Building a new website can and should be an exciting time for a company! If it is a brand new first-time website for your company, it helps to add another dimension to your business. It could also signal a change in a company, or a brand refresh if this new site is an upgrade. However, through all this excitement, it seems that some things fall through the cracks when building out a new site. This article will help address the five things people forget when building a website!
Photos
Photos can make or break a website. Using good photos helps draw in viewers and makes your site more engaging. This is reflective in more modern sites with very large photos and not a lot of text. A professional photographer is always recommended but if that doesn’t fit your budget use stock photos! There are several sites out there that offer paid for and stock photography. The thing not to do is use cellphone photos or scan in photos. These photos can be undersized, blurry, out of focus or not at a good angle that makes the photo engaging.
Writing content
One thing folks forget about is who will write their content. Some clients like to keep their same content and that is great! If it is working well, why change what’s written? The thing that is important to keep in mind is, how do you not only write engaging content but how to write it for the web. It is shown, that most people scan web pages, and don’t read every word. So, if you have a long block of text, it will most likely get skimmed. To combat people skimming over, you can divide up your content into small chunks or lists with headings. It makes it easier for the reader.
Mobile Views / Responsive Design
One of the newest things that have taken the internet by storm, and almost overnight is responsive design. This term means that your website looks great on all devices and that the core design principles and navigation remain consistent across platforms.
Some people when thinking about their sites, only visit the desktop version of the site. While that is great, what does it look like on mobile? The best designs take the mobile first approach and think what are the core pieces a view would need while looking on a much smaller screen? How can those pieces carry over to a tablet, and the desktop?
Who will be making updates
This is an important step. Does someone on your team know how to blog or update content? Do you know who will be updating those headshots of the senior level management team? This is an important step into making sure your site stays relevant for Google. This way it keeps users and Google coming back for info!
How do clients interact with your sites
Do you know what a user does when they come to visit your site? You might have an idea in your head of what they do or what they should do. However, have you talked with users to find out how they use your site? You might have 70 pages that display your history, your products and everything under the sun, but if users only use 10 pages, it might be time to rethink if all the content is relevant.
*Bonus*
Company mission
Do you know what the purpose of your company is? What are the core values and what does it stand for? Do all of your employees know the core values? How can we reflect those values and the mission in the new design or update?
If you would like some help remembering these things on your next web project, let Barhop help. We can help you remember these above items and make your website look fantastic! Get started right now!