DIY WEBSITE DESIGN SECRETS

DIY website design tips for small business owners

Your website is a powerful tool. Having a website gives you the opportunity to be discovered by your ideal audience and you have complete creative over how you create that connection and cultivate a relationship with them. From design style to content, your site can emulate the values of your business. Having a site that does this establishes professionalism and encourages consumer confidence.

Think of it this way, if you were browsing online to invest money in a product or service, would you choose to purchase from a business that provided little information about itself or its offering, giving the impression it wasn’t legitimate or would you choose the one that had a clean, easy to navigate layout with links to social media, reviews and plenty information about itself?

Taking on the project of creating and maintaining a website can feel daunting. Not only are there many options to choose from when it comes to platforms like Squarespace, WordPress and Wix there are design choices and of course the cost involved. This is one of those scenarios though where, if you are determined to grow your business’ profile, the investment is as necessary as developing your product or service. It’s an essential tool to have in your arsenal.

It is possible to create a site cost effectively by giving into the temptation of DIY website design. There are a myriad of easy to master options like the ones mentioned above that provide easy to design and set up sites with and without e-commerce facilities. That said, you should consider recruiting some external help in order to get the best result and have a site that generates a return.

When to take diy off the table

The Learning Curve

If your skills or patience to learn the skills required to do the design work are minimal, the time alone that it will take to master them and create a design worthy of your practice will cost you a lot more than what you will pay an expert

SEO (aka Search Engine Optimisation)

There is no point in having a site that nobody can find. Optimising your site towards your target audience or people interested in your work is essential! SEO helps Google to understand what your site is offering and include it in searches for relevant terms. EG. If you’re a pet portrait artist people will likely be using search terms like ‘pet portrait commission’ An SEO expert will be able to determine a range of these terms for you and integrate them strategically into the site you create so that your practice will show up.

GDPR & Privacy

Irrespective of whether you are selling works from your site or simply collecting email addresses for your mailing list, your site MUST comply with EU regulations. This includes but is not limited to cookie consent, GDPR and a privacy policy. Consultation with an expert in this field will keep both you and your site visitors safe.

Photos

Having professionally taken photos of you, your team, your products or events you have hosted is the best way to compliment the written description of your business and the results your service bring to your clients.

And here’s what you should do yourself…

Written Content

All the details about yourself and the work you do should be written by you, in your own voice, telling your story your way.

Identify Your Audience

Take the time to profile your audience so that you know exactly who you are marketing to with your website. This will help to shape the content you include, how you present it and how you talk about it. Knowing your audience is relevant to all your marketing activity so this research is very important.

It’s important to remember the critical role a great website can play in making sales and the contribution it makes to building authentic connection with your ideal clients. A relevant, up to date website is essential and is one of the best investments you can make for your business.

Looking to have anew website created for your business or update an existing design? Get in touch!