Your small business is your baby. You have spent countless hours, days or even years nurturing this baby, making sure it has everything it needs to grow healthy and become successful. I know this is true because you’re here reading this now. As a business owner of a graphic design agency, I can relate as well as share my knowledge.
Let’s get right to the point. Your time is money! If you have an existing website or plan on building a website, the steps below will help guide you in creating a successful website for your business.
Before you build your website, you need to ask yourself three questions. What is my brand? Who are my customers? What are my goals?
Your brand is not your logo! Your brand is your identity. It’s what you provide, how you provide it and much more. Your customers are the people in need of your product and/or your services. But what are your goals? Maybe you want to make more money? Maybe your goal is to get your message out to the world? Knowing these things are very important before you move on to the next step.
The next step is to understand what a website does for you. It’s very simple. A website can only do three things for your business: build awareness, build revenue and gain retention. One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is overload their website with useless bells and whistles. You want a clear path for your customers to follow without distraction. You want to let your customers know who you are, what you offer, and why they need your services.
The final step is to take all of this and translate it in to an esthetic layout with amazing content. Do you want a website that will work for you and take your business to the next level? If so, then hire the professionals. I can’t stress this enough! There is a reason why beautiful graphics and typography laid out in just the right way with just the right colors work. There is a reason why you like certain ads and commercials. There is a proven method behind it all. That also means there is a reason why your website is not helping your business.
Ask yourself, how does my website look next to my competition? Is it up to date? Is it responsive to tablets and mobile devices? Am I using high quality images? Do I have intention behind my website? You are not the first or last stop on your clients shopping list. It is extremely important to grab their attention as quickly as possible. Did you know that you have only 5 seconds to capture your audience? You must tell them who you are, what you do and why they should stay on your site to learn more about you. You can do all of this with your slogan, a great logo and powerful content.
These are a few things to consider if you have or have not created a website for your business.
Peace, Love and Design.
– Dan Messmer, Owner