Professional Advice for Your DIY Website

Robyn Rivera

With Websites 360®, designing your own website has never been easier or more user-friendly. Best of all, your new site will already be structured for SEO (search engine optimization) domination and will be completely responsive and scalable across all devices.

However, even with such an intuitive website builder and so many built-in features to ensure success, there’s still a lot of creativity and personalization that goes into building your own website, which means that there is still some room for error.

The design of your website can affect everything from how visible your website is online and how much exposure it gets to the rate at which people immediately click away from it (which is called your bounce rate). Suffice it to say, there’s a lot on the line when it comes to the design of your website, and your success online largely depends on getting it right.

Unfortunately, not everyone has an eye for design, and even fewer people have gone through formal training in order to learn how to get it right. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t build a website that meets your standards and performs how you need it to; you just need a little know-how on your side.

Professional Advice for Designing Your Own Website

I know how challenging it can be to wrap your head around designing your own website, how intimidating the process can seem, and how much is at stake for your business, which is why I wanted to provide you with the best advice I could straight from the horse’s mouth. So, I asked our Brand Designer, Casey Hoerr, what advice he would have for someone building their own website.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Have good quality images, a clear value proposition, and make sure that your clients know in the first three to five seconds of visiting your site 1) who you are, 2) what you do, and 3) how to contact you.”

Now, let’s break down the why and how of each of these points.

Use Quality Images

Why it’s important:

Images are one of the first things people will see when they visit your website, and unfortunately, cheesy stock footage is so common these days that it can be spotted from a mile away. Using good, high-quality stock images will help to make your website look more professional and to make a good first impression on your visitors.

How to get it right:

If it’s an option, it’s alway advisable to use your own images instead of stock images. These will be a lot more personal, and it gives you the added bonus of knowing for sure that no other website will feature the same photos. However, it’s imperative that you use quality images, and, if you have the budget for it, you might be better off hiring a photographer to help you capture the best images.

On the other hand, if using your own images isn’t an option, stock photos can also be a great choice, but make sure you’re choosing the right ones. When choosing stock photos, focus on images that feature people, that evoke emotion, and that support your message.

Want to learn more about how to choose the right images for your website? Check out my previous blog.

Have a Clear Value Proposition

Why it’s important:

There’s no shortage of competition online, and you need to give visitors to your website a reason to stick around and consider choosing you over the competition. This is called a value proposition, and it’s something that you’ll want to make clear and consistently reinforce with the design of your website, as well as with your future marketing efforts.

How to get it right:

Too many businesses don’t highlight their value proposition on their websites or hide it behind meaningless buzz words or industry slang. A good value proposition should be clear, to the point, and prominently displayed on your website and your marketing channels.

Check out Uber’s value proposition for an excellent example of what yours should look like :

“Uber is the smartest way to get around. One tap and a car comes directly to you. Your driver knows exactly where to go. And payment is completely cashless.”

In just a few sentences, Uber has effectively highlighted everything that’s wrong with taking a taxi, as well as the value and convenience of using their service instead.

Make Sure People Know Who You Are, What You Do, and How to Get Ahold of You

Why it’s important:

As I’ve mentioned time and time again in many of my Websites 360 blogs, the competition is fierce online. And, when someone has their pick of 30+ different plumbers to choose from, all within a 20-mile radius, they’re not going to waste any time with moving onto the next one if they visit your site and can’t immediately tell what you have to offer and how to take advantage of it.

How to get it right:

Every single aspect of your website, including the images, the videos, the logo, and the content itself, should all reinforce who you and what you have to offer. You have fewer than six seconds to catch a visitor’s attention before they’ll move on, so there should be no aspect of your website that doesn’t make it clear.

How can you ensure that a visitor will be able to immediately determine what kind of business you are? The best way is to test it with as many people as possible.

It’s also important that people know how to get ahold of you. No one is going to look around your site for a phone or an email address. If that information isn’t laid out clearly and easy to find, they’re going to move on to the next business that can meet their needs. So, make sure that your contact information is abundantly clear.

There’s a lot that goes into building a great website for your business, but these are definitely things you’ll want to keep in mind while building yours!