3 Pointers to Build a Business Website
Now everyone builds websites. Especially for business owners, sometimes if you don't have a website you don't seem to even exist. There are companies that charge a fee for designing websites for you professionally, but I believe that small businesses can spent their money on more important business-growing activities; and you should also try to build a business website for yourself.
1. Determine the Purpose of the Website
This one is important because everything else builds on this.
Just because everyone else has a website, so you need one too. But if you are going to spend that effort anyway you need to make the website truly benefit you and the business. What is the website for? If I am clueless about your business, what will I know and think about you after I have been to your site? Are you trying to tell me who you are? What you do? Are you trying to sell me your products directly?
Once you know what the purpose of your website is that will best serve your business needs, you can move on to the next point.
2. The Elements on the Page
This is about what you want to put on the front page. The screen is only so big, and people can only scroll down so far on any site. What business websites usually need to have are usually (at least) an 'About Us' page somewhere and also a way for a website visitor to contact them via e-mail and other means. And maybe a page to list and sell products. And maybe another page for terms and conditions, and other page for additional services... etc. So there is usually a lot of stuff to put on the front page. Sometimes a website has too much things on their front page it becomes a bit cluttered and intimidating.
I guess the main thing here is clarity and also a clear sense of direction. Remember what your website is supposed to do. (you cleared that in Step 1) So naturally, if I want to sell my products, I will allocate some space on the page to really drive people's attention to click that link to 'My Products' page. I mean, as a user, when I first encounter any website, the first thing I would probably ask myself is "what is this place and what can I do here?" (you can try asking yourselves the same questions) Your webpage should make it easy for me to figure out what I should do - which is preferably what you want me to do - to click on that 'My products' link.
That being said; do also remember to include some form of site navigation system to make it easier for a visitor to find things in your website easily (for example. I should be able to find your contact details easily no matter which part of the site I am currently looking at)
3. The Look and Feel
You'll want something that looks good and professional. While most of us aren't blessed with the artistic talent to making it over-the-top good, being just simple, clean and neat is fine. Avoid cluttering a limited space with too much stuff, really. The main thing is still the user - if I don't find your site easy to navigate around or I don't know what I am supposed to do and how, no amount of flash animations or cool graphics or anything is going to be helpful. (oh, and 'flashy stuff' also takes up memory and increases loading times)
Just keep a few pointers in mind when going about the aesthetics:
1. Darker text and light backgrounds are easier on the eyes than light text on dark backgrounds. I know it looks cool and stylish to have white fonts against a black backdrop, but sometimes it makes it hard to read.
2. This is obvious, but bigger images draw more attention than smaller images
3. Images with people in them also draw more attention than images without
4. Don't use ALL CAPS, don't bold unnecessarily
These pointers should be able to help you avoid some mistakes when you build a business website and will help make the visitor experience to your site a more pleasant one. There are a lot of tools available for building websites; like Microsoft FrontPage or even MS Office Publisher. But if you want one that is completely free to download and use you can try clicking on my link below. It should be sufficient and robust enough to kick off things.
Thanks for reading this and cheers.
---
After knowing what to consider when building your business website, you'll need to assemble the tools you need to actually do it. Go to [http://www.squidoo.com/designandbuildwebsite] to find out more about a completely free tool for you to build your website.
1. Determine the Purpose of the Website
This one is important because everything else builds on this.
Just because everyone else has a website, so you need one too. But if you are going to spend that effort anyway you need to make the website truly benefit you and the business. What is the website for? If I am clueless about your business, what will I know and think about you after I have been to your site? Are you trying to tell me who you are? What you do? Are you trying to sell me your products directly?
Once you know what the purpose of your website is that will best serve your business needs, you can move on to the next point.
2. The Elements on the Page
This is about what you want to put on the front page. The screen is only so big, and people can only scroll down so far on any site. What business websites usually need to have are usually (at least) an 'About Us' page somewhere and also a way for a website visitor to contact them via e-mail and other means. And maybe a page to list and sell products. And maybe another page for terms and conditions, and other page for additional services... etc. So there is usually a lot of stuff to put on the front page. Sometimes a website has too much things on their front page it becomes a bit cluttered and intimidating.
I guess the main thing here is clarity and also a clear sense of direction. Remember what your website is supposed to do. (you cleared that in Step 1) So naturally, if I want to sell my products, I will allocate some space on the page to really drive people's attention to click that link to 'My Products' page. I mean, as a user, when I first encounter any website, the first thing I would probably ask myself is "what is this place and what can I do here?" (you can try asking yourselves the same questions) Your webpage should make it easy for me to figure out what I should do - which is preferably what you want me to do - to click on that 'My products' link.
That being said; do also remember to include some form of site navigation system to make it easier for a visitor to find things in your website easily (for example. I should be able to find your contact details easily no matter which part of the site I am currently looking at)
3. The Look and Feel
You'll want something that looks good and professional. While most of us aren't blessed with the artistic talent to making it over-the-top good, being just simple, clean and neat is fine. Avoid cluttering a limited space with too much stuff, really. The main thing is still the user - if I don't find your site easy to navigate around or I don't know what I am supposed to do and how, no amount of flash animations or cool graphics or anything is going to be helpful. (oh, and 'flashy stuff' also takes up memory and increases loading times)
Just keep a few pointers in mind when going about the aesthetics:
1. Darker text and light backgrounds are easier on the eyes than light text on dark backgrounds. I know it looks cool and stylish to have white fonts against a black backdrop, but sometimes it makes it hard to read.
2. This is obvious, but bigger images draw more attention than smaller images
3. Images with people in them also draw more attention than images without
4. Don't use ALL CAPS, don't bold unnecessarily
These pointers should be able to help you avoid some mistakes when you build a business website and will help make the visitor experience to your site a more pleasant one. There are a lot of tools available for building websites; like Microsoft FrontPage or even MS Office Publisher. But if you want one that is completely free to download and use you can try clicking on my link below. It should be sufficient and robust enough to kick off things.
Thanks for reading this and cheers.
---
After knowing what to consider when building your business website, you'll need to assemble the tools you need to actually do it. Go to [http://www.squidoo.com/designandbuildwebsite] to find out more about a completely free tool for you to build your website.