How To Create Your Best Website
One of the great things about a website as a marketing tool is that it is dynamic. A website can be frequently changed and updated, unlike printed materials. For example, if you print 1,000 brochures and then decide to change your pricing, the process and expense in editing and reprinting the brochures can be prohibitive. This type of change can be made in minutes (or seconds!) on the web.
If you are creating or updating your website, how can you make it YOUR best website? Here are 4 things you can do to ensure that your new site is the best it can be:
Select an user-friendly platform
There are many website builders and software available. Options like SquareSpace and Wix are great for DIY folks with a smaller budget. Some hosting companies, like GoDaddy, offer their own proprietary website builder. We use WordPress, a content management system (CMS). WordPress is used on over 30% of all websites worldwide. It has two offerings: WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG (WordPress.com is hosted by Automattic.com and WordPress.org sites are self-hosted, meaning you can put them on your own server or choose your own hosting company.)
Choosing between the options depends your budget, your technical comfort level, the functionality you need and, importantly, your longer term plan. You have limited options for advanced functionality with hosted options like SquareSpace. In addition, you cannot access the server to copy or move it if you ever want or need to.
Look at other websites for ideas and inspiration
“There is no such thing as new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”
Mark Twain, Mark Twain’s Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review
It makes sense to look around the web to find sites that you like and that do a good job of communicating a message. You can get inspiration and make your site better by looking at what is working for someone else.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good
If you wait until your copy and design are “perfect” you will never launch a website! Since it is dynamic, you can constantly tweak it and improve it. Get feedback from others you trust to get sense of whether the website is doing what you need it to from a design and messaging standpoint. Find the sweet spot when your website is “almost” perfect, and launch it. The little things you might be obsessing over are probably not things anyone else would notice.
Track and measure to iterate
After you launch the site, it’s not done! Use tools like Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, Google Search Console and good old fashioned interviews with people to measure its performance and get ideas on how to make it better.
Are you ready to create your best website? Contact us to help you get started.