How do visitors read websites?
Presumably you have a website because your aim is to convert visitors into customers (or subscribers). It’s therefore important for you to understand how your visitors scan and read your pages so that you can position the most important elements of your web pages in the most effective place.
On the whole people tend to ‘scan’ web pages rather than actually read them, picking out individual words and sentences. Research tell us that visitors read horizontally, usually across the upper part of the content area. They then move down the page a bit and read across also horizontally, and typically, for less time than previously. Finally, they typically scan the left hand side vertically.
Homepage layout
The visitor’s eye usually fixes first on the top left hand side of the page, before it starts to scan from left to right. Only after hovering over the top portion of the page does he or she tend to explore further down the page.
Headlines
Upon entering a new page, dominant headlines most often draw the eye first, especially when placed towards the top left, (and sometimes towards the top right). Photographs, contrary to common belief, aren't typically the entry point to a homepage. Compelling text is a more powerful way of keeping your visitor’s interest. People view both the headline and content underneath it when the headline is bold and a similar size to the content text. When viewing a headline which is larger than the content which stands out on it’s own line, people tend to view the headline and skip the content.
Also, underlined headlines tend to discourage people from reading content on a homepage which is exactly the opposite of what you want them to do.
When visitors read content under headlines on homepages, they often only look at the left one-third. In other words, most people just look at the first couple of words, and only continue reading if they are compelled by what they’re reading.
Typically a headline has less than a second of a site visitor's attention. This backs up the fact that your first couple of words need to really grab the attention of your website visitors. This is also true for content – make sure that your first few words are descriptive and really grab the viewer's attention.
Typeface
If you want your visitors to read (rather than scan) your site, try using a smaller typeface as this encourages people to be more focused on what they are reading. Larger headlines encourage scanning (as opposed to reading) more than smaller ones but of course you still need to ensure the font is large enough for your visitors to read!
To scroll or not to scroll
As you would expect, the areas you have to scroll down to view are not viewed that often. However, that doesn't mean you can't get people to look at content which is positioned low down on a scrolling page.
Their eyes typically scan lower portions of the page seeking something to grab their attention. Their eyes may become fixed on an interesting headline or a word which really stands out, but not on other content. Again, this points to the necessity of sharp headline writing.
Where to locate your Navigation
Navigation placed at the top of a homepage performs well and is seen by the highest percentage of people and looked at for the longest duration. More people view right-column navigation for longer than left-column navigation.
Article layout & style
Short paragraphs receive more attention than those with longer paragraphs as the longer paragraph format seems to discourage viewing. Surprisingly people tend to look at text elements before accompanying photos and the use of summary descriptions which lead into articles are popular with website visitors.
Images
Larger online images tend to hold the eye longer than smaller ones and clean, clear facial images attract more attention on homepages.
So, here are a few reminders you can use when thinking about your website design:
- Place your most important message to the top left of your home page
- Don’t underline or bold your headlines
- Use a small typeface for your content
- keep your paragraphs short
- Use large images on your site
Read more from OS Web Design:
11 Tips - what to do when your site goes live
do-you-understand-why-your-customers-buy-from-you/
why-an-online-marketing-strategy-is-important-when-planning-a-website/
possible-reasons-for-low-conversion-rates/
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what-is-the-difference-between-web-design-and-website-development/
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11 Tips what to do after your site goes live
You have worked hard with your web designer and your site has gone live. You now need to ensure your wonderful new website is found!
Here are a eleven top tips to get your site working for you:
1. Local Business Links
Look for other websites which will provide links to your site. As well as looking nationally, it helps to request links from local businesses which are complementary to yours in the areas where your business operates. For example if you offer transcription services, you could approach a website selling transcription equipment.
2. Free Listings
You can create a free listing for your local business on Google Maps and Yahoo Local . Your business will then show up on a map when people search locally in your area.
3. You Tube
If you have a video, you can promote this, images and audio content via You Tube. Google's "universal search" displays not only web page content, but also relevant listings for images, videos, local businesses and audio clips. For example, if you were to create an informative video explaining what your business offers and upload it to YouTube www.youtube.com you could see a lot of additional traffic coming your way.
4. Incoming Links
As Google (and other major search engines) rate the number of quality incoming links to your website as an important indicator of relevance, additional links will help you rank higher in the search engines. It is important however to ensure you include only links from those sites which are both popular and can be trusted.
