A corporate website is a powerful assistant for each business that bends its steps toward success. Â
In a world that’s rich in possibilities, not taking most of them means lagging behind the progress. Today, if you have even a small business or looking to build a new one, it’s crucial to assess all available resources to make it successful. The digital sphere has much to suggest, from social media networking to advertising campaigns. Still, the role of a business website remains of the utmost.
Having a qualified, comprehensive website is key to positive business performance. An excellent corporate website opens the door for a vast range of opportunities: high brand awareness, customer acquisition, highlighted online presence, better compatibility with the audience’s needs, higher credibility, the list goes on.
Building a great business website takes a dedicated approach, time, and capital. When launching your own website, you should consider that following an elaborated plan is better than drawing in a sea with endless choices.
Having a clear goal is critical.
Every business has an intention to exist, and each serves a different purpose. The same goes with business values and mission. That’s what helps customers to distinguish between companies and effortlessly identify which business is apt to meet their needs and which is not, without wasting too much time analyzing.
Besides, knowing clearly who you are and what for you exists leads to consistency in everything you do. Thus, your business website will apply a coherent outlook that will result in better brand perception and, eventually, lead to a higher overall brand value.
Understanding your target audience means knowing the path.
Your target audience needs is a base for your website content. The interest of various customer groups may vary significantly. If your primary audience is shareholders and partners, they probably will search for your company’s financial achievements, reputation, or activities. However, this sort of information will not likely appeal to your customers. They are more interested in your company’s products and what you can suggest to them as consumers.
Remember, the content you provide should land with your target audience’s particular interests. Decide for whom you build your corporate website. Thus, you will manage to satisfy your visitors, converting them into your customers.
Responsive design is a foundation for high website usability.
Before launching the website, think about the design strategy to apply to the process. More than half of the overall web traffic comes from mobile devices. Given that, it may seem reasonable to design over a mobile-first approach. Still, desktop assessment rates are high, and implementing responsive design sounds like a better plan.
Responsive websites are easy to use, regardless of the device they accessed, be it a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet. Such websites have high compatibility to various screen sizes, ensuring that every user will be able to view them without any functional constraints.
When it comes to the corporate website itself, there are also some significant points to remember.
Include the basic set of pages.
Every business is unique, and the content it provides might be different. However, there is a set of essential data that each corporate website should include. Visitors usually go to the corporate website to learn about your business, find social proof, or contact you directly. Thus, having the following pages involved is necessary:
1. Homepage
Homepage goes without saying, as it makes up the first impression about you. It should tell who you are and what you do, captivate, and urge visitors to explore the website further. Your homepage needs to be well-designed, load fast, and look attractive. It should include a short description of your company, a brief explanation of your services or products, and the mission statement.
2. About page
If the visitors want to learn more about you, they will go to the About page. This page is often one of the most visited pages on any website. Place a summary of your company history, present the team working with you, state what differentiates you from competitors, and display your achievements.
3. Social proof page
People are more likely to rely on other’s experiences, and providing them with a review page is a proper decision. That is your chance to show off the positive appraisal your company has received. Testimonials from real people are perceived better, and it makes sense to include photos and contact info of the authors. That way, you establish an actual source of credibility and raise trust among your audience.
5. Contact page
When visitors are satisfied with what you suggest and want to know more or get some peculiar information, they will search for ways to get in touch with you. The contact page should involve a phone number and email address, including social media accounts and other platforms you employ.
Also, you can use a contact form. If it is inconvenient to use and incomprehensible, visitors are more likely to abandon it and skip your website. That’s why it’s critical to make your form comprehensive and transparent. Such contact forms have more chances to attract visitors and convert them into customers.
Think over textual and visual content.
A corporate website is a means of getting to know the company as a whole. It should include only relevant information that would be useful for your potential partners and customers. All kinds of reports on what you’ve achieved, financial status, and further development plan are suitable for the business website. Make sure you present it in a consistent way, without overloading the site with tons of dry and monotonous data.
Including relevant images in the textual blocks makes the content look versatile and appealing. Appropriate visual content is able to transmit the overall mood of your business, highlighting distinctive features that stand you out.
Apply a consistent design and branding.
Design is a powerful tool that brings all on-site segments together and makes them look consistent and aligned. Adhere to one design decision fitting well your specific profile. Employ one particular color palette that reflects your business personality. Ultimately, make sure that it all goes well with your brand image.
For a corporate company, it is crucial to brand consistently all the channels it encounters. And the website is not an exclusion, if not a priority. The website should be a part of your branding policy, working in favor of your brand. Make sure you employ the same design elements, fonts, styles, colors on every page. All this contributes to a cohesive user experience and holistic perception of your business.
Make the design functional.
Having a well-designed and appealing website is beneficial. However, making it usable and functional is paramount. The visitors come to your website with already specified goals in their minds. Whether they want to carry out on the website, let them accomplish it effortlessly, without spending too much time seeking the right path.
The website should be comprehensive and easy to navigate through. There is no need to overload it with unnecessary complex design elements that may distract visitors from their aims. Make it transparent and simple, as simplicity is the key to a good user experience.
Involve social media.
Social media is an excellent platform for sharing your content and building awareness. With social media networking, you can reach more audiences and inform them about some significant issues. Enable your website with links to your social media accounts. From there, you can transmit the values your business conveys to the masses and find potential customers and even supporters.
Make the website SEO optimized.
Even if you nailed down all the points above, users have no way of knowing about your existence without good SEO optimization. Make your website SEO friendly:
- Include keywords
- Optimize all on-site images to contribute to faster load speeds
- Install an SSL certificate that ensures data passed between web servers and browsers remains private
- Provide the content with high-quality backlinks and internal links
- Refresh the content regularly
Great SEO allows you to rank higher on search results, making it easier for potential customers and partners to find you across plenty of similar platforms. With an SEO friendly website, you’ll manage to highlight your online presence.
All in all, when building a corporate website, it’s crucial to focus on numerous factors simultaneously. Launching the website, not discovering your audience needs, you’re taking the risk to get off the intended path. Likewise, concentrating solely on the visual side beyond making the design usable is a way to failure. Bearing all the above points in mind ensures you will manage to create both a functional and appealing platform without wasting energy, time, and money in vain.
Let’s have a look at the great examples of an excellent corporate website.
NASA has established a notable online presence by launching a compelling, visually appealing, and functional website. It employs all the necessary content blocks that are available from the homepage and easy to navigate through.
The website design adheres to one color palette. It incorporates relevant design elements suitable for the organization, for instance, a starry sky background. Besides, NASA has mastered consistent branding that can be traced to all website segments back. No doubt, the platform provides an impeccable, coherent experience to everyone who views it.
Pixar employs a minimalist design approach and is very attractive due to the stunning high-quality visuals. Plenty of negative space makes visitors immediately draw their attention to the visuals and leaner on them. It has a clean, clear-cut site architecture that is highly simple to navigate.
Starbucks corporate website has a bright color scheme, which contributes to the enjoyable, cheerful mood that the overall brand seeks to transmit to the masses. With plenty to look at, the homepage seems highly engaging. The website incorporates appealing images throughout all the pages, still loading fast, which speaks of accomplished image optimization.
Wrapping it up
A business website is a powerful asset for many brands that bend their steps toward success. Considering all the tips and points examined above, you will be able to build an excellent corporate website, taking most of its capabilities, improving the overall business performance.
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