If you are a modern business then chances are you have a website. Regardless of the type of website that you have, you know that if you want to survive in current society then having a website is an absolute must...

If you are a modern business then chances are you have a website. Regardless of the type of website that you have, you know that if you want to survive in current society then having a website is an absolute must – and as such, you may have commissioned a web design company to create one for you without even knowing what you really want from it.

You see it’s often difficult to know what you really do want out of a website, and in most situations you won’t know what you want at all until you see the finished product after which time it’s generally too late to make significant changes, and that’s why you need to put in some serious planning rather than just trying to get your website up there as quickly as possible.

So if you are looking to venture into the world wide web, or you are simply looking to re-design your website, here are some key elements to consider before you start your website, in the long run your website will be a much more effective tool for your business.

User experience

Your website is all about user experience and giving your users a good time will ensure that they not only stay on the website, but also that they convert as a result. Making your website user-friendly can reap serious rewards for your business and it can keep your customers happy – ensuring that they continue to come back time and time again

Content strategy

Content is king when it comes to creating a good website and ensuring that you have a good content strategy in place will go a long way to ensuring that you convey the right type of message to your clients. Content allows you to put across your opinion, inform your readers and just generally tell them about your product. The strategy will ensure that you do all of these tasks effectively

Long-lasting designs

Don’t just design for now, design for the future, and although chances are you will be looking to re-design your website every now and again it’s not something that you want to do every six months so some forward-thinking can go a long way here. Try and build up a design that your clients will remember you by and this can be a great way to build a reputation and ensure that they are repeat visitors at the same time

Functionality

Your website is all about functionality and making sure that it performs at its peak will ensure that your customers convert time and time again. User testing can be an ideal tool here as it can give real users the chance to really test and analyse what your website has