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There are many books on the subject of marketing and website design but I just wanted to boil it down so you never take your mind off of the importance of using your website effectively.

A website is NOT something you create and leave to gather cyber dust on the Internet. Think of it as a living thing that needs to be updated / fed often and in some cases very often. Your website should be looked upon as a 24-hour salesperson that is working hard for you. Most companies get into the “yea, we have a website but it doesn’t bring in any sales” syndrome because they are not using it properly.

Research & Set Expectations

Although the design agency you hire will also do their own research, it is just as important for your company to do so as well. Your research should be preliminary and the results should decide what direction you’re heading towards. With this research, you should be able to explain to a designer exactly what you want your website to be.

It’s a good idea to create a few lists that will guide the designer. Consider something like:

Websites that you would like to get some design cues from
Colors, fonts, logos, and other branding materials
Stock imagery you want to use
Primary goal of the website (i.e., user registration)

How do you fix a bad website?

Here is a list of things you can add to your website to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Make sure that your website has a method of contact on every page. This can be a contact form or an image Call To Action (CTA) directing them to a form. Please remember that most will not fill out a ling form so keep the inputs to a minimum.
Stay away from anything that moves (Flash and jQuery, etc.) that does not add to the users experience. In other words if the imagery does not DIRECTLY relate to or help in the sales process then leave it off. ESPECIALLY moving images.
Add video Testimonials and make a prominent Call To Action (CTA) image directing people to the page. Make sure you have more than three. You can combine written with video as well. If you sell many services have testimonials weaved into each service page.
Have a video (Talking head) of the owner speaking about the business and the BENEFITS of doing business with them. Do NOT bash the competition. Don’t even mention them. 3 minutes maximum unless you are very charismatic and have important stuff to say.
Include case studies of previous clients you have helped.
Use a lot of text. If you need to elaborate then do so. If someone wants to stop reading they will. “It’s better to have and not to need than to need and not to have.” Having a short amount of text is like having your salesperson stop speaking after 200 words. Don’t steal copy from other websites and don’t use copy that is on other websites even if you have permission.
Include all links to your social media sites you update frequently. If you don’t update them often then leave them off. Better yet update them often.
Make sure your navigation is logical and place the most important links first. Sorry, the about the company link is not the most important.
Keep your design consistent. Keep the logo in the same place on every page. You never know which page someone is coming in on. If you have a cryptic logo make sure you use a tag line that is descriptive.
Use contrasting color. The best is white pages with black text. Use red but very sparingly to make things stand out.
Have a free download or report that your prospects can download. You can make it so they can only download it if they give you’re their email address. Or if you don’t want to take an email make sure it is heavily branded.
A/B Split test your home page often.
Create the website for your customers NOT for you.
Create a blog and blog often.

Innovative Marketing Solutions Website Redesign Mainstays

STAY IN TOUCH
Nothing could be worse for your company than failing to provide up to date and accurate contact information. Phone numbers, addresses, directions, and e-mail information must all be current, and a link to it should be visible on each page of your website. If a customer is on your website he or she is interested in your product; By providing many avenues for communication, you increase the chances of making a sale, right then and there.
NAVIGATION AND SITE MAPS
You want your customers to feel right at home when they log into your site. Navigation bars should be large and clearly labeled. The location of each menu item should be the same across the entire website. Always include a home button on each page. It’s a great thing to design a website that distinguishes you from your competitors, but it can be taken too far. Keep the design simple, with functionality in mind.

FONTS AND COLORS
Your website redesign should have a consistent color scheme that isn’t tough on the eyes. Beware of poorly contrasting colors, and schemes that are too dark or too light. You want your site to be vibrant, but not distracting. As for a font, choose something readable. If you decide on using something that strays from the norm, it may not display properly on your customers devices and the design will suffer because of it.
PROVIDE QUALITY CONTENT
Engage your visitors! They are on your site for a reason, so keep things fresh in order to continually draw in traffic. Update your site often with relevant information. This is where blogging is key; a keyword marketed content rich written article posted daily or every other day will drive your website to the top of the search engines. You can blog about your company specials, products, industry trends, etc. By supplying quality original content, you can jump up in Google rankings and search pages.
NO SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION OR BAD SEO
Using specific keywords that pertain to your industry and location is a great way to jump up in rankings within each of the popular search engines. You want to make sure that the keywords that you use flow naturally within the text otherwise Google will penalize you for it. Target words with low cost and high visibility to increase the return on your investment.

USING IMAGES
You want your site to be visual in order to engage all your visitors but be wary. If too much website information is contained within graphics, Search Engine bots such as Google and Bing cannot read the text in the images. If you have your contact info placed within an image, as opposed to inline text, your customers may have a hard time finding you on the web. It is a great idea to compliment your website with graphic design and images. Highlight those images by submitting them to photo sites like Pinterest and Instagram so they show up in their indexes which in turn will show up on Google, AOL, Yahoo image search results.
DISTRACTING ELEMENTS
Be sure to avoid scrolling text, animated GIFs, and audio or video that loads automatically. These elements can be useful in certain circumstances, but for the most part, they are distracting for your visitors and often times drive people away.

There are many more things you can do to increase sales. If you need help just give us a call at: (201) 290-4254 to schedule our free Marketing Analysis Report (a $495.000 value)…We hope you keep these things in mind when considering your website redesign. For a more in depth look at the topics we covered, contact us today for a free phone consultation. Our development team will get some information from your then do a complete market analysis report then follow up with you with details on where your site is lacking to dominate the web!!!