A website is the one digital platform you entirely own. Social media marketing platforms, SEO, and paid ads are all amazing channels that can help you grow your digital presence, but they are not under your control. Search engine guidelines and social media algorithms change very often – and you never have full control over them. A similar analogy is renting a house VS buying your own house. Buying a house is a big investment but it’s worth it. Just like you should plan for buying a house, you must plan for your website. Let’s talk about choosing the requirements of your website according to your needs and the different types of websites out there, particularly business websites.
Are You Looking for ‘Web Design Armagh’?
ProfileTree – Expert Web Designers and Developers with a Local Flavour Serving Businesses in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
We are a self-made, family run agency based in Belfast and Monaghan. We’ve established ourselves in the Northern Irish market since 2010. We’ve grown the team, collected awards, and helped local and international businesses with building top-notch websites. We’ve also helped hundreds of small and medium sized businesses with free web design and development training through programmes funded by Northern Ireland’s Councils over the course of three years. Investing in building a website for your business in Armagh means making sure your new website partnership is built on proven methods. We’re also SEO specialists and a leading content marketing agency, so not only can we help with building a website, but also help you get traffic for that website.
Web Design Armagh: Objectives of Building a Website
It’s very common to see local businesses approaching us saying they want to build a website. When we start probing for more details, they find themselves at loss to define what they really want. Usually, there are multiple stakeholders, too. So, that’s even harder when each stakeholder is not clear about his/her/their expectations of the website. That’s why, we always advise before you head to any agency asking for a quote, have a meeting with your team internally. This will help you identify your objectives, requirements, priorities, and eventually budget.
Web Design Armagh: Identifying Business Goals in Reference to The New Website
These questions serve as a good exercise to do with your internal team before you start hunting for a quote.
- What are your business objectives from having a website?
- What is the most profitable source of income for your business? How do you see it growing on digital platforms?
- What is the least profitable source of income for your business? Can a website feature give it a push?
- Who is your target audience? How well acquainted are they with the digital world?
Web Design Armagh: Assessing The Internal Side of Your Business
- What does the internal process look like? What can a website do to optimise your business process? – especially from a customer point of view.
- Are there any mundane processes that you would like to automate through your website?
- If yes, are your internal staff members ready for a digital transformation?
- Is there someone assigned to look after your website after it’s built?
- Are you going to add content on a regular basis to the website?
Web Design Armagh: Website Design and Functionalities
- What are the pages you require for your website?
- What are the features and functionalities that you would like to add to your website?
- Who is going to host and maintain your website?
- Do you have a specific design in mind?
- Do you have any design references within your industry or outside of it?
- Do you have a specific budget in mind?
Web Design Armagh: Types of Websites
Whether you want to redesign an existing website or build a new website from scratch, the starting point is to identify the type of website you need. From the outside, all websites look the same. However, there are many different types of websites to choose from. It all depends on your business objectives. Before choosing the type of website, make sure you’re already aligned with your team on the previous exercise. Let’s touch on brochure and blog websites, if you’d like to read about ecommerce websites, check this article.
Web Design Armagh Type #2: Business Websites
Startups, corporates, agencies, or consulting websites are all considered business websites. They’re sometimes called ‘brochure websites.’ It is built to create a digital space introducing your brand and what you do. Business websites are very versatile. Some startups need to push for app downloads, while other businesses want to push