In 2020, more than ever, having a presence on the Internet is an essential step for any company, whatever its size or sector. Your website is both accessible from the search results of the various existing search engines, and also the receptacle for people interested in your business on social networks.
In other words, it centralizes all those interested in your company, and who want to find out more. Thanks to online stores and other e-commerce modules, it can even be turned directly into a medium for accumulating new sales.
Think it's complicated to build your own website? Well, it's quite possible, thanks to a number of platforms that simplify the process and require no technical skills whatsoever.
Beyond this aspect, let's discover all the ingredients needed to create the best website, and visibly improve your online performance!
The first step is to create an account on an online website creation platform, which offers an easily configurable interface for quickly obtaining a domain nameand set up your own site.
You'll be able to easily create and modify your website throughout its existence, tracking visitor traffic, conversion rates, where they came from and the keywords that brought them to you.
Then choose a "template" to suit your taste, to convey the best possible image of your company, in line with its sector of activity and portfolio of products or services. All styles are generally available: minimalist, playful, financial, industrial, luxury, contemporary, etc. You can easily juggle between the different pages or tabs to be created.
The next step is to personalize your website. There's nothing more impersonal than a generic site that doesn't deeply reflect your company's DNA.
Focus your attention on the home page first, as this is the first point of contact between visitors and your company.
It should be neat, functional, mobile responsive, elegant and easy to understand. Be clear about the actions to be performed: buy, learn more, download, order, donate, etc.
Other pages are essential, such as "About us", "About us", "Our products", "Our services", "Why trust us", etc. Your design, too, needs to be personalized! Choose the fonts, colors, page order, images and videos you want, according to the image you wish to reflect of your company.
We'd like to draw your attention to the need to be particularlymeticulous. After all, a neglected website reflects poorly on your entire corporate image, and is detrimental to the prosperity of your business. If possible, don't forget to add professional tools, such as a specific domain name, a blog, an online store or an App market.
Several mistakes are commonly made by young web designers. Here are some of the most common ones to avoid:
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Rushing into things: some platforms promise total autonomy in building your website. The risk is to rush into a large-scale project without taking the necessary distance. Draw up a list of essential questions to which your website should provide solutions (why create your website? Is it to improve my visibility or generate online sales? How can I differentiate my site from that of my competitors? Who are the players who could support me in this process?)
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Neglect SEO, by using powerful keywords to improve your ranking in Google's natural search results. Implementing an SEO strategy is crucial to attracting more visitors and appearing in the top results. Take care of your domain name, site updating, content production, security, incoming links, etc.
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Be proactive in webmarketing, encouraging your visitors to interact with your website, subscribe to a newsletter, use customer relations tools, etc.
Once your site is up and running and truly attractive, the next step is to make it visible to the general public.
First of all, develop your network using social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) by encouraging your visitors to visit your website. Use netlinking to link these two media, do some guest-blogging, and don't forget to register in online directories. We also recommend that you offer your customers a newsletter.
Another smart solution is to create viral content, such as blog posts or downloadable factsheets.
Finally, you can use targeted advertising on Google, thanks to the GoogleAdwords bidding system. Facebook also offers its own online advertising tool, accessible from your page settings.
As you can see, creating an effective website is a real lever for acquiring new customers and boosting your growth over the long term. A few simple principles are all it takes to create a truly attractive offering.
So what are you waiting for to take the plunge and set up your own business?
Written by our expert Paul LASBARRERES-CANDAU
February 17, 2020
