SEO
3 steps to follow before you create your website
All websites don’t have the same purpose. Some websites are e-commerce platforms and allow companies to sell their products or services. Others are more branding focus and help entrepreneur and freelancer to present their CV and portfolio.
Your website’s purpose will influence the technology and the design used, but also the content and tone of voice.
Before you create your website you need to ask yourself some essential questions. These questions will lead you through these 3 essential steps you need to go through before you start building your website.
Are you selling products or services? Do you want customers to be able to make an appointment from your website? Do you want them to purchase items directly on your website? Where your visitor will be from and what is your expected visit volume?
The technology
The questions you just asked yourself will influence the technology you will be using. By technology, I mean the following
➡️ CMS or Content Management System
➡️ Payment technology
➡️ Web Hosting solution
➡️ Tracking system
➡️ Booking form or contact form
Once you have listed the technology and requirement of your website, you can check the market and find the best solution for your business and budget.
If you’re an entrepreneur or a very small business, I advise you to choose an all-in-one solution like Shopify or Wix. They have packages of every type of website, hosting, and excellent Customer Service. They also have affordable prices which are important when you start your activity. They also integrate with payment and booking systems.
Many CMS propose their own tracking system, however, I will advise you to install Google analytics on your website from the get-go. Google Analytics is free and one of the best tracking solution on the market.
The content
It’s still too early to build your website 🙂
Now you need to define your content – what you will be talking about – and the website architecture – how the content will be displayed and how you will prioritise the information.
Let’s start with what you will be talking about.
Keyword research
Obviously you! You will be talking about your company and your products and services. But in reality, it is not that obvious. The way you are talking about your services for example might not be the way your customers perceive it. this is why keyword research is crucial.
The keyword research will help you to define all the search terms used by your target to find your products and services. You can then rank these keywords by relevance and search volume. Keep in mind that usually the more volume you have the more competition you will also have on these keywords.
For your keyword research, you can use Google Keywords Planner or Moz Explorer.
Website Architecture
Now you have your keywords, you can create your pages list and your website architecture. When you define your website architecture, you need to have 2 important pieces of information in mind:
Your keywords search: How you will talk about your product or services? Which words you will use in your content and in your titles, URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions.
Your messaging: What are the most important messages you want to show to your customer? You have to make sure your activity and product are well understood. The important content or information will be displayed on the most important pages such as the homepage and other pages placed in the menu.
The navigation: How people will navigate your website? Are your conversion CTA visible? Is it easy to find your navigation bar? is it easy to find valuable information? If a visitor struggles to find what it’s looking for, it will leave your website without converting. The navigation bar needs to be easily found. Most importantly, CTA leading to conversion need to be visible and accessible.
Wireframe
At this stage, you know what you will be talking about, and which pages you will have on your website.
Wireframes are maps of your pages. The wireframes will help you to define how the content will be displayed and what your page structure will look like. When you are building your wireframe, you can prioritise your content, define spacing and add important functionality you will need in place. This is why it is important to keep your potential user’s behaviour in mind when you build your wireframe.
Your visual identity
Here we are, one step before you start your website construction. But what an important part. Your visual identity is the combination of all your visual elements:
Logo: Your logo is a symbol (sometimes a name) that represents your business. It needs to be unique, and recognisable by your target. If you cannot afford a graphic designer, there are many logo makers apps that can meet your expectation.
Typography: These are the fonts you will be using on your website. For SEO and aesthetic purpose, you should only use 2 fonts.
Colors: These are the colors you will use on your website and other brand assets (business card, social media assets…). Before your choose your colors, make sure you read about color psychology and how they impact customer behavior. There is also a cultural or industry aspect to take into consideration. You can have 1 to 2 primary colors and 2 to 3 secondary colors.
Imagery: What type of visuals you will add to your website? IS photography more adapted to your activities or illustration. Your choice. But make sure you keep it consistent on your website and other marketing assets.
