Your website is your virtual storefront. It’s where customers and potential customers come and go. In light of that, you want to be confident that you’re putting your best foot forward online.
If your website is slow to load, doesn’t work well on mobile devices, or visitors leave soon after landing on your page, those are indicators that your website is due for an overhaul.
You could try to update it yourself, but a DIY web design may be what got you into this position in the first place. Rather than spending time and money only to end up with a sub-par product, invest in professionals. Choosing the right experts can deliver the high-quality results you need.
Appropriate experience
When updating your company website, it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees. It’s easy to get caught up in elements like buttons, fonts, and logos, but great graphics can’t overcome an interface that’s clunky. If visitors can’t find what they’re looking for or easily save login and payment information on your site, chances are they will take their money elsewhere. To build a stellar, user-friendly website that leaves the competition behind, you need to hire the best PHP developers.
PHP is a server-side coding language. It can do things like create login systems, search features, and cookies that track users’ preferences. It’s also the coding language behind WordPress, the website platform that’s so popular. With PHP it’s easy to update websites without paying a developer each time. These professionals can build a feature-rich, beautiful site that’s affordable and easy to maintain.
You can find developers on job boards like Upwork. While costs vary, Upwork PHP developers experienced in the leading content management systems and PHP frameworks, generally cost between $50-$100 an hour.
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Branding and graphic design expertise
Does your website showcase your brand, or is it a hodgepodge of mismatched colors, fonts, and stock photos? A good website makes your brand instantly recognizable through visual cues like color palettes, logos, and images. When a business uses cohesive branding, it instantly feels more engaging and authentic to consumers.
Conceptually, branding is simple. In practice, it’s hard to pull off. Since branding and graphic design are intimately linked, look for a branding expert who also has the graphic design experience to create logos, buttons, and other graphics for your site. While it’s possible to find inexpensive graphic designers online, you shouldn’t go cheap on a project as important as your company website.
Aim to find a quality designer with whom you can build a long-term relationship. If a full-service branding agency is outside your budget, look for a freelance branding and graphic design expert who has a portfolio that resonates with your brand vision. It’s best to budget between 5 and 15 percent of your overall budget toward branding.
A top-notch content creator
Customers aren’t always ready to buy when they visit your website. So once you’ve sparked a customer’s interest, you have to maintain their interest until they’re prepared to make a purchase.
Content is the best way for businesses to engage customers who are interested in their service or product, but want to learn more before buying. This can come in the form of blog posts, videos, social media posts, and email newsletters. However, no matter what type of content you’re producing, it’s only effective if it’s high-quality.
If producing engaging content isn’t your area of expertise as a business owner, outsource it. You can invite guest posts from industry experts, hire a website content developer, open an internal forum, or invite your own staff to make contributions.
For small businesses with small budgets, spending money on freelancers and developers can be challenging. High-quality help isn’t cheap, but when it comes to content and design, you get what you pay for. Instead of making do with a lackluster website or hiring the lowest bidder, invest in your company’s site. Then, watch how a great web presence improves your business’s bottom line.
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