Nowadays, it’s rare to find a small business or startup that doesn’t have an online presence. Every entrepreneur knows the importance of having a website to represent his brand on the internet. However, many still have yet to realize that it’s not enough that you have a website, it has to be effective at fulfilling your digital marketing objectives. Websites are meant to attract potential customers but what do those customers do once they get to your site? Here are tips on how to make a website from scratch and make sure it is set up for success.
1. Looks matter when it comes to website design
When you’re building a website from scratch, you have a ton of opportunities to play around with color schemes, typography and interface design. Use this opportunity to visualize what it is you want to see on your website. Create a set of objectives that your site is meant to fulfill. These should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based (SMART). Your objectives will shape the user interface for your site.
2. Select a web management software or site builder
Based on your objectives and the look and feel you want for your site, the next step on how to create a website from scratch is to select a website management software or website builder. If you don’t have the technical capability to build a website, you can use a site builder such as Strikingly to help you with this exercise. Strikingly features a huge collection of web templates that cater to virtually every industry so you’re bound to find one that suits your site’s branding and marketing goals.
3. Make it easy for users to navigate around your site
When you’re creating a website from scratch, you need to think about your customer and how you want him or her to view your site. Make it easy for your visitors to find information that the need on your website. Your site content should follow a logical flow that helps them understand what your brand is about and how your product can rock their world if it’s designed to do that. Be accessible to your customers by adding updated contact information on your site.
4. Add a blog
Making a website from scratch includes planning content and creating a system for keeping your site updated. One of the easiest ways to keep your audience engaged is by adding a blog to your website. It’s also an effective way of establishing your brand as a go-to for information about your niche product. When you become a brand associated with quality content, you are building trust and confidence in your service.
The best practice is to create a content calendar and build a list of topics that you want to write on your blog. Ideally, you want to update this area regularly - many start adding daily posts but if that’s not feasible for you considering that you also need to run a business, twice monthly articles is a good start.
5. Launch and continuously improve
Finally, after spending a lot of time planning and building a website from scratch, your site is ready for launch. But the work doesn’t end after you hit publish. Pay attention to the site analytics on the site to learn more about how users are engaging with your content. Strikingly has an integrated site analytics tool that lets you track the most popular pages on your website as well as learn more about where your audience is coming from. However, you want a more granular view of your site’s performance, it’s highly recommended that you integrate your Google Analytics account with your site.
Continuously improve and tweak your content to respond to the data you’re getting. Get your users to keep coming back by constantly serving them fresh content.
