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Some Simple Tips for Creating a Website
By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
We’ve been working on the new BBR Marketing website for a few months now as we have time between client projects. Frankly, we have built quite a few websites lately for our clients, so ours should be easy, right? Not as much as you’d think. With that in mind, I wanted to provide a few suggestions as you may be thinking about creating or reworking your site to help make the process easier.
Secure your URL
We already had www.bbrmarketing.com, but if you are just starting up, make sure you reserve a URL that is as close to your company name as possible. It can be really hard, since “all the good URLs are taken,” but do what you can. Keep in mind that people will assume that your URL is your company name with “.com” added to the end. So get it as close to your company name as you can. Some people try to get around this by using “.biz” or “.net” or some other option. Just know that the vast majority of people are going to type “.com” the first time around, and may never get back to your site.
Create a site map
Before you jump right in, think about the pages you want on your site and how they will connect to each other. Look at other sites in your industry, and even competitors, for ideas. Jot down what you like and don’t like about each, then create a site map for how your site will be designed. This can be as easy as drawing boxes on a note pad, creating an organization chart document in PowerPoint or even building a tree-type file in Excel. It doesn’t matter how you do it nearly as much as if you do it. It will make the rest of the process so much easier.
Write the copy first
Now that you know what pages the site will contain, start writing the copy for each page. Remember, people don’t read long copy, they scan, so break it up with subheads and bullets where possible. Keep it short and full of key words. Don’t be overly repetitive and never have the exact same copy on multiple pages of your site. Once it’s written, have someone else review and edit it to cut down on errors. Let it sit for a day or two, then read it again. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll catch. For more tips, read this previous blog post on Writing for the Web.
Create a clean design
Create whatever design you want, but above all else, make sure it’s easy to navigate. If it’s hard to find information, visitors will go elsewhere. Brand your site with your company’s look and feel, using consistent colors and layout. Your Website is the most important marketing piece you will create, and it should properly represent your company and services. The days when you throw up a easy template site are really over. Your website is your new front door, and it should be welcoming and professional. Read The New Front Door, a previous blog post that addresses this topic.
Test, Review, Test, Review
Whoever you use for site development should test your site on all the different platforms. Not everyone uses Internet Explorer anymore, so make sure it looks good on FireFox, Safari, Chrome and all the other popular ones out there. Ideally, it should work well on mobile devices too, so take a look at it on your smart phone or tablet device, too. Check all the links to make sure they go to the right place. Reread the copy for flow and content now that it’s in place and revise as needed. Have a couple of others read it and test all the links, just to make sure you aren’t missing anything. Once it looks good, get ready to launch and launch big!
Promote it!
Let everyone know about your new site. Provide the link on social media. Send your link in a newsletter. Add it to your email signature, and write a blog post on it. You did all that work for a reason, so let everyone know it’s there!
This really just scratches the surface, but it gives you a good starting place. It takes a lot of work and time to create a truly good website. And while some are able to do this on their own, I would recommend hiring a professional to assist, as they take all the guess work out of the process. Be sure to set expectations with your vendor from the beginning and talk about the scope and schedule of the project before getting started. Get recommendations from others who have used this vendor, too. Look at samples of their previous work and find someone with whom you’d enjoy working. You’ll be glad you did.
Photo Credit: mikekorn