Many things in our business life need to be pre-planned and starting or re-building a website is no exceptions. Here are some tips you need to be aware of before you get started:
- Make sure you select a domain name that you can say over the phone and not have to spell out every time you talk to someone. Choose a name that’s short and easy to remember.
- Make sure your domain name is registered in YOUR name or your business name, not with the person who may be assisting you.
- Have access to and own your own hosting account – if someone is setting this up for you, ensure you will always have full access as well.
- Select hosting that will allow you to scale up as needed further down the track if you business ‘flourishes’. Make sure support is easily available.
- Select a Content Management System eg WordPress or Joomla for your website to be built on. By doing so, you can access the website yourself and make minor changes as required.
- Your website MUST be mobile friendly – ensure whoever builds or re-builds your website follows recommended practices in making that happen.
- Highlight your pages and posts with images, larger fonts and RELEVANT content to the page topic your are discussing.
- Make navigation easy to follow
- Ensure your contact form is easy to find AND is being sent to YOUR email address.
- About Us – Is this page relevant to your visitor and not just about all the certifications and qualifications you may have? Yes, included those but write about yourself and how you can help any prospective client.
- When writing content, answer queries people might be looking for, with your content. After all that’s why they are coming to your website – to get answers to their problems.
- Set up and keep an email marketing list – don’t deal once with your clients and never get back to them – their follow up work is important.
- KEEP YOUR NEW WEBSITE UPDATED!!! I cannot stress this enough – backups and regular updates are your business’s best friend.