Having a website for your business is a great idea but you do need to think carefully before you decide to go ahead with one. There are a vast number of places that you can get a website from and it is important to fully understand what you going to get. Starting with the cheapest – you will find some companies offer you a free basic website or very low monthly cost. They usually do this as often your site will link back to them and effectively is advertising for them. They usually reply on a number of people also then upgrading to a paid for version. These sites may be ok if you just want something to put on a business card, but they usually are very restrictive as to what you can do on them and you may find that you end up having to start again with someone else later on down the line.

If you want a professional website that can grow with you then you should try and find an agency or a web developer that specialises in bespoke websites. It may not be that you have to have a completely bespoke site, but for a website to work for your business it does need to have been designed for you. This doesn’t always mean that it will cost the earth just that it will have everything you need in it.  

If you are a wed developer or graphic designer then you should know how important your website can be. It is often the first impression a potential client has of your business. It may be that you haven’t even got a website which can put people off if that is the area you specialise in.

If your website contains previous works or projects at you have worked on, and these website are now out of date or offline then this can frustrate visitors to your site and will not give a great impression. If you currently do not have many examples of websites or graphic design work you have completed recently then you may want to remove this section for your site altogether for now. It is better to have a simple website with less content than one that is out of date or inaccurate,

Make sure you put aside a bit of time each month to carry out updates or do some marketing on your site. This may be adding recent projects, creating a blog post or working on your SEO. Over time this will build up and help your site not only get found on the search engines but also bring in enquiries.

If your website was designed more than two or three years ago then the chances are it is probably starting to look a little dated. As with anything technology based, advances are made year upon year and what was trendy and successful one year, may not be anymore.

If you work with a web design company or used a freelancer to design your website then you may decide to go back to them for updates. Sometimes the person or company you previously used no longer offer web design services, in which case you will need to find a new company to work with. IF this is the case, then it is vital that you have all the access to your current site. You need to ensure that you have the login details for the domain name and ideally the hosting too. If you cannot get this then you will need to start again with a different domain name and this can be a nightmare as you may have signage, letterheads and advertising printed using that domain.

Often just by changing the fonts, updating the images and effects and changing to colour ways, can make a huge difference to the appearance of the site.

If you have set up a new business or have a business already established but want to start to market online, then you need to think carefully about the design of your website. The layout, colour ways and font are all vitally important and will make a huge difference to how successful your website is. Your site needs to capture your audience’s attention but for all the right reasons. If you use a font that is hard to read you may find that people leave before even getting to the page they wanted to find. If your business is a professional business such as a solicitors or accountancy firm then the font also needs to look professional, to give a good first impression.

The layout is another area that you need to consider in detail. If you use a web design and development company, they will be able to advise you on what layouts work best. Try not to add too many different menus or elements on one area as it can become confusing. If you have a high voice rate (number of visitors leaving the site very quickly after they have landed on it) it may be one of these types of issues causing it.

There are some manufacturers that make creams that do use a better quality of ingredients and have maybe done more research to find out what is good for your skin, but whether that is worth paying hundreds for is another matter. Often when a celebrity endorses a face cream or beauty product, it is not just the face cream that has given them a youthful look, they may of even had cosmetic surgery. Think carefully before breaking the bank to splash out on that moisturiser. 

Whilst content is important for SEO and for people who take an interest in your site, the images as probably going to be the first thing someone will notice. They will click onto your site and immediately be presented with the visual aspects of it. Your imagery has to be appropriate and sum up what you do accurately.

Choosing appropriate imagery may not be the cheapest option, but it is so important for your website. Use stock imagery if you have a subscription – you might be able to find some images with free usage rights but this will be a lot harder. Decide on the kind of appearance you are going for and choose images to fit in with this.

Even better, use your own photos. Work with a photographer to take photographs that represent your business, and that you will hold the copyright to. This gives clients a valuable insight into your business.