By Bernardo Carvalho, Managing Director at BRAVO MEDIA www.bravomedia.co.uk
Expert advice from BRAVO MEDIA’s Director Bernardo Carvalho on how to make your website look and feel truly professional.
Although the internet has now been with us for well over two decades, the sad truth is: most websites still look like they have actually been created that long ago.
To design a website is certainly not a difficult thing to do these days. You could buy one off the shelves, and it would maybe come with a free domain name. The problem with this approach is that your website will mostly look like all the other thousands of other sites that have been created in the same way. Your business will succeed if it provides something different, and you can be sure the same counts for your Website.
Another option is to try and make one yourself. However unless you understand about usability, have excellent technical and creative skills and have got a lot of time to spare for creating and updating the site, you will probably end up with something that will cause damage to your business profile.
So here are my TOP 10 TIPS on how to get a website that will work for your business, and the good news is, following this advice will not require you to re-mortgage your house. In fact getting a fantastic website should be an investment that brings you very significant returns. After all, your site is the face of your business on the internet and probably the first place people will look for information about what you are selling. So it is imperative that the visitor leaves with a positive impression, or even better: makes an enquiry or purchase there and then.
1) Get your website designed by a professional. Do you get your haircut done by the local butcher that likes to do a bit of styling on his spare time? Didn’t think so.
2) Look at the web design company’s own site. Does it look great? How long does it take to load? Do all links and menus work?
3) Check where they are based, as it might be hard to get support by calling up your programmer in Vietnam during business hours.
4) Ask what hosting company will be looking after your site, there are a lot of free stuff you can get and the support is generally far better if you use a well known provider.
5) Ask about their previous clients, and the links to their websites. You see any evidence the Web design company actually has created those sites?
6) Think about what you want on your website, only absolutely relevant material should be included. Try to keep the amount of text to a minimum, nobody wants to read pages of text on a computer screen. Keep it clear and simple.
7) Watch out for the colours you want to use, these should match your logo and brand, and should have good contrast with the text to make it easy to read. Also check if these are Web Safe.
8) Get at least two quotes from separate Web design agencies so you have an idea of what you are getting for you money.
9) Consider other technologies to go along with the site, such as Email newsletters to stay in touch with your visitors,
10) Finally you could use the free Google Analytics, which will give you detailed information on who is visiting your site.
Want to know more information on Website design, Email Newsletters, E-commerce or Corporate Branding? Contact BRAVO MEDIA:
Bernardo Carvalho, Managing Director
Tel: 0207 1931210
Web: http://www.bravomedia.co.uk
Wednesday 25 June 2008
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