Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you know business needs a website. Your website is like the Holy Grail. It’s a vital component of your business.
Now that you've hopefully realized it's important to have a website, I'm sure your next question is how much does website design cost in Bergen County, NJ.
There is the saying, "You get what you pay for." That is definitely the case with website design rates. If you’re still reading (snaps for you!) remember this advice when you’re ready to redesign.
What Are Your Business Goals
In other words, what do you want your website to accomplish? How are you maximizing your website to achieve your business goals? Before you start designing your website, figure out how much you are willing to put into it.
Spending money on your site and having no idea what you want your website to do is a lot like going to the grocery store without a grocery list. You’ll probably end up either forgetting something or getting items you don’t necessarily need. A well-executed website requires planning and should be able to improve sales, acquire new leads, increase web traffic and boost conversions.
How much does getting a new client mean to you? When designing a website, like I said, you get what you pay for. If you aren’t willing to spend, you probably won’t get the results you were hoping for.
If you are a smaller company, you likely won’t have the same funds as a bigger company. But you should be willing to pour in a decent amount of pocket change into website design.
What Goes Into Building A Website
I like instant gratification as much as the next person. I like to be able to start a task, complete it and see results right away. Unfortunately, that’s not the case when it comes to creating a website.
Your website is your company’s digital identity. You wouldn’t want to show up to an important meeting with disheveled hair and a dingy t-shirt. You want your website to represent your brand in a positive light.
After all the blood, sweat and tears you put into creating your brand, don't tarnish it by having shoddy visuals. Unless you’re a certified web guru, you’ll probably want to hire a web developer or an agency to lay the groundwork for your website to make sure all the pieces are there.
Here are some things that your website should have…
Content - Content is the meat of your website. You can’t have a substantial meal without it. Your website won’t survive without content!
Photos - Add some personality to your website. Your photos can either be original or created, retouched and perfected by a web developer to spice up your site.
Design - The design of your site should represent your brand. Add cool pallets, typography, templates etc. that people will start to associate with your services or products. When designing your site you can choose between a custom build (which a developer makes a new template from scratch) or a template that is already designed and tweaking it a little for your site (generally for smaller businesses with smaller budgets).
Structure - Let’s go old school here for a second. Your site should be like a map. Audiences should be able to figure out where to go. You need to have someone considering how your customers and prospective leads are going to navigate and use your site to optimize your results.
Layout - Organize your site. Don’t place call-to-actions, headers, footers, and sidebars just anywhere, have some fluidity. Keep that in mind when adding these features to your site.
Optimization - You shouldn’t skimp on the SEO. This is what is going to help people find your website.
Functionality - How dynamic do you want your site to be? When I log into my Netflix account it says “Welcome Maggie” and has suggestions based on what I watch. The site is able to do that because of the databases Netflix has for their website, which cost extra. It really depends on your budget and what type of experience you want your user to have.
What Is Your Content Creation Strategy
As said before the content is the meat of your site. That’s why creating a killer content strategy is something you should keep in mind when designing a website.
While more content means more money there is a plus side that doesn’t come out of your wallet. Search engines love new content. Adding fresh content to your website is an awesome way to keep you relevant in the eyes of search engines like Google.
A blog is another way to keep your SEO ranking’s high. Writing blog posts can help you establish yourself and your company as experts. Other good ideas for creating helpful content is adding videos, photos or eBooks. All of these are good ideas for content creation strategies.
Mobile And Responsive Design
Most people, myself included, start and end the day looking at our phones. I have a routine where I wake up scroll through my Twitter feed and click on articles that sound appealing.
One of the most frustrating things I find is sometimes the sites don’t work or fit on my smartphone. The sites are created for desktops, but with an increase in smartphones and tablets dictate that more people need websites that are mobile friendly.
I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t cost extra. Responsive sites take time to build, but I really believe they are worth in terms of generating leads.
By making your site responsive, people can access it from anywhere. You could have someone reading it on the train or before bed like I do. This is going to draw more traffic to your site. Result? Money well spent.
Tell us what matters most to you in your website design in the comments below!