Building your first website? Here is what you should know…

App design Graphic

We all have great ambitions and goals when we design and build our first website for our business. We want the best looking site possible and are inspired by other sites we see. Sometimes things go great for first time websites but other times you may not quite reach what you had in mind #expectationsvsreality. So hopefully these tips will go a long way towards helping you to make the ultimate website on your first go!

1. Set your goals and define your purpose

The first step that we take when designing a website for a client is to understand their needs and wants. This might involve asking them why they want a website 4 or 5 times so that we can find all of the reasons behind the why. Doing this allows us to know exactly what we are trying to achieve for them and their business which is exactly where you should start with your website desires too. Setting goals for the website and designing it around a purpose is key to its success.

2. Suss out your competition

If you are a local business then check out other similar websites near you. This will help you to get an understanding of what you are up against in your own design. Try to think about it objectively and take note of details beyond colours and layout. Think about what pages they have on their website. Why would they have those pages? Whereabouts do they appear on Google? How do they communicate that they are a trustworthy business? What features add to their credibility.

3. Be Prepared

Be very prepared. Content is key to any successful website. There is a lot more work in a website then most people think as they need to have all of the images, content and text ready to be put in their website at the right time. This often takes hours if not days or weeks depending on the complexity of the website and how large it is. You might need to hire a professional photographer for your images or a copywriter to help with text. All of these things take time and if you are delayed, it will push back the timeline for your website launch. 

4. Be confident

We don’t want to make getting a new website sound too scary. It is a great process to be a part of and we are fortunate to get to live it every day! You are totally capable of building and launching your first site entirely alone or with a web designer like us! Either way don’t be afraid to be creative and enjoy the experience because after all you only get to build your first website once.

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