Web 101

A huge part of building a successful business is marketing your brand and your products effectively. When creating a successful marketing plan and forging your online identity there is nothing more effective for this than a website.

A website gives credibility to your brand. It is something which allows people to connect with your brand and see what you have to offer from anywhere in the world at any time at all. A website is an effective way for people to learn more about your brand and products as well as any services you provide and it allows them to gain a real insight into your company. It’s important to have a website for your business and today we want to speak about some of the ways that you can create the best website for your brand using web development techniques.

Before you jump into making a website for your business it is important to have a plan of what you want the website to look like. For example if you are creating a website for a fashion brand and you plan to sell your products through the site, you need to plan out how you will sell the items and the layout of the shop page. There are a lot of different elements for creating a great website so it is always a good plan to look at other similar brands and see if there is anything you can pull from when creating your own landing pages.

Once you have written a few ideas for what you want in a website it is a great idea to sketch it out on paper to see your idea come to life. Make sure that when you start sketching an idea for web pages on paper that you use a pencil so that you can move things around as you decide on the right ideas. A sketch of a web page is always a good choice because it will allow you to see first hand what to do and you will be able to use this later when you start building it.

Choose a platform

Now that you have a few ideas and you know what you plan to do, it is time for you to choose a platform to host your website. There are so many different platforms out there and they all give different qualities depending on the type of website you want to build. The most popular platform for websites is WordPress and this is a great option for you if you want to use pre-set themes and edit them to fit your own purpose. Wix on the other hand is a site which will allow you to literally build your website from the ground up and this can be a good option if you want to be a little more creative.

Add social share buttons

When designing the best possible website for you audience, you need to think about integrating your other online presences. For example if you have a separate shop or you have social media channels, make sure to add social follow buttons on your website as well as social share buttons on blog posts and content. This will create the opportunity for a community on your website and it will allow people to share your content and connect with you online through social media which really makes things better for you.

Implement Calls-to-Action

How many times have you visited a website and immediately fell on the receiving end of pop ups and ebooks? Well, this is a great tactic to use for your website and it is important for you to make the most of this and use it to your advantage. Make sure that when you design your website that you add things such as:

• Subscribe buttons – if you write newsletters and share information about your brands, this will be a helpful thing to do as it will allow people to opt in for news and you can share your content with them
• Pop ups – A pop up of a special offer or a new product brings it to the attention of the reader and therefore this makes them more likely to buy the product

Imagery is so important when it comes to your website because as a single brand you are essentially acting as one tiny fish in the sea of the internet. There are thousands of other websites out there and in order to fight for attention, you need to look good. Images make people twice as likely to stop scrolling and pay attention to a piece of content or a post. It is crucial that you use this fact and make sure that you really pull the eye line of anyone who is scrolling through and browsing online. Images need to be clear and professional, and although stock images are handy, you are better off taking your own.

Make it simple to navigate

When it comes to creating a great website you need to take the chance to make it simple. The way a menu is set out or positioned on your website can make a huge impact on the people visiting you, and because of this you need to make it simple. Keep the menu at the top of the landing page, and lock it in place so that even when visitors start to scroll through the content, the menu will stay visible and easy to access. This is a trick which will make people much more likely to carry on browsing on your website.
Utilise white space

White space is not evil; in fact it is helpful. When looking at a website and the content on it, white spaces can act as a helpful break between items and this can make a landing page look cleaner. It makes a website look less crowded and therefore will help visitors to digest information in a more open and clear way, which can make all the difference for a website.