5. Online Directories
Submit your site to online directories. A directory is a website listing which is sorted according to specific category and subcategory. You can list your site in the free Open Directory Project www.dmoz.com and in the Yahoo Directory
6. Industry Specific Directories
If you belong to various trade associations which have member directories, ask them for a link too. You may have to pay for this option but the more links you have, the higher your page rank will be!
7. Complementary Links
It’s a good idea to send a personal e-mail to the contact listed on the site where you would like your link featured. However, do remember to link from complementary sites as Google determines what your site is about, who you link to and who links to you. Not just any link will do, it’s quality links you’re after. Persistence will pay off in the end so don’t be tempted to give up!
8. Articles
Write articles for others to use in their newsletters. You can increase your online visibility if you write articles about subjects within your area of expertise and send them to editors as free content for their e-mail newsletters or websites. Don't forget to ask them to provide a link to your website and a short description of what you are selling or the services you offer. There is an abundance of information on how to do this available from one of the many article marketing sites.
9. Press Releases
To broadcast newsworthy events, you can send press releases to various journalists who work within your specific industry. The links to your site contained within online news articles should improve the amount of traffic to your website.
10. Start Writing a Blog
If you offer regular informative content and comments on other forums and blogs, people are likely to link to your website via your blog, thereby increasing your website's page rank.
11. Social Media Marketing
By setting up Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In accounts (to name just three) and regularly posting credible content via your online profiles, you can develop and build a following of people who are interested in the tips and expertise you can offer in your specific field. By attracting interest in this way you are encouraging people to visit your website where they can gain more valuable information.
Read more from OS Web Design:
your-portfolio-speaks-volumes/
do-you-understand-why-your-customers-buy-from-you/
why-an-online-marketing-strategy-is-important-when-planning-a-website/
possible-reasons-for-low-conversion-rates/
website-statistics/
what-is-the-difference-between-web-design-and-website-development/
6-tips-to-help-you-stick-to-your-web-design-resolutions-for-2010/
web-design-trends-for-2010/
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why-should-a-website-be-compliant-with-standards/
how-do-you-know-if-the-time-is-right-for-a-re-design/
Your Portfolio Speaks Volumes
The Importance of Portfolios
It is important, for small businesses in particular, to portray their portfolios to impress their website visitors and prospective clients. Portfolios are especially important for contractors, web designers and artists, and are an ideal tool for them to display the quality of their work. A portfolio should include examples of your best work, the work you are proud of, and the work that best demonstrates your skills.
What to Include
A great portfolio can transform website visitors into clients but you need to ensure that you only showcase your best work.
Before you start
Think about how you can answer your visitors’ questions.
Your online portfolio could be a blog or a website but either way, what you need to remember is that it should always answer the questions your potential clients are likely to have.
Your online portfolio is an important tool for people who are looking to hire specific services – they will want to check you out before making contact.
It’s also important that your site accurately represents what you’re offering because you may not necessarily have a tangible product to sell - it is therefore difficult to show clients what they’re paying for in advance. If your clients are not impressed by your online presence, they won’t bother to make contact to make that initial enquiry.
The aim of your Portfolio
Your portfolio’s job is to impress and persuade potential clients. Simplicity is the key – people need to know why they should hire you over and above someone else, so if your portfolio is well laid out, clear and impactful, it will tell them what they want to know within seconds.
What to show
Think from your ideal client’s point of view and ask yourself what that person is going to be interested in seeing. You can then decide which of your work you want to display within your portfolio.
Choose a maximum of ten items to display. It can be very tempting to include all the work you have done but in reality people are only going to have the time to view between five and ten before moving on to view something else.
Case Studies
Within your Portfolio, you should turn each project into a case study – detailing the client brief and how you created and fulfilled the project.
Each project should include a list of your skills and how they can be utilised. It’s valuable to include client testimonials because, like your portfolio, these are very powerful in underlining your skills and value from others points of view.
Use items that made you feel excited - this way your enthusiasm will shine through when discussing your portfolio with potential clients.
A good way to build your reputation is to attach your portfolio to your blog – a simple way of giving your visitors the information they need to get to know the style and quality of your work.
Multiple Portfolios
If you work within more than one market, it’s an idea to create different portfolios, each representing an area of your work. You will automatically know which portfolio is the best fit for the specific area of expertise you want to portray.
Give your visitors the answer they are looking for, as simply as you can, and remember, only the best will do!
