A modern business cannot operate without a website. Besides providing a vital source of information and marketing, it is also a potential point of contact and sales. The problem is that having a website is not enough. You need a modern website that integrates modern technology and design. Here are some tips on how to completely rebuild your website.
Fix the nuts and bolts
One of the first things to do for your website is to change the technical basics. Old websites were very much basic in their technology. It was because people browsed the internet only on their desktops. However, today’s internet users have a wide variety of choices. They could be on their smartphones, tablets, or more. Your business website needs to be in a valid markup language that meets the W3C guidelines. Professional web designers will be able to do this for you while also adding some impressive features.
Change the visual design
While you develop the foundations of your website, you should also focus on how it looks to the visitor. Businesses could get away with bare-bone websites with minimal graphics and basic layouts in the early days. Nowadays, people expect something more professional from a company. Work with a graphic designer to ensure that your website looks impressive and attractive. Visitors should get the impression that you are a business they can trust.
Additionally, it would help if you also consider non-desktop users. What looks good on a big screen is not as good on a small one. Responsive web design allows your website to automatically configure itself depending on the platform the user is browsing.
Add in some SEO
Another part of rebuilding your website is the use of SEO. Early search engine optimisation was about stuffing as many keywords as possible into a web page. That approach is not effective in the current state of search engines. You’ll need to change a few things so that your website is visible to potential customers. The best way to approach this is to hire a professional SEO team, especially when you hope to increase visibility in a local market. For example, an SEO agency in Oxford can optimise your site so that Oxford customers will be able to see you better or an SEO company in London can optimise website pages to rank better for customers located near your business.
If you are new the Search Engine Optimisation then it is worth reading up on Schema Markup. Schema Markup can help to rank your website pages better in Google searches. Schema markup is code content that can be added to your website pages. The code helps search engines understand the type of content on your website pages and better represent it on the search engine results pages.
Include online sales
An exciting improvement that is a requirement for all modern sites is a way to monetise it. It is simple if your business sells products. All you have to do is integrate an online store into your website. Several e-commerce platforms will allow for this easy integration. You still have to maintain it and work with several payment processors, but the potential for direct sales should be encouraging enough. Allowing people to contact you via online widgets can be a great way to get leads for those who offer services.
The advice above should help ensure your website will not discourage any new visitors to your website. If your page is stuck ten years in the past, you should start making plans to change it. You will soon find that it is an excellent investment for your business.
Integrate Social Media
It is also worth the time to integrate social media platforms into your website, this can help to drive more traffic to your website and generate more qualified leads or product sales. On our website, we use AddThis social bookmarking tool that allows visitors to share our content via their social media accounts with a few simple mouse clicks. We understand that social media can be tricky and knowing all the different image sizes for each social media platform can be hard to understand, so simply check out our Definitive Up-to-Date Guide for Social Media Image Sizes if you need more help.
Article by Pankaj Shah: DCP London Web Designers
