Free Web Design Guidance for Novices
You’ve decided to start your own company – congrats! After creating your digital marketing plan, you are ready to tackle your website. You will need to have a clear view of what you want on the website, so visitors will be able to easily find what they want and even make a purchase.
There are many software programs out there (paid and free) that you can use to build your website. These programs use builders – templated designs that use drag and drop applications to create each page as well as the elements. When you have decided on a builder, we recommend you play with it for a while to get used to it. Once you are familiar with it, you can start creating your website.
Website & Brand Strategy
Your website is a reflection of your brand strategy and more than just having your logo on it. You can break the website into four components: brand, content, technology, and design. Brand (brand strategy) pulls the other three together and ensures that you and your staff are all on the same page as far what should be on the website, achieving your website goals, and how the website should look. First and foremost, the site should be uncluttered. No one likes a website that is too busy, especially with pop-ups. If you are going to have a pop-up, whether an ad, subscription, or chat box, it should be unobtrusive and put to one side of the page.
Designing your First Website
The content of each page consists of images and text. You can also add videos, audio, and animation. The rule of thumb is that for every 100 words, you should have an image. The images for your website should be on your company, product, or service and staff. If you must use stock images, don’t use too many, and use those that apply to the text. You don’t need borders or bright colors to make a statement. Remember, simple is best.
The content should have value, and not just serve as a big commercial about your business. You want to explain to your potential customers how your business can help them. Educating your customer is also a plus. For example, if you own a carpet cleaning business, you can put daily cleaning tips on your website. The content should be relevant and updated periodically. Sites that are frequently updated look fresh and can create a following. Finally, keeping the website professional is a must (text and images).
We’ve talked about keeping the design simple, but we also want to put some color on it too. For easy-to-read text, the text color should be black on a white or light tan page. Using a gray text color on a white background is hard on the eyes. The font and font size are also important. We recommend san-serif fonts since they are used for computers since and look better on lower resolution monitors. The font size should be 12 point, which is the universal point size. Don’t forget to include headlines (H1s) and subheads (H2s) and so on.
When you are putting your logo on the site, you should use its colors on the entire site, such as on the navigation bar, header, or footer.
Your Website is your Reputation
Reputation management is also key to the promotion of your website. Your website and everything on it affects your reputation, aside from your social media plan. You should also include links to your social media networks and pages within the website.
You also need to include external links that will complement your business (and vice versa). If you are a small-medium sized company that needs website help, consider hiring an experienced digital marketing agency.
Did we miss something that you think is important to the topic? If so drop Janeene a note at janeene@digitalrdm.com
Janeene High is the owner of Results Driven Marketing, a 100% women-owned business headquartered in Wynnewood, PA with an office in Philadelphia, PA.
Janeene and her team have been helping customers increase qualified traffic to their websites by using the latest digital marketing strategies, including SEO (search engine optimization), PPC advertising (pay per click), Display advertising and social media marketing. If you or your business are looking to be found by more people that need your services, contact Results Driven Marketing, LLC or give Janeene a call 215-393-8700.
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Tags: Design Inspiration, Internet Marketing, Web Design
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