Read more from OS Web Design:
do-you-understand-why-your-customers-buy-from-you/
why-an-online-marketing-strategy-is-important-when-planning-a-website/
possible-reasons-for-low-conversion-rates/
website-statistics/
what-is-the-difference-between-web-design-and-website-development/
6-tips-to-help-you-stick-to-your-web-design-resolutions-for-2010/
web-design-trends-for-2010/
what-are-call-to-action-buttons/
why-should-a-website-be-compliant-with-standards/
how-do-you-know-if-the-time-is-right-for-a-re-design/
Do you understand why your customers buy from you?
Why is it important to understand your customers?
Understanding your customers is a crucial part of the website creation process. Ask yourself questions which help you to look at your customer's motivations and include references to these in your content. Customers buy from you for different reasons based on various motivations. Some buy because they think your price is the fairest, some because they find your services impeccable, and some because of your well-earned reputation in your industry.
By getting to know and really understanding your customers, you will be better placed to direct your time, energy and resources into creating compelling content which will result in the right customers for you.
Here is a checklist which should help you to look at your customer's motivations and to identify where there could be opportunities, (and where there may be potential problems), so that you can ask your web designer to update or even re-create your website to attract more interest.
1. It is important to ensure :
Imagine that you want to buy a product in the knowledge that there are a few sites which sell it. The first site you go to takes 30 seconds to load. The next site loads quickly but the product images take ages. You visit a third site and end up buying from there because time is tight and everything you needed to see loaded in just a matter of seconds.
2. That you have a clear call to action
Decide exactly what you want your viewers to do. Do you want them to click on one of the links in your sidebar? Do you want them to read about your product? Do you want them to visit your blog? Or do you want them to buy from you? A clear call to action which says to your viewer, “What you are looking for is here behind this button – click it!”
3. That your messages are not hidden
Place your content so that the high impact information can be seen within the first screen view (so potential customers see it as soon as the page loads), otherwise they may give up and move on.
Your call to action needs to be easy to find - it’s no good making viewers an offer if they have to scroll down to be able to see it.
4. That your website content is easy to understand
If you have a fantastic new product you are launching, are you explaining it in terms everyone will understand? As soon as a viewer sees information they don’t understand, the real danger is that they will go somewhere else.
5. That if you have a shopping basket, your checkout process is simple
If your customers love your product and want to buy it online, ask yourself what you have done to make it as easy for them as possible? Is it a simple process or do they have to meander through a maze of billing and shipping addresses, additional offers and products they don’t even want? Keep it simple!
If you want to make your website both appealing and clever, you need to give it the attention your business deserves, even if this means a total re-design to make sure you are not losing those valuable potential customers to a business which has understood its customers and has taken full advantage of their thought processes.
Don't give your customers the opportunity to feel confused!
Read more from OS Web Design:
why-an-online-marketing-strategy-is-important-when-planning-a-website/
possible-reasons-for-low-conversion-rates/
website-statistics/
what-is-the-difference-between-web-design-and-website-development/
6-tips-to-help-you-stick-to-your-web-design-resolutions-for-2010/
web-design-trends-for-2010/
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Why an Online Marketing Strategy is important when planning a website
You have decided you need a website and you want as many visitors as possible - but where to start?
Arrange to meet your marketing people, or, if you don't have marketing people, re-visit your marketing plan. Your online marketing strategy should form part of your overall marketing plan, so if you haven't included it, that is a good place to start.
Consider the message you are trying to get across. For example, do you sell quality sportswear with the emphasis on "quality"? If so, you will want to think about your objectives and the content you need to produce to ensure your website is going to attract more visitors who are looking for quality (rather than quantity).
In addition to your website, an online Marketing Strategy encompasses:
• Blog Articles (your very own opportunity to prove your expertise in your field)
• Social media (Twitter, Linked-In, Facebook, etc)
• Links
Here are some important factors to consider when planning your website:
1. Time
Some people think either that a website takes a couple of days to build WRONG or that it can take for as long as 12 months WRONG AGAIN!
It only takes a long time to complete a website when decisions are delayed. A successful website requires proper planning and this all takes time, but certainly not as long as 12 months.
To assist in the process, you need to:
- Be available to explain clearly exactly what you have in mind to your web designer (and don't be afraid to ask questions)
- Respond with quick decisions if queries crop up along the way
- Make it easy and straightforward for your web-designer to be able to update your site as you add to your services or product ranges
2. Your niche market
Before you start you need to really think about what it is you offer that makes your clients buy from you. List these positives as bullet points and build on them to create your site.
