If you plan on conquering the digital space, you should be ready to create a fool-proof, systematic program for the design and development of your web portal. Here are some important steps to take when improving your site:
Know your baseline. To know what direction to head towards, you must know first where you are. If you have yet to use any tool for gathering performance measures, it is time to acquire one now. Among the statistics you should have on hand are the daily traffic to your company website, the average amount of time users spend on it, the pages that draw the most and least traffic, and the pages that are able to keep visitors the longest. These details will give you rich insights regarding the kind of content that’s relevant to your target market, and which page design practices work for your business.
Check out the competition. Identify your best competitors – or those that provide the same products or services as you do, and also cater to your target market. You must ensure that your website is very distinct from any of them, by going for original design templates, layout, color schemes, and content. Know also what materials and promotions they are publishing, and the reception that these are getting. When you understand what you are up against, you would know how to develop your own offerings.
Evaluate your resources. Website development would obviously be just one of many marketing efforts that you need to launch. It is important to evaluate the resources that you can allocate for this endeavor, in terms of budget, manpower, and facilities and equipment, among others. Do you have the funds, the technology and the skills to perform the task in-house? Or would outsourcing be a better option?
Determine your goals. What are your overall marketing goals and how will improving your website help achieve these? And for website development in particular, what are your new targets for site traffic, click-throughs, and lead conversion? Depending on your baseline, your parameter for success may or may not be directly linked to sales. For example, if you are still in your early years as a business, your goal right now might simply to be able to create an email database to whom you can send emails containing your special offers. To accomplish this, your new site design may incorporate pop-up windows that ask people to enter their email addresses. If you are an established company, you might already have a following that simply need to be coaxed to make regular online purchases, in which case you need to monitor which of your products are being viewed by the same visitors on a regular basis, and conceptualize a promotion accordingly.
Get in touch with GBX Digital today to learn more about website development. GBX Digital is a New York-based agency that specializes in crafting corporate identity and marketing materials, and conducting internet reputation management and digital marketing campaigns – from search engine optimization, to social media marketing.