Your website isn’t just a space where words appear. It has depth and meaning. A lot like when a writer puts their thoughts down into words, your website is personal and it needs to show who you are, whether you’re someone that wants to run a blog or you’re a business that needs to show off who it is as a brand. And it’s not as simple as it may seem.
The first thing to remember when it comes to your website is that it’s essentially an extension of you or your business, and you need to be confident when displaying that information. Running a website can be quite scary, especially if you’ve never done it before and want to make a good first impression. Unfortunately, insecure website design will show, so you’ll need to be tactical. It all starts with professional web design, whether it’s something you learn or an external company doing the work. Bad layouts, not thinking about the user journey and a jumbled colour palette won’t help you in any way and may even push potential visitors to your competitors.
Luckily, you can turn it around. With these tips, you’ll soon become confident in your website and your ability to run it.
Don’t overcomplicate things
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a website owner, no matter what it’s for, is by overcomplicating things. While it needs to have some depth to be successful, if people can’t navigate through it easily, or it’s simply too busy, then they will turn elsewhere. Think about why you go to any website – it’s to gain information you didn’t already know, right?
The same will apply to your website too. Think about how easy it is for users to gain access to your website and find the information they’re looking for. You’ll need easy to navigate menus as well as a search bar so that people don’t become frustrated and go elsewhere for the information they need.
You should also avoid overcomplicating your design too. Spend time on your graphics and colour palette, and don’t be afraid to make informational videos for people to watch too. Sometimes, keeping it simple is the best way to win over your audience.
Use it as your core space
You probably have a fair few places where you’re active online like on social media. And, while social media can be a great tool, your website should always be your core space. So, if you’re advertising a product, link it back to your website. If you’ve got an offer available, have people create an account on your website to gain access to it.
Doing this will show your audience that this is the main place to be if they want to be involved with your company. In turn, this will increase your traffic, which will increase sales, which is good for your business.
Don’t forget about policies
Finally, don’t forget about your website’s policies. Lots of people will click away without even reading it, but some people want to know what data you’ll use and your promise to them. So, make sure that it’s always available both in the pop up when someone first visits your site, and also a dedicated page so they can go back and read it later on if they wish.