Don't forget that your website is your opportunity to show off your talents within a portfolio by showcasing examples of your work or products which are backed up by testimonials from clients.
3. Blog Posts
By writing blog articles incorporating some keywords which are relevant to your website, you will be able to hold the interest of readers and entice them to read more about you and your products and services on your website. Visitors who have read your blog and then come to your website, are considered warm leads which are already presold and will more than likely convert into leads and either purchase your product or will get in touch with you.
A blog will also help your search engine optimisation and search engine ranking as every blog post creates a new page which is full of keywords.
4. Social Media
It doesn't stop there! You need to think about which social media networks are appropriate for you and your business. Twitter is a great way to share knowledge by providing others with recommendations and links to useful websites. Linked-In is a great tool for connecting with like-minded professionals whilst Facebook might be totally inappropriate for your business. There might also be social media networks that are relevant for your industry and it could be worth joining them, so do some research.
After your website is live, updating your social media with tweets and useful comments (schedule these in your calendar if you don't already) will encourage people to read your blog which, in turn, will get people interested in your website where you can really show them what you and your business are about by show-casing your work and testimonials.
5. Links
Once your website has gone live, you can list it on some of the many online directories and business sites. The more links you have coming in to your website the better. However, don't be tempted to provide links to other websites unless they are important to your site and add value to your overall strategy.
To ensure you remain popular online it really is crucial these days to continually provide useful and interesting articles and blogs for your readers and website visitors.
Other related articles:
Possible reasons for low conversion rates
Plenty of visitors but no conversion?
The process of improving your goals conversion rate is known as Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO).
It can be tricky to identify the reasons for a low conversion rate as there could be several contributing factors. However, a good way to measure your success and identify how you could improve your site is to compare your website against similar sites.
If you sell bicycles for example, you need to know your conversion rate and the conversion rate of your most similar competitor.
If your conversion rate on a product is 7%, and the average conversion rate for a similar bike 15%, then you have some work to do on your website. However, if your rate is above average already your website is not likely to increase your sales. Have you thought about adding another model or type of bike to your portfolio which may attract more interest?
Most websites convert less than 2% of their visitors into customers (i.e., people who do what you want them to do - buy a product, make an enquiry, call, click through, download a document, signup for newsletters, etc.)
Reasons why your conversion rate could be low and how to improve it:
Headline
A good headline can make a huge difference in conversions so spend time thinking about how it could be improved.
Call To Action Buttons or Links -
decide on the best possible location for your call to action button or link and make it easy for your visitors to click.
Call To Action Message
Test the message itself to find out whether your “Sign up Free” button is going to convert more highly than a link which says “Learn more about Raleigh bicycles now."
Testimonials
If you don’t already have testimonials on your main page, one of the first things you need to do is to include them - when these are placed in a prominent position they can have a very positive effect on your conversion rate.
Top Landing Pages
One of the most important factors when looking at your conversion rate is your landing page, which is the page your website visitors arrive at after clicking on a link. It could be your home page, or any other page in your site.This gives your potential customers an overall first impression of your business and your products.
Ensure your copy is as descriptive as possible and include some promotions. The best way to do this is to think about where the person has come from, and who they are. By supplying a good match, you are more likely to engage your visitors and increase your conversion rates.
Well designed landing pages also result in higher conversion rates than simply directing people into the home page of your site (which in effect, is like suddenly deserting them and taking a risk they might click their back button to move on to you competitor).
Give your visitors exactly what they were looking for and you will be far more likely to make a sale.
Five Tips on Landing Page Design
- Really think about your headline and make sure it's as appropriate as it can be
- Position your most important elements in the upper 300 pixels of the page
- Study the landing pages of your competition and pay special attention to the design and organisation flow of their pages
- Keep it simple and use standard conventions
- Ensure your page loads quickly
Top Exit Pages
Top Exit Pages are those pages visitors are leaving from when they exit your site.
To optimise your conversions it’s a good idea to study the patterns of how your customers engage with your site. You can sign up to Google Analytics for free. By utilising this information, you can ask your web designer to make adjustments to your site to ensure you are giving the visitors to your site more of what they are looking for.
Please read:
Website Statistics
Every website does or should have some kind of web analytics to measure performance and to track visitors behaviour. One of the best and most well known packages available is Google Analyics - and the great advantage here is - its free!
