Have you been wondering how to start a small business without spending an arm and a leg? Well, doing so is easier than you ever imagined! All you need to do is develop a website and design it in such a way that visitors, preferably your prospective clients, will start flowing in and buying your products.
The best thing is that in the modern world, many clients prefer to make purchases on online platforms. That said, you should be ready to pay a price for the best web design services in Kenya. Otherwise, you will join millions of people who have tried online businesses and failed.
What tips should small business owners follow when developing a website? Here are the most important tips:
1. Create a polished and professional logo
A well-designed logo speaks volumes to your prospective clients in the sense that they can identify with your brand. It will particularly be beneficial if the logo is placed prominently on the site. The use of a high-resolution image for the logo is equally important.
It is wise to link the logo to the homepage so that visitors will navigate to it without hiccups. A professional logo tells your potential clients the quality of services or products to expect from you. Consider hiring top web developers to design a new logo for your business website.
2. Optimize the homepage
Most of your visitors are likely to land on your homepage depending on your marketing strategies. What elements have you included on your homepage? Is it easy to navigate to other pages from the homepage? Is the experience seamless?
The homepage can include more sections than other pages on the site. However, you must pick the right elements or sections. The most important elements to include are an overview of your services or products, case studies, testimonials, and success stories. Other elements include useful resources, a value proposition, an intro video, product features, and about us.
3. Do away with the clutter
It is easy to get caught up in uploading images, links, and all sorts of information related to your brand. Even so, you may not be aware that you may be confronting the brains of your clients with too much information that they cannot process well. The result will be confusion and a failure to focus on what is important in your website.
Hence, you must get rid of all the graphics, photographs, or any other content you deem unnecessary. Be sure to limit your links and options in the header and footer so that the client can focus on what is necessary. You must also create space between images and paragraphs to control user flow.
Hiring reliable web design services in Kenya becomes critical if you cannot identify the clutter on your site. Top developers will clear the clutter and include fresh content that keeps visitors scrolling.
4. Choose your fonts and colors wisely
When choosing your fonts, you must always have in mind the fact that users will access your website using different devices. Thus, whereas fonts may look sizable on a laptop, they may not scale well on mobile devices, which then makes them lose the desirable look. At the same time, ensure that colors are utilized strategically on the site.
Neutral colors are ideal if you want to create an elegant and clean impression. Remember that your colors must complement your logo and any other color used to create the fonts. In the end, your visitors will not only be able to focus on the most important content on your website, but they will also visit it regularly.
5. Review Navigation
You want your visitors to stay on your website as long as possible and order products. You cannot achieve the same with a confusing website. Make it so easy for visitors to find what they are looking for on your site. A few seconds should be enough to find an item or information if you get the navigation right.
Some of the factors to consider when designing your navigation bar include a responsive design and streamlined content. Part of the reason why you need to hire web design services in Kenya is to give users the best experience. The experience should not change drastically when a user switches to a mobile phone.
6. Optimize call-to-action buttons
Getting traffic to your website is one thing but transforming the traffic into sales is a different ball game. After reading about your products or services, what should the visitors do? Does your site give any direction or prompt visitors to take action?
Do not sit and wait for calls or emails without call-to-action buttons on your site. Include them in such a way that they are visible but not disruptive. Try to include most of the call-to-action buttons at the top and middle of the funnel. Otherwise, you will spam your website with too many buttons at the bottom of the funnel.
One important tip when designing call-to-action buttons is to help your visitors solve a problem. For instance, lead them to materials that relieve their pain points. You can offer video tutorials, webinars, price lists, or offers to meet different needs.
7. Add social share buttons
You can generate new traffic to your website from your visitors. Prompt visitors to share your content on social media by including social share buttons. You can reach the same visitors if they follow or connect with you on social media. Hence, it should be easy to access all social media platforms directly from your website.
8. White space is acceptable
You do not need to fill all the space with text and images. Leaving some white space is okay because it helps you break a page. Extra space improves the readability and overall outlook of your site. However, you must be careful to retain a professional design.
It may be difficult to add white space if every page is full of content. The reality is that some of the visuals and links on your site may be unnecessary. As you clear clutter, think of the white spaces you can create on each page. Another important tip is to group content and then use white space to separate different groups.
9. Mobile optimization
We mentioned this briefly when discussing navigation and clutter. Most people prefer to access the internet on their mobile phones, which means that they will view your site on their smartphones. Hence, you must optimize your business website for mobile.
Before saving or publishing any changes on your website, check its outlook on a mobile phone. Most content creators will give you a mobile preview of your website. If you created a site without this tip in mind, it may be time to search for web design services in Kenya
10. Search Engine Optimization
You now have a responsive website with a professional design. Your visitors can easily navigate the pages and find whatever product or information they need. The next big question to ask is, will your target clients find the website on search engines?
A clear search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is important to help internet users find your website easily. The basic goal of SEO is to ensure that your website appears among the top search results for specific search terms or phrases. Luckily, you have multiple tools online to help you optimize your website.
The right approach to web development and design will usher you into a world of success and growth in your small business. If you still have queries on how to develop your site successfully, you may want to seek the help of top designers in Kenya. Professional advice is particularly important if you lack basic web design skills.
