A business needs a good website to successfully communicate with its customers and reach new markets. Organizations as diverse as law firms and grocery stores can put websites to good use, as long as their employees put in the time and effort required to develop a website. Here are five tips for designing your business’s website.

1. Utilize Responsive Design

Whether you’re working on car dealership or law firm web design, you should use responsive design when you develop your website. Responsive design ensures that a website will be easy to load and view on any screen size and resolution so it can be accessed whether a user is on a laptop, desktop or mobile device. It’s particularly important that a website be mobile-friendly because so many people use mobile devices as their primary means of internet access.

2. Make Sure Your Site Is Easy To Navigate

Your website navigation should be simple and easy for users to navigate. It should also meet or exceed accessibility standards for websites and any specific accessibility standards in your industry. The site should have a clear structure, with navigation links, a search bar and a navigation bar in obvious places, such as at the top of the page. Make sure you don’t create too many web pages. Too many pages or pages that are too cluttered can be difficult to navigate and can cause your site to run slowly.

3. Create Clear Informational Content

Information about your business’s offerings should be presented in clear, concise format while also being easy and enjoyable to read. Include contact information, address information and employee bios. You may also consider taking a multimedia approach, incorporating videos, photographs, infographics, art and audio alongside written web copy.

4. Include Content that Builds Credibility

You also want to include content meant to build a relationship with your audience and begin developing bonds of trust with them. One of the best means of doing so is by including content that builds credibility. You want to provide users with reviews, testimonials, positive case results and other content that will prove to potential clients that you have a good reputation. Create web pages for this type of content and intersperse ratings and quotes from reviews and recommendations throughout other pages on your site.

5. Develop a Plan for Website Maintenance

All the accessibility features, sleek branding and interesting content you add to your website won’t be successful if you don’t maintain the site. Regular maintenance ensures your website runs smoothly, ranks well on search results and is unlikely to be the victim of a cybersecurity breach. You should create a plan to perform regular maintenance on a set schedule, including running scans, updating software and utilizing performance metrics to fix issues or improve certain aspects of your site.

Your business’s website needs to be unique but also meet the expectations of your industry or market. A law firm’s website, for example, must explain the types of law its attorneys practice while also introducing audiences to its attorneys.

Jane