Designing a business website for the first time and then effectively advertising that site and the business itself is not easy. If you have a business management degree and have studied advertising, it may be a little simpler, but even then, there are many things business owners miss when building up an online presence. If your business could benefit from some help and advertising tricks, check out these ideas for site building and promotion. Here, we'll cover some basic things you should know for advertising your website and your business successfully.
Create Something Recognizable
Every business owner should be aware that no matter how unique your business is, the web is full of others just like it, and it's important you make yours stand out from all the others. One of the simplest ways to do this is to have something recognizable about your brand/name. This could be, for instance, a specific logo designed to be eye-catching, a color scheme that is unique to your product, or a mascot that is easily recognizable. Having something that is unique to your company can really go a long way toward helping your business and your site to stand out in a powerful way.
Your Website Alone is Not Enough
Obviously, as a first-time web designer, you are going to put a lot of effort into your site and to making it as attractive and well-designed as you possibly can. However, no matter how great your website is, it's not enough on its own to get you the results you probably want.
These days, businesses are expected to maintain websites but also to develop a presence on social media sites and on other relevant sites. Be willing to go the extra mile and use various other tools and platforms available to get the word out about your business and develop an online voice and advertising space.
Offer Contact Options
Having a website and a general web presence is great, but you also want to ensure you are actually accessible to your customers. All too often, people will visit a site and then not be able to find a way to contact the site owner. This can prove frustrating and can cause you to lose the business of these customers.
If you want to avoid this simple but tragic mistake, make sure your contact information is easily visible on the site and, ideally, that you include multiple means of contact, such as a phone number, email address, physical location, etc.
As you can see, there are lots of effective tips and tricks out there for first time business website designers. Take these to heart, and you should be off on the right foot!