Our clients often ask us what makes a good website so this post will highlight some of the key points that you need to know when designing a website.
A website is available 24/7 to anyone in the market for your services or wishing to
learn more about your company. In this day and age, if you're in business you need a website, it's as simple as that.
A good website.......
Is a shop window to your business, displaying your product/service in an appealing way that will encourage customers to buy-essentially your website is online merchandising and should be built to showcase your product/service. It should be easy to find-this is where search engine optimisation and tools like google adwords are important For example, if you are a furniture removal company based in Waterford your site should come up when a person types in furniture removal, house move, removal, furniture, Waterford, etc
Like in life, first impressions count-your homepage needs to generate enough interest in your product/service for your customers to want to find out more. You have about 10 seconds from when someone clicks on your site for them to decide whether to stay or go-make it so they want to see more! Essentially this means that your site should excite your customers, draw them closer and then tell them more. Drip feed information, don't bombard your customers!
It's absolutely imperative that your site is easy to get around- people should be able to access the information they need easily and quickly. The information should be useful and relevant to users - know your customer and tailor your content to what they need, provide answers to frequently asked questions, recommend information they might find helpful, etc.
Talk to people as you would if they were standing in front of you, your content should be easy to read, using plain English and avoiding jargon. Make it easy to understand.
Finally, a good website will show you how many customers came to your site and how they found you-this is where tracking comes in and without it you're pretty much playing a guessing game- you can't manage what you don't measure.
The key message is that a good website is EASY for a customer to find, navigate, read and use.
