An aesthetically designed and functionally vibrant website is a vital factor determining the success of any business. If you are really serious about grabbing customers online, having precisely customised website suiting your exact business requirements is inevitable. Moreover these custom websites can be easily managed and maintained.

More than giving the website a new look, the approach should aim to:

• make it easier for visitors to find what they need
• improve the experience of all our users
• strengthen the company identity

How to decide on your website design:

Improvements based on extensive user research, user testing and consultation, includes:

• website user analytics
• user research with plenty of customer feedback  and staff involvement

A clearer way of thinking about your new site

Plan out a hierarchy before you develop your website.

If  you are starting a website from scratch, you are in a great position to plan out site structure for the best Search Engine Optimization possible. Even before you start creating pages in a Content Management Structure, plan out your structure. You can do it on a whiteboard, a spreadsheet program (Excel, Google Drive Spreadsheets), most word processors, or something like Visio or OmniGraffle.

Having a clear and common understanding of what results you want the new site to achieve (how many more sales or enquiries, in what areas of your business), will be an improvement on many briefs. But you can, and should, go further.

The 5 Pillar Approach

Modern day web design involves multi-department, multi-function, and multi-skill set approaches. Search Engine Optimization and content is a core part of the design and build process.

1. Design

You would be surprised how many websites have not caught up with times in terms of modern day design. A disproportionate amount of expenditure has been placed on marketing and over optimizing that, in reality, needs to be balanced with advanced usability and clean, simple, engaging design.

Finding the right balance between design that looks modern yet simplistic in nature, informative and engaging for the user and maintainable for Search Engine Optimization performance is the bedrock of success.

2. Usability

Inbound traffic is key to a marketers goals and Search Engine Optimization represents a large part of that activity. It is important to also blend your SEO strategy and web design with actually usability – what happens once users hit your site.

3. Search Engine Optimization

This is where marketing and technical departments should align. The reality has been, that due to differences in left and right brain thinking, this never really used to happen.

As modern marketers and designers evolve this relationship, it is essential that core on-site Search Engine Optimization principles are built into technical architecture. Artistic influence needs to be balanced with search engine friendly structure.

4. Content

Content is what connects every element of the design and build process. Content is core to everything that we do from both a technical and a marketing perspective. All good design should be focused around quality content and copy and is included in all five pillars of this process.

5. Integration

Organizational integration the key to success when building a website that works for your business. For example, integration relates to design, content relates to technical CMS systems and design and SEO and so forth.

As people consume content on a combination of desktop, mobile and tablet devices integrating your website design across multiple devices is becoming very important.

Responsive web design involves having one website for every screen and for many is seen as the future of web design.

Digital technologies therefore offer the chance for individualised, tailored, accelerated and more effective strategy for businesses. If you want to know about the power of digital transformation, Anglo African team can help you,  do contact Jessen on 2331636 or via e-mail at  jessen.valaythen@infosystems.mu