Taking Everything Into Consideration
There are a lot of considerations that go into creating a new website. From identifying your audience to functionality needs to brand representation — a lot of little pieces start to add up. With so many options, how do you choose what takes priority?
It is important to keep in mind that your website is a tool for your customers and potential customers. Since they are the ones who will be using the site, it is important to know what they need.
What Does My Audience Need?
Contact Information
The goal of your website is to get potential customers to contact you. Whether they call you, email you, or fill out an online schedule form – they need to be able to reach you. Having your phone number in the header and footer makes it easy to find, especially on mobile! Including a contact form on each page makes it simple for clients to reach you, no matter where they are on your website.
Calls To Action
Along with ways to contact you, you want to help encourage people to do so. A call-to-action (CTA) does just that. “Schedule Service Online,” “Call our shop today!.” “View Our Online Specials” – these are all good CTAs. They encourage your audience to interact with you and your website. It is important to remind people what you want them to do and give them opportunities to complete that action.
Mobile Friendly
Almost everyone has a cell phone these days, and most people use them as much more than just a phone. There is a good chance a majority of your audience is using their phone to search and view websites – including yours. It is critical that your site is responsive for mobile and easy for people to navigate through with a quick touch.
Your first step should always be to make sure your website matches the needs of your audience. Once you do that, it is important it matches your brand! Colors, photos, and style should all be cohesive with your shop and business. Below are some tips on how to create an exciting and personal site.
Common Requests and Questions
“How do I make the website feel more like my shop?”
Having a professional looking website is always important, but so is adding a little bit of your shops’ personality and brand. Sometimes it can be difficult finding the right balance of personal touches on your website.
Suggestion – Include colors that match your logo or shop. Also, add your own photos. Pictures of your staff and examples of work and around the shop really help people understand the personality of your business.
“I want a ton of animation.”
Having movement on your website is great. It helps keep the page from becoming too static or dull. But too much animation isn’t always a good thing. Animations and videos can slow down your website’s load speed and hinder the user experience. Also, many of these animations and effects to translate the same to mobile (which your potential customers are using)!
Suggestion – Find one place on the website to focus on your animation or video. Whether you want to try a video banner, animated photos on the homepage, incorporate parallax images – try to find one key feature and make it really stand out.
“There is too much content! No one is going to read this.”
When customers go to your website, they are usually looking for contact information, services, and a way to schedule online. So, why all the content? We want to make sure people get to your website, and SEO is one way we help do that. Even if you don’t think your customers are reading your pages, Google definitely is. It’s important to make sure Google finds all the information it needs to show your shop as a reputable source.
Suggestion – Create sections on the homepage that break out content pieces into easy, readable chunks that aren’t too overwhelming to viewers. And always keep in mind that is is better to have too much than too little.
Creating a new website should be fun, not stressful. Combining customer needs with your shop’s personality will help your site come to life and be successful. And don’t forget, the team at Autoshop Solutions is always here to help!
Jordan Wise