If you own a business it is a best practice to also have a corresponding website that highlights your services and engages your target market and the community in which your business is housed. Nowadays it is highly likely that a person will hop on the internet to check out your services as well as what your business stands for before they give you a call or stop by your office. Your online marketplace is more important than ever before and this article will give you some design tips that all professional websites need to be successful.

1. Speed time is of utmost importance. Be sure that you have a reliable and quick hosting provider as you do not want to deal with glitches or unforeseen lag times between pages. The number one way that potential customers lose interest in your business and go to another competitor from your website is because of the slowly loading pages. In addition, your website must be conducive to viewing from a mobile device.
2. Communication is very important as this is how you keep in contact with your potential and loyal customers. To do this, we recommend building an email list from day one as this can help you spread the word about your latest specials, distribute coupons and sales ads, or just provide general information. There are widgets that will allow you to do this easily and they will fit seamlessly into your professional design template. Another way to communicate with your community and clients is through the use of social media. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are all very popular platforms that will help you gain momentum with client engagement.
3. Use a clean template that is not bold and hard on the eyes. Make sure that the colors are calming and the fonts are aesthetically pleasing. When posting content, it is important that there are no grammatical errors and that your sentences make sense to the reader. Be sure to post clear, edited, photographs that are relatable to your company. It is also nice to have a staff section so that potential clients can learn more about who works at your company. Clients like to feel connected with those they do business with and this is just another way to do so.
4. Drive traffic to your website by using appropriate keywords and utilize proper SEO. Traffic will not find you on its own. You need to make sure that you are up to date on the latest keywords and SEO usage so that your website is crawling and drawing in traffic to the best of its ability. It may also be a good idea to invest in some online marketing in the form of ads or pay per click ads.
5. Last but certainly not least is the importance of having a consistent brand identity and message throughout the website. Your brand includes things like a logo, font, style, and colors. Remember that your website should complement other materials that you have to promote your company such as brochures, postcards, business cards, and other items.

It is understandable if these tips are out of your wheelhouse and seem to be too difficult for you to manage on your own. For more information or to hire a reputable professional web design team, see our site.