Greg Cawood — July 13, 2017 — July 13, 2017
vanmarciano / Pixabay
Are you thinking about redesigning your website? Just like with any renovation, it’s not something you should do without planning.
Before you begin your redesign, make sure it will include these five crucial components.
1. Responsive Design
Regular readers of this blog know how that we consider responsive design extremely important. If you’re joining us for the first time, here’s a quick explainer:
A website that’s responsive is one that responds to the different screens on which it appears. As you switch from, say, a tablet to a smartphone, the site will change with you.
Increasingly, people are browsing the web using smartphones and mobile devices, making it even more important that your site looks good and displays your content the way you want it displayed.
This can also help people find your website when they search. Google recently changed its criteria because most people are now searching through mobile devices. Responsive websites rank higher in search results.
2. Content Management System
The second thing that you need to do when redesigning your website is to make sure it’s being built using a content management system.
A content management system (often referred to as a CMS) provides a simple, but not insignificant, benefit. It allows you to log into your website and easily make text and photo changes without needing a web developer’s help.
You can keep your website updated on your own, so as your business evolves, your site can evolve along with it.
3. A Blog
Your blog gives your company a way to establish itself as a thought leader in your industry.
It will also allow you to keep your site more up to date with industry news and topics. This is important, because sites with regularly-updated content often rank higher in search engines.
Also, the blog topics that you write about can use a lot of keywords related to your industry and expertise, giving your site more cache with search engines.
4. Calls To Action
A call to action, or CTA, is a graphic on your website that prompts a visitor to take the action that you want them to. Every reliable website has at least 5 CTAs on it.
- Phone number
- “Contact us” page
- “Follow our blog” or “subscribe to our newsletter”
- “Download a free guide”
- “Follow us on social media”
Try to have at least one CTA on each page of your site. And every page should have one CTA that is not a phone number or “contact us” form.
5. Make Them An Offer
Finally, your new website should offer a visitor an effortless way to engage with your company that isn’t completing a direct business offer like “pick up the phone” or “schedule a meeting.”
Some users may not be ready to take that step, but still want a chance to learn about you. Ease them into the process by offering a free e-book or white paper in exchange for an e-mail address.
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