5 Key Areas To Think About Before Creating Your Company Website

Congratulations on deciding to build a new website for your business. Whether you run a restaurant, manage a medical practice or operate an agency, your website is where customers judge you, and the experience it gives them matters as much as having a site at all. To get the most out of the investment, think through these five areas before design begins.

Design for your real target audience, not just yourself

Know who will use your website most. It is tempting to build a site around what you like, but it matters far more that it appeals to the people you want to convert, whether that means a phone call or a direct sale. If your audience skews older, make sure text is large and easy to read and buttons are easy to tap. If you are targeting younger buyers, the site needs to look modern and work flawlessly on a small screen. Either way, plan for visitors who use assistive technology, because an accessible site is easier for everyone to use.

Decide how visitors should move through your site

How do you want people to interact with your website? Do you want them to browse several pages and educate themselves before reaching out? Or do you want an immediate call to action with limited information? Your answer shapes the structure of the whole site.

Whichever you choose, insist that your web team builds for fast page speed and tests the site on phones, tablets and desktops. Most visitors arrive on a mobile device, and Google ranks sites based on their mobile version, so mobile is the standard your site is measured against, not an extra.

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Study your competitors’ websites before you design yours

Your marketing and design team will usually run competitor research before making suggestions, but it helps for you to get a feel for what your competitors’ sites look like too. If a competitor is performing well, try to identify what is actually working: clear service pages, strong reviews, easy contact options. Just as important, notice what they do poorly and make it a point to do it better on your new site.

Let your brand personality shape your messaging and layout

If your brand were a person, what would it be like? Fun and friendly? Serious and results-focused? Knowing what your brand stands for is essential to deciding how to write your messaging and lay out your site. Think about what you want people to take away when they leave, and make sure your logo, colors, photography and tone support it consistently.

Plan the functionality your business needs

How will the website work with the way your business runs? Will you connect a CRM to track and follow up with leads? Will you integrate third-party apps for payments and shipping? Do you want online booking, live chat, a newsletter sign-up or an embedded social feed?

Also think about the practical details that come with them, such as how you will track results with GA4, how you will handle privacy and cookie consent, and how your forms are protected from spam. Every feature you add should make operations better, not just make the site busier.

Come prepared and your website team can do its best work

By thinking through these five areas and doing some homework, you will be able to explain your goals clearly to your website design team and get a site that works for your business. If you are looking for a team to build it, give us a call at SmartSites today.