What does Google Analytics Offer?
Google Analytics is a powerful, free software tool that tells you exactly where your visitors came from and what they do when they actually get onto your site. In a nutshell it enables you to see :
- where your visitors are coming from
- which keywords they used to find you
- which links they click on
- which pages they visit
- which page they were on when they left your site
- how long they stayed for
How to Read the Statistics
- Visits - how many visits there were to your page. (A visit is defined as a page view when that user has viewed no other page on your site in the past half hour).
- Pageviews - how many times the pages on your site have been viewed.
- Pages/visit - how many pages, on average, users view when they come to your site.
- Bounce Rate - what percentage of users left after viewing only one page on your site.
- Avg. Time on Site - how long each user spent on your site.
- New Visits - what percentage of your users have not visited your site before.
- The Visitors Overview - how many visitors have come to your site.
- Map Overlay - shows the countries your visitors are coming from.
- Traffic Sources Overview - which percentage of users are getting to your site by typing your URL directly into their browser, and via search engines, referring sites, and other routes such as emailed links.
- Content Overview - the top five most viewed pages over the time period you're looking at.
The difference between Visitors and Hits
VISITORS A visit is when a person or robot visits your site. It consists of one or more page views - one visitor can visit your site many times.
A visitor is the browser of a person who accepts a cookie.
HITS Each file sent to a browser by a web server is an individual hit.
Which keywords have been used?
Use the Google Adwords keyword tool to establish which keywords people type into the search engines to find sites which are similar to yours.
What is the bounce rate?
Bounce rate definition: the percentage of initial visitors who leave your site after arriving at the entry page without viewing other pages on your site. A low bounce rate means your visitors are exploring your website in greater detail and clicking through to explore different pages.
Conversion rate definition:
The ratio of visitors who achieve a goal against their total website visitors (For example, if 5 visitors out of every 100 sign-up for your newsletter you have a 5% conversion rate for your 'sign-up to newsletter' goal).
When people talk about their "website conversion rate" they are actually talking about their website goals conversion rate.
Please also read:
When should you have a CMS?
What is the difference between web design & website development?
What are Call to Action Buttons?
Web Design Trends for 2010
When should you have a CMS?
A CMS - Content Management System - is very useful when you are planning a website with a lot of dynamic content such as news, case studies, a blog or an online shop. It gives you the freedom to update your content, images, products, prices etc., when necessary and in your own time, without having to rely on your web designer.
In times of free open source CMS programmes such as Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal & Co., more and more websites are built with a CMS. However and especially for smaller static websites where contents is not being updated on a regular basis a CMS is very often unnecessary and can sometimes even be a bad choice.
But how do you know what is suitable for you and your business and whether your website needs a CMS or not?
When you start planning your website try to determine as soon as possible whether or not you will include areas like news, a shop or a blog on your website which need regular updating. If you only plan to update your website once or twice a year, you can consider your website to be a static brochure website and a content management system will not be necessary.
Not only are the costs for the development of a website including a CMS higher and the development takes more time, but also using those open source systems can bring disadvantages as you might have template and layout restrictions. Data security can be an issue and web pages in a CMS are not as search engine friendly as individually hand coded web pages.
Smaller changes can easily be made by your web designer as and when needed or you can use very basic and minimalistic CMS like Cushy CMS. Your web designer will only need to add a line of code to the web pages and areas you would like to update, and you will be able to make some basic content changes yourself.
This will give you the freedom you need without having the extra costs of a complex CMS back-end, and once your business and website grows and becomes more dynamic, you can still think about adding a custom developed CMS to your beautiful custom made website.
What is the difference between Web Design and Website Development?
Design and development skills are both required in order to produce a fully functioning and successful website. Even though the intricacies of their workings may be totally different, their aims are similar – and one is as crucial as the other if you really want to see results.
However, it really is important to know the difference between the two, as when you are designing a new website, or asking your designer to put your new site together, you need a basic understanding of what you need to ask them for, i.e., what your visitors see when they look at a web page is the actual design of the page. What makes that website worth the time required for them to navigate it, is the development (which lies behind the scenes).
DESIGN
Good web design means creating great looking websites whilst ensuring they are still as user-friendly as they can possibly be. Experienced designers will have a wealth of knowledge and practice utilising not only HTML, but also CSS, Javascript and other graphics packages such as Photoshop, Fireworks and Flash to name just a few. By using these tools they create the foundations of the website and, together with you, decide right from the outset, just how your website should look when it's completely finished. The actual design result does not contain any coding and is just a graphical representation.
