a website design as well. You need to make sure you don’t have any extreme contrasts between colors and that you don’t use really bright colors as they are quite hard on the eyes. Your logo or brand should be clearly displayed on the home page and in more than one place.
Ease of Use
Make sure you have all legal documents in place such as privacy and return policies. It is also important to have all of your contact information pricing etc. displayed in a manner that conveys legitimacy. It should be very easy to contact you for any questions your visitors may have.
Maybe Newsletters?
A great way to generate return customers is to offer an opt-in newsletter. This allows for direct marketing to people who you know are already interested in your product or service. What better way is there to keep customers abreast of new products or changes in the services you offer.
Use a Tag Line or Trademark
In our case we trademarked the manipulated at symbol with the phrase bringing e-solutions to you, thereby effectively increasing the strength of our brand. We are now able to effectively convey who we are but give a good creative idea as to what we do.
Test, Test, Test
Test your website on different devices, browsers, and screen sizes to make sure it works properly for everyone.
Keep it Updated
Regularly update your website with fresh content, new features, and bug fixes.