September 7, 2011
OPEN Forum Message
Company Culture
Can you recognize signs that your company's culture isn't working? Get advice from the experts on what to look for–and how to fix it.
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Even with social media exploding all around you, you know that you first and foremost need a great website. Even with your 16-year-old's friends telling you that you need to post more on Facebook or Google+, you know that a great website is the overall foundation for your online activities.
The following are some basic essentials to help you build a website that works for your business. You can also see what you know—or what you don’t—via the OPEN Forum Crash Course on Website Conversion.
Planning and design
It’s important that you have a plan of action when creating your website. Don’t just create a site with no thought or strategy. Before clicking on your mouse or talking to any Web developer, take a pen and paper (yep, no tech) and plan things out.
Before hiring your Web designer make sure you thoroughly investigate their past work, get references and ensure they understand what you want. But also be prepared to listen to their suggestions—they are the experts.
Usability
As you’re planning your website, don’t just focus on what you want. Ask your customers, partners, employees and anyone else who will be using your website.
Although how your website is programmed–and the fact that it can be read on mobile devices and many other devices, etc.—are important, make sure that your site navigation is well thought out. Visitors to your website should be able to quickly find what they are looking for and not feel they are in maze.
Once your website is built, don’t expect the world to rush on over. You’ve still got more work to do—including working hard to market your website.
Content
As your site evolves, ensure that you focus on what fresh content will be published. Fresh content ensures your website is not a boring, stale, digital brochure. Instead of only selling information, good websites inform, entertain or provide some other type of content for their audiences to read and for search engines to index—boosting traffic to the website.
The “Reading List”
On OPEN Forum, there are a number of articles that can help you build a better website. The following cover the core topics that should help you get started. Read these, or test what you already know at the OPEN Forum Crash Course on Website Conversion.
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