Admit it: Creating your own website is stressful—enough to make a seasoned website developer smash his keyboard, let alone someone new to it.
Websites are complex, multidimensional portals that lead visitors to the answers they need. But before that, to first retain visitors with a fully functional site is your goal.
However, with every website build, a handful of stuff could go tremendously wrong, like not including a button for purchase, a specific lead generating form or even broken links. So there seem to be a thousand and two things for you to do before even going live. That’s where we help.
Here are 9 Important Tips to Learn Before Creating Your Own Website.
1. Website Colour
With website colour being the first thing a visitor sets their eyes on, you have to entice and allure them. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too contrasting. It might be tempting to take the simple plan using your website’s default colour scheme (which is not a bad idea if you could match it to your brand). But you should always have some flair.
One thing to take note of, always review and validate all the colours you choose, whether it matches with your brand and message.
*When you create a website, try to avoid intense colours, as well as high contrast.
If you need a website to generate an abundance of colours and feel like playing a game at the same time. I recommend Coolors. It’s a great way to discover unknown pairings.
2. Font It
As the saying goes, ” Flaunt your Font.” The engaging content in your website consists mainly of words, which is the most essential aspect. Therefore, make sure the font chosen is clearly legible and fit the style of your branding.
*The most used font on the web is “OPEN SANS.” Its high readability and friendly appearance make it an excellent choice for a fun website, even a professional one.
3. Brand Message
An ultimate factor in making or breaking the creation of your website. Visitors have to know accurately what you can offer. They need information on who you are (brand) and what you do when they enter your homepage. Pronto.
*Effective Branding helps establish a transparent user experience and strengthen your online presence. So get thinking!
4. UI/UX Design (Arguably the Most Important)
So what really makes you stay on a website? Definitely proper UI/UX designing. UI/UX design is arguably the most gruelling thought process to ever adorn your website. It goes beyond just making a website beautiful. It breaks down the website from a user’s point of view.
Before a group of designers starts building on your website. They must ask these three questions:
WHY? WHAT? HOW?
These three questions depict how your website should be used, how it should be scrolled, which specific buttons to use, what font to use, and of course, why anything should be the way it should anyways.
It’s a complex question that I still ask myself to this day, and you should too. But if you need any help, Plexial is definitely here to answer any for you if possible.
*A typical process flow goes like this in my head:
Understand Context of Use > Specify User Requirements (UR) > Design Solutions > Refer back to UR
Give it a try. It might work for you.
5. Social Media Is A Must
To muster any form of sales, one has to leap into Social Media. Whether you’re a fan of these selective platforms, social media is here for good. It has become an integral factor of many individual’s lives, either personally or professionally in this case.
*Always have major social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, or even Twitter linked to your website, and make it subtly visible. You can always take references from where others place social media links on websites.
6. Optimize Images
A website without speed is not a website at all. Optimizing your images when building a website can mean a whole big deal. It cuts down the unnecessary loading time needed when a visitor is entering your site.
Fun Fact: 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load.
Do you know the importance now? 1-2 seconds is optimal.
7. Accurate Product Descriptions for E-commerce
A poorly written product description can do more harm than good. The consumer must understand what your product’s features are and why they should buy it.
Because you’re selling to the consumer, not to yourself. No one understands your product better than you do. If the consumer doesn’t agree with one feature, chances are, they won’t buy it.
So how do you write product descriptions on your e-commerce website?
- Write it based on your customers.
- Translate the Features into Benefits for them
- Crafting the Story (the tricky part)
- Adding SEO keywords
What’s more, with the integration of google ads and search engines. We need accurate descriptions such as gtin/barcodes and metadata to promote. Furthermore, you would need a precise representation of your product’s weight when incorporating a shipping carrier. It might sound like a lot to take in, but there’s no rush.
With these steps, you’ll be garnering sales in no time. However, a professional might be a better choice if you’re still unsure how to tie your whole website together, including the writing.
8. Keywords, Keywords, Keywords
Keywords help define your website. They help visitors find anything related to your website through long-tail and short-tail phrases. Just remember, fully utilize your keywords. No matter how well designed a website is, it will be pointless if there are no visitors.
9. Friendly for Smartphones
Read this.
“52.2% of all website traffic is produced from smartphones.”
&
“61% of consumers are more likely to purchase while on their smartphones.”
I think that covers a lot of information.
Time to Start Designing
These 9 important tips are bound to help you in creating your own website. If you still have any burning questions on how to create a website, Plexial will be sure to answer them! Reread this post if needed.
Plexial is listed as the top 30 Small Business Website Design Companies at Design Rush.
