When you think about it, your very first website is a lot like your first home. You think you know exactly what it’s going to be like and what you want, but those plans can quickly change. That’s what’s so exciting (and quite intimidating) about owning a website. Where do you even begin? How can you make sure to offer what your visitors are looking for and keep them coming back for more? One thing’s for sure, appearance means everything.
Having the Best Products is Just the Beginning
Whether you’re offering products, services or information on your website, you need to create something that makes people want to stick around. This means, an intriguing logo, banner and objects, such as photos or videos that make people want to continue viewing your site. If you cannot successfully capture a visitor’s attention and spark their interest within a few seconds of their arrival, you may be in trouble. Make them want to continue reading and browsing by making it easy for them to see exactly what your site has to offer and give them something to look forward to in the future.
A Never-Ending Job
Owning and maintaining a website is a task that never ends. Letting a site sit without updating could mean unhappy customers. The internet is a huge storage space and people crave fast, fresh and exciting content. If you only update your site once every 2 months, it is going to be much tougher to get noticed when there are people who are adding new content on a daily or weekly basis. Get attention by building a blog, sign up for forums and social networking sites, such as Facebook and Pinterest. Talk about and share photos of things you think your target audience would enjoy to get them to check out your official web page. Make them laugh, make them smile or cause them to feel something and you are bound to get them to stick around.
Reach Out for Help
While all of this can feel like a lot of hard work, there are a few simple rules to follow. For one: you must be able to change with the times. Right now social sites are proving to be some of the quickest and easiest ways to get your name out there free of charge. What will next month look like? How about next year? It’s impossible to know for sure. Secondly, know that there is not a way to quickly rise to a high Google rank. If you want to get there, you need to do it the right way: by creating a truly beneficial website.
Get in touch with others in the same boat and see what has and hasn’t worked for them as a basis for the future of your site. This may mean signing up for newsletters for websites in the same niche as yours or going onto forums designed for website admin. WordPress is a great free starting place to play around with different options and get your content out there fast, but you may want to consider hiring a graphic or website designer to get a more professional and advanced look right out the gate.
