This had happened for a very simple reason. Facebook was eating up all internet traffic and it had become pretty superfluous to put time and effort behind a site. To make matters worse, Facebook was giving away a lot of free traffic, too, so brands could be found more easily on Facebook organically than they could on Google.

This made the need for sites nearly redundant, because even if you had a great site (and more so if you were a B2C brand), your site was not going to get that much traffic. People would even initiate most searches on Facebook, and even when they didn’t, your Facebook page would probably rank even higher than your own site on Google.

But times have changed. Facebook has stopped giving any real organic traffic, and now the only way to be seen by a good number of your customers on the platform is if you pay for the privilege.

Even when you do pay for the visibility you’re hampered by all the limitations of the platform, and you’re still showing your content on a site that’s doing its best to keep people on it. Your site, on the other hand, can be built in a way that works for your business, not Mark Zuckerberg’s. He’s rich enough.

So what should you do? You should build a site that’s at the centre of your communication efforts. You should, if I may say so myself, work with an agency like ours, one that understands what all your messaging is and then finds a way of displaying it conveniently for your audiences.

I’m going to be very kind and assume that anyone you work with will get the technical side of things correct. It’s a long shot, I know, but there’s a ton of great resources to cover that. If you need one you can see the ultimate web design checklist that covers it all. No use reinventing the wheel.

What I’d like to cover today is the high level plan of the site, the part that is much more about communications than about the actual nuts and bolts of the site. Anyone can get that right. 

From a content and structure point of view, a good web design and development agency, or a good web planner, will understand that any website should:

Be built to convert.

The website should be built to convert your visitors somehow or other, either into customers, into leads, into sales, or into fans. You should never waste traffic. Build a plan for every kind of visitor that you get and make it a point to have a goal (or multiple goals) for each. You won’t hit that goal with every visitor, but I can guarantee you that you will not hit a single goal that you don’t set. If you’re selling online, for example, then your primary target will be to close a sale, but if your visitor is not ready to purchase then you should at least get them to give you an email address or to share a product. Failing that you can place them into a bucket to hit them again with advertising at a later  

Cater for your different audiences.

While also making it seamless for them to navigate through. Some people will land on your site because they are ready to buy, others are there to research a product or solution that you offer. Make it easy for clients to choose where they want to go, and lat your site out in a way that will solve your visitors’ problems without creating new ones for them.

Host your content in a way that’s easy to browse and share.

It’s all well and good if your site looks incredibly sexy from miles away, but if the experience is frustrating for users, then it’s not really fulfilling its function. Some people are awestruck by inspirational experiences, and if that’s what you’re aiming for, then you should excel at it, but don’t play around with fancy stuff if you’re giving your audience a 5,000 word blog post to read. Just give them the text and informative images.

Tell your visitors about you, who you are, what you stand for.

It might sound obvious, but make it easy for your visitors to find out who you are and what drives you. If people find it hard to learn about who’s behind a brand, or at least why the brand exists, then they’ll have trouble trusting it.

Act as an extension to your social media activity.

Your website should include versions of the content that you create for social media. I’m not saying that you should have a feed that automatically pulls posts from your Facebook feed, that’s lazy, but you should make it a point to keep your website as updated as you would update your Facebook or LinkedIn profiles. But the medium is different, so make it a point to create content that makes sense in the context of a site.

Once we’ve established some of the key elements that need to go into a great site for the roaring 20s, I think that it’s time to see how we will get there. It’s not as hard as it might seem, all it needs is a bit of thought before we get started.

In order to do this you need to start off your planning before you start designing and developing, and you should work on a strategy for your site that will tie down:

• Your audiences
• Your goals (for each audience, if they differ)
• Where you’re going to get your traffic from
• What you’re going to do with your traffic
• What behaviour you’re expecting from your visitors

And in the end…

Websites are here to stay. They’re more important than ever, and you need to work with a good partner to get yours right. A good website will give you control over your narrative and will help you stand out from the crowd. If you want to have a chat about your next site, feel free to get in touch, we’d love to help you. 

The post How a great web development agency can build a site as the centre of your communications appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

1. The beginner’s guide to monitoring the right metrics on Google Analytics

Google Analytics doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon – it’s far too useful- so you can be sure that knowing the basics will equip you with the tools you need to figure out future updates and changes.

2. Growth hacking: How to use Twitter to drive traffic to your site

If you need to improve your twitter appeal then this is the perfect post for you. Find out just what you need to do in order to go from zero to hero and really get the most out of your Twitter account.

3. 10 simple growth hacks for your business’ Instagram feed

Instagram can be a great way to interact with your audience – especially if your audience is a slightly younger one. Get people hyped up and inspired with smart and creative posts which will boost your brand’s appeal and drive traffic to your site.

4. FAQ Special – Is your site ready for Google’s biggest update in years?

If you haven’t heard about Google’s Mobilegeddon then perhaps you’ve been living under a rock. We’ll forgive you. Here’s your chance to update yourself on what’s going on in the world of Google and how it’s going to affect you.

5. How to be heard above the noise

From our Office Bloggers series this blog post will give you the boost of inspiration you need to make sure you’re heard above the noise. Find out what it is you need to do to make sure that what you’re saying is useful and impressive.

6. Introduction to Online Advertising – Part 1

This one’s pure gold! We’ve given you a break down of what goes into online advertising, showing you the ins and outs and what different terms mean. Definitely one to be bookmarked for future reference! Check it out.

7. Be Trustworthy: why heart-centred marketing could be your game-changer

With digital marketing becoming more personal and person-focussed it’s important to instil a sense of trust within your brand. If your customers trust you then you’ve got it all. Find out how to be trustworthy and up your game.

8. Independence Day: Why a future-proof WordPress site is the way to go

We build sites to last. We use WordPress for a variety of reasons, but the main one is that it’s future-proof. This makes things simpler for us and the clients. Find out why it’s so important to have a future-proof website and how this could benefit your business.

9. 10 GrowthHacking tips for your next email marketing campaign

E-mail marketing can make or break your campaign. This post provides valuable insight into what you should do to ensure that you’re always on top. Check it out!

10. Simplicity: or how you interact with humans and machines for a winning website

Websites are built to be used by humans, that means that machine and man must interact. This post looks into how to have a website that’s functional but aesthetically pleasing and that will give users the best experience possible.

If these don’t provide you with the information you need to navigate through the digital marketing landscape then why not pop in for a chat? 

The post The recap – Our top ten blog posts you should have read appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Results

The site was ready to launch within a couple of months, and once the offices opened for business we received very positive feedback on both projects. All in all, a great project to work on – and thanks to everyone at GX4 Projects for being such great clients!

The post Client spotlight: The Hub appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.