Whether you’re a local shop owner or a business that services customers worldwide, having a website is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity. Websites provide an online shopfront for businesses and one that’s well-designed can help you reach new customers and stand out from competitors.

Here are five things you’ll want to consider when building your website:

5. Branding

You have one chance to make a first impression. For those who haven’t heard of your business, your website will be their first touch point with you. A website with a professional design helps to strengthen your business’s overall image and builds trust. A high performing website incorporates branding beyond the logo – it has a consistent look and feel across its images, fonts and colour themes. Before you build a website, you should consider how you’d like your business to be represented. This is often known as branding and it doesn’t need to be expensive. With sites like Pinterest , you can create a mood board to form your brand image. You can also use free resources like Colourlovers and Canva to select colour palettes and fonts. These tools will help you form a brand that will guide your website design and other marketing materials.

4. Website architecture

A website won’t convert visitors into customers if it lacks a solid website architecture. Well-designed websites consider how information is organised and structured, it is built to helps visitors and search engines like Google find what they’re looking for. It is designed to be mobile and desktop friendly.

Did you know…? More than 50 percent of search queries come from mobile devices. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, you may be missing out on customers looking for your product or service.

3. Your unique selling proposition

Your business has 0-8 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention, which leaves you with a small window  to explain your value proposition quickly and effectively. Well-designed websites showcase their unique selling points on the homepage through text, imagery and videos. This helps visitors quickly understand what your business is and what you can offer clients. Consider your elevator pitch and how it would be best represented.

2. Clear call to action

A website should help generate sales and leads for your business. It should clearly define the action(s) you’d like you website visitors to take. Ensure it has multiple ways for visitors to connect with you i.e. contact forms, click to call buttons, sales enquiry forms and newsletter sign-ups…etc. Some people may prefer to connect over the phone while some may opt for email communication. Providing several communication channels will ensure you capture as many leads as possible. These elements are critical when you are building a website to attract leads and sales.

For examples of high performing websites, visit our showcase gallery.

1. Integration with other marketing platforms

Your website is one touch point for your customers and they may not always submit an enquiry or purchase from you on the first visit. If you’d like your website to work harder for you, you’ll need to consider how you’ll leverage the website traffic that comes in. For example, you may want to show a Facebook ad to people who’ve taken specific action on your website or perhaps you’ll want to send them a series of automated emails once they have subscribed to your website. Alternatively you could direct traffic to your social channels and build a community on Facebook. There are many ways a website can help you work smarter.

Ready to launch your website? We can do it all for you so you can focus on running your business. Our team of online solutions advisors can help kick start your online journey.