Booop's top tips for company websites

As we are on our journey at Booop we want to share our learning along the way. One of the things we have found while making connections with retailers and businesses in and around Melbourne, is the supportive and collaborative community and our many shared experiences of starting a company.  Our team share what they have learnt and discovered about creating Booop’s website.

What does your website say about you?

Your website is your opportunity for you to make a positive (and often first) impression on visitors. This is where they will learn about your business and it is an opportunity for you to build a following and trust in your brand. 

Depending on your budget and the stage of your organisation’s journey, will determine whether you are creating the website from scratch — either independently or with an external web design company, or perhaps you’re  at the stage of updating your website. 

You can build a more basic website with a template design and a web content management system (CMS) to edit your site. If your website is more complex then you will more likely require a professional to help build it. Remember to reach out to your networks and ask for their recommendations and experiences!

Our tips for what to consider when creating and maintaining your website 

• Create and define your digital strategy for your business, including short and long term goals, you will want to have a road map for the future and ensure that your website can grow with your business.
• Type of website – focus on what you want the website to do and the type of information it will have. For example, will you be using it to sell products or services online? Then you will need an e-commerce website. Will the website be for returning customers? Consider featuring regular blogs, articles and useful resources. Will your website need to host a range of content from copy, videos, blog to selling a product/service?
• Build your brand identity and ensure it is consistent across all of your platforms from your website, social media to internal and external documents. Your content from images to the writing should reflect the personality (the brand) of your company. Share your story in an ‘About us’ page, people want to know who you are and feel connected, it helps to build authenticity, trust and a loyal following.
• Have a clear hierarchy of content and messaging. Keep it clean, simple and uncluttered and easy navigation, make it as intuitive as you can. Accessibility and usability is vital for all users.
• Make sure it is device friendly for all platforms. Always check how each page previews on mobiles, tablets and desktops.
• Provide a clear call-to-action (CTA) on your website and each web page. These include: lead generation (blog, articles, resources etc.), form submission, read more, product or service discovery, and social sharing — these are just some to consider.  
• Integrate with your social media channels, at the very least have them in your footer.
• Load speeding. How long does it take to load your website? People are impatient and won’t wait long, especially for a new website that is unknown to them. 
• Invest as much as you can in your product (or services) photos and videos. The internet is a highly visual medium and this really increases sales.
• Show testimonials as soon as you can.
• Optimise the website for search engines. Check your competitors websites and use information provided by search engine providers, for example Google starter guide 
• Test all your web links and contact forms.
• Review your website content (at least each quarter). As your business grows things will change and you need your website to have the most up-to-date information. 
• If you can add interactive elements such as live demo animations, click through pages rather than scroll, let users highlight areas, hide and reveal information via clicks and rollovers. Interactivity can increase engagement and help them to remember the content, it also keeps people on the web page for longer.

Whether you are creating a website from scratch or updating your current content, look around for inspiration, there are 1.13 billion websites out there! What do you like about a website and what frustrates you? Always remember that your website is likely to be the first interaction a person has with your business. What do you want their first and lasting impression to be?