DEVELOPMENT
Web development is the programming in the back end which converts the beautiful design into a good working and professional website. The web development can be very basic for a small static brochure website or more complex for a website which requires to be dynamic, needs a content management system, payment facility, shopping carts or a register and login area with user name and password. Also online forums such as Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum are a good example of web development. To ensure that your website is performing well and remains competitive and the back end is flexible it is very important to engage experts when planning your website and to really think about what your website needs to do when you start and what functionalities you want to add to the site in the future.
The back end programming is also a vital element required in order to increase the visitor’s online experience - it is important to remember that the development goes hand in hand with the design which holds the visitor’s attention at the very beginning of the whole process.
If you want to produce a really user-friendly and professional-looking website, which is eye-catching, visually attractive and does the job you want it to do, both the design and the development need to be given your full attention in the planning process.
6 Tips to help you stick to your Web Design Resolutions for 2010
Are you one of those people who makes resolutions for your website and then, because you’re busy, busy, busy or because other demands come higher up on your list, you let them slip? If so, here are some tips to help you form a plan you can stick to with the overall aim of increasing traffic to your site:
1. Content
Updating the content of your site on a regular basis will help your search engine ranking and this alone could result in more visitors.
Do you calendarise reminders to send updates to your web designer? If not, set them up now!
If you rely on a developer to do this for you and you’re finding it expensive, you may be better off investing in a CMS (Content Management System) as you will see the return on your investment over time. If on the other hand your content isn’t updated because you don’t have the time and you haven’t asked anyone else to do it, delegate it now to a Virtual Assistant.
2. CMS
A professional web designer can develop a CMS which allows you or your PA to update your content and add additional content. Just remember, on some pages of your website the text will remain the same, and won’t need to be changed frequently. For example, you will probably want your contact details to remain static. Examples of these may be :
- Blog
- Newsletter
- Articles
- Be Organised
Your web designer will need to know which areas of your site will need to be changed on a regular basis so that he or she can plan the CMS accordingly. Your content obviously needs to be written and then added to your site. Whether you do this yourself or you delegate it, just schedule regular times to assign team-members or the people assisting you with sourcing images - there are writers out there who, for a fee can write your content for you.
3. Image & Design
You already have a corporate identity and your website needs to reflect this. A poor design gives an unprofessional image and if your existing design is not connected to your brand, potential customers may become confused.
When you make changes to your website, sometimes the design becomes affected so it is worth taking a cold hard look at the navigational elements to ensure that the information you have updated is within the relevant area of your site. It may be that you used a pre-set template which you have added to over a few months and this may no longer be appropriate for your content as your business evolves.
If this is the case, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your original designer could upgrade your site for you or, you could go to a new designer and ask them to re-organise your content to create a new and better image.
Keep in mind that under your new “organised” regime, you will be adding fresh content on a regular basis, so ensure that whoever you use for your re-design is aware of this before creating the new navigational aspects.
4. Ensure your website is working for you
Your site really needs to be working away for you in the background. For example, by linking it to your blog you are creating credibility in your area of expertise and you will improve your search engine ranking. If you sell products rather than services, your site should be an e-commerce site, selling those products while you work on other areas of your business. Don’t forget to show your visitors what you and your business can do for them – allow for an area to display client testimonials.
5. Prioritise & Get Smart
List the issues before taking steps to involve help. By writing them down, it will become clearer whether you need a designer, a Google Adwords specialist or someone who can build your CMS, or a combination of all of these. Most companies will assess the existing areas of weakness and provide a quote for their solution. It might however be a good idea to spend some time with all three of the aforementioned which will ensure your investment is well spent. The team you choose can then, between them, create a plan to produce your re-design according to your budget and priorities.
It is important to calculate a budget from the word go. It’s better to be realistic, and if you know you won’t have the time available to write a regular blog, either outsource it to your writer or VA or get rid of it! If you’d like your designer to manage your content updates, you can ask them to help you with the scheduling.
6. Easier Longterm Management
It really isn’t that difficult to re-plan your website and, like anything which requires a bit of thought and dedication, just think of the benefits it will bring to you and your business in the longer term. By having a clear, itemised schedule, developed in conjunction with your web designer, you will find it much easier to manage as well!
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