There are millions of published articles about how to build the perfect website. Millions. We’ve posted several such as, Does Your Website Share These Essentials? Or for small business, Why Your Very Small Business Needs a Website, or just to be safe, The Top Ten Website Mistakes. So why one more post? Because there are best practices that many sites don’t follow, mistakes that too many make, and omissions that hurt. Here are six actions that build or break websites.

6 Ways to Improve Your Website

Invest in a Professional Logo

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but our marketing and design team share logos, supplied by prospective clients, which are hilarious in their lacking. Poor color choices, bad fonts, and silly images abound. Don’t let your second cousin’s son’s girlfriend design your logo. Hire a professional. And if you have a cheap logo—replace it. 6 Steps to Designing the Perfect Logo.

Keep the Content Coming

Website copy isn’t a one and done proposition. Your website needs a continuous flow of copy. The simplest way to do this is with a blog, but eBooks, white papers, case studies, infographics, and video all work. How to Feed Your Website the Content it needs.

Make it Accessible

And I don’t only mean easy to use, but navigable for everyone from sight impaired to deaf. Here’s an excellent article from the AFB (American Foundation for the Blind) Creating Accessible Websites.

Don’t Cut Corners

Choosing a website developer shouldn’t be decided by the lowest bid.  It should be a decision based on value, the combination of cost and product. If you settle for a second rate product, what’s that make you look like to every visitor to your site? What do think of an organization when you visit their website and find it lacking?

It’s Not About You It’s About Your Customer

I heard someone say, “I like my website, and that’s all that matters!” Wrong, wrong, wrong. Unless you’re exactly like your customer, it’s not about you. Your website is there to serve your customer in the hopes of creating interest. It’s not there to please you. And that goes for web copy as well. Quit talking about you and talk about the customer. Your web content should tell the customer what it does for them. Here’s an example, TKO Marketing Solutions Services.

Test, Test, and Test Some More

Try new things, move information around, A/B test, ask folks to grade your sites user experience, change the copy, post new images, and when you find what works repeat it.

6 Actions That Will Set Your Website Ahead of the Competition

Hire professionals to design your logo and develop your website. And when you hire a web developer be certain he or she understands and is competent in accessibility. Content is king so keep it coming and if that’s not in your wheelhouse hire a pro for that as well. Some of you are thinking hiring all of these professionals is too expensive. No, it’s not; not hiring them is what will cost.

Remember it’s not about you, so don’t dwell on what you do or how your product is made, share the benefits to your prospective customer. And finally test it, test it good. These six actions can make all the difference in your website. If you’d like to learn more Contact Us or browse our website it shares the benefits.

 

Photo Credit: Unsplash Photos Photo by Nicolas Picard