Creating a website for your business

In 2022 every business MUST have a responsive, functional website — that’s the baseline. Customers expect to be able to access your website from their phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. That means that your website needs to function at different screen sizes. If you’re serious about prioritizing customer experience and growing your business, you need to have a website that’s professionally designed with user experience in mind. 

Your website should not only include contact information, product or service information, but reflect your mission statement and your brand. If you’ve recently rebranded, make sure your website is also updated to reflect that. If your customers land on your website and the colors, logos, and fonts are different from what they’ve seen elsewhere, they may think they’re on the wrong website and leave. 

We have built custom WordPress websites in a variety of industries:

• Real Estate websites
• Manufacturing websites
• E-commerce websites
• Restaurant websites
• and more

If you were told your website would be “mobile-friendly” but are getting complaints about its usability, it may be time to take another look. The term “mobile-friendly” used to just mean that your website would appear when accessed on a mobile device, however, that didn’t guarantee that it would be easy to use. 

Have you ever pulled up a website on your phone and struggled to hit the tiny buttons? Or read dense text that was way too small? Mobile-friendly isn’t enough. Today’s standard is mobile-first. At Northbound, we consider the mobile user experience from the start, rather than adapting our designs to “just work” on mobile.

There are lots of options when it comes to building a website for your business, including DIY options. If you’re looking to save money, you may be tempted to build your own website using a premade template. If you’re just starting out and have a really low budget, this is definitely better than nothing. 

However, templates are obviously designed to work for hundreds of businesses, not your business specifically. Your website is often the first impression your business leaves on a customer. Do you want that first impression to be nearly identical to your competitors? 

Instead, show your customers you’ve considered their questions and problems. Show your customers you value their time. 

This can only be achieved by custom web design and development. When a website is custom, the web designer or team will research the business, understand what its customers want to find first, and create a user experience tailored to their target market.

The web design process involves two basic strategies: 

1. How to get people TO your website
2. User Experience

The first — how to get people to your website — is your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. SEO refers to the work done to your website pre- and post-development, which allows it to appear in search results. Many business owners believe that just having a website guarantees them an appearance on the first or second page of Google. This is not true. Appearing higher in search results only happens when the proper research is done, high-quality content is created, and the website meets all of Google’s standards. These standards include being responsive. Responsive websites meet searchers’ needs, and their actions on your site register positively with Google.  

Your website will appear higher in search results if it effectively addresses the query. This requires you to create high-quality content that includes the right keywords. On page SEO and blogging are two important ways to improve your ranking.

How to promote your website?

Once customers find your website, you need to consider their experience in order to hold their attention and avoid frustration. 

Website design involves research and strategy. Depending on the size of the project, it can involve discovery meetings, creating user personas, and more. When the extra steps to understand the user are skipped, a website ends up with a clunky user experience that your customers are sure to remember — and not in a good way. As soon as something doesn’t work as it’s expected to, your customers are off to another competitor who can more easily solve their problems.

Consider your customers’ time before ever meeting them in person by offering them a custom-built website that solves their problems.

How does your website adapt to different screen sizes? Is it just as easy to click, scroll, watch, shop, and read on your phone as it is on your computer? If not, you should consider redesigning your website. 

In order to build custom, responsive, WordPress websites that look beautiful and function on every device, we build wireframes. Wireframes are essentially blueprints. This allows us to map out where all of that SEO content will live on mobile devices, tablets, and computers. Wireframes help us perfect the user experience before development begins. This saves time, and therefore, allows us to offer custom websites to small businesses affordably. 

Once the wireframes are finalized and approved, then we begin development with a solid plan in place. After development, we go through a rigorous testing process in which we test the website on different browsers and devices to ensure its compatibility.

We have built websites for many clients in different industries. From wineries, to tire shops, to local restaurants, we can help. We are able to do this because we develop a long-term relationship with our clients and get to know their businesses. By spending time researching their industry and business, we can become an extension of their team.

Responsiveness is SO important for restaurant websites. Many guests are searching for a place to eat while out and about. Some key points about this user type:

• They rely heavily on searching keywords to make their decision. For example “gluten free lunch near me.” Is your menu available on your website? Is it easy to read on mobile? Is it typed out (searchable) or just in a PDF?
• They use mobile.
• They want to see photos.
• Branding is important. They want to know what their dining experience will be like and are weighing that against other options.
• They may want to book reservations online.

Real estate websites involve specific functionality like MLS integration, home searches, the ability to create accounts, and more. All of these tools must be available to users from any device. If a user is out and about visiting open houses, going to showings, etc. they need to be able to use your website on their mobile devices. Some key points about this user type:

• They rely heavily on searching location keywords.
• They use their mobile devices while out and about touring homes.
• They want to see photos, videos, and maps.
• They have a lot of specific questions about the buying/building process and want clear answers.

Potential clients seeking precise, efficient manufacturing are looking for the same things in a website. Deliver the answers your target customers are seeking in a considerate, efficient way and show them the kind of service they should expect from you right from the start. 

Your B2B clients are seeking a partner they can trust long term. Is your website reflecting your reliability?

Selling your products online? Make sure your customers can shop from any device. Having a functional, responsive website is an absolute must for anyone seeking to sell products online. If your website looks unreliable, customers will be highly suspicious of its security. Would you enter credit card information into a website that only partially worked? 

In addition to the reasons listed above, having a responsive e-commerce website will also open marketing opportunities. For example, if your website is up-to-date, and functions on mobile devices, you can take advantage of social media marketing. You could allow your customers to shop right from their Instagram accounts, capturing sales more efficiently.

Looking to build or update your website to ensure it’s responsive, and functioning as a tool for your business? Northbound Studio is happy to help small businesses in Grand Rapids, as well as across the country.