New Year, New Decade, New Website?
We all make the same New Year's resolutions to ourselves – join the gym, learn a new hobby, cut down on screen time – but how about resolutions for our business and, in particular, our website?
Often websites get left on the back burner for busy business owners. But what does a 'good website' mean? Is it something that looks great and modern? Does it reflect your brand in the way you want it to? Is it easy for your customers to use regardless of which device they are using? Does it do the job that you want it to do? Does it load quickly?
At the first stage of every website development project, we ask our customers three distinct questions:
- Who do you want to visit your website?
- Why will they be on your website?
- What clear action do you want them to do once they are on your website?
Once you are clear on these answers, we can take the next steps into developing your brand new website.
We take the time to understand your business inside out, and your goals before we jump in and start coding.
Our unique approach allows us to work collaboratively with you to produce a detailed specification which will detail not only what we are going to do, but how we are going to do it.
Considerations for Your Website
So what details do you need to consider before starting your web development? Here's a few important aspects you might want to think about.
Off-the-shelf or customised?
Developing a new website isn’t simply picking out a design template that looks great – it’s about supporting your core business functionality. You can choose to use either an ‘off the shelf’ package whereby you benefit from existing templates or you can choose to have something built entirely to your own specifications and business needs which is bespoke and you won't need to have a new website as your business grows.
Social media integration
Do you have social media integration on your website?
Not giving users the opportunity to use their favourite social media platforms to share your content and products is a big mistake many companies make on their websites.
Whether you have a news website, eCommerce shop, or any other kind of website, you should always have an option to share your content including in your blogs.
Are you content with your content?
Content is king. Great websites need great content. But whether you are going for a less-is-more approach, or a fully functioning e-commerce site, you need to ensure that your website content is both relevant and interesting to your audience.
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the number of pages your website needs – after all, everything depends on your own individual business.
Branding
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, retail or B2B, large or small.
Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It differentiates your offer from your competitors and tells your customer what they can expect from your products or services.
Your brand is who you are, what you want people to perceive you to be and who you want to be.
The foundation of your brand is your logo, your website packaging, and promotional materials.
The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, says it even better: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Once you have defined your brand, how do you get the message out there?
Make a positive impression and stand out!
In 2020, the awareness of your brand image can be done effectively through various digital marketing activities:
- User Experience (on your website)
- SEO & Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Paid Advertising (PPC)
Building a brand is definitely a process. However, the ongoing effort will result in establishing long-term relationships with your customers.
This can lead to a steady increase in sales, more projects, word-of-mouth referrals, and other opportunities.
What does your customer want?
Without knowing how your customers are using your site, you cannot tell if it's working in the most effective way possible.
The proof of any great website is the customer experience. Usability is crucial to the success of your website, so a vital stage of the website build is the testing process.
Do you need an online shop?
Customers love being able to purchase their items online, it's important to give them a great experience from the moment they put their item into their basket through to the second they complete their checkout.
Adding an e-commerce section to your website can be relatively straightforward but there are so many different elements which could be customised, you may need to think about how you want your online shop to function.
Why Kingston Labs?
We build strong relationships with our clients – when we know their business well we can not only anticipate any changes, we can also suggest our own improvements as we go along.
- We make bespoke, affordable, growth-driven web applications for small businesses to match our clients' needs
- We can deliver complex features that no web designers would be able to create
- We have many years experience of delivering web applications for companies
- We are a small agency so can work with clients closely
- We deliver complex features quickly
- The platforms we use allow us to build reliable and secure applications
In any project, there will always be last minute requests to make changes. But what may seem a small tweak to you, could in fact cause a real headache behind the scenes. Therefore, it’s so important to get the initial specification right from the start.
Contact us using our web form or by email (contact@kingstonlabs.com) to book a complimentary discovery call to see how we can work together to grow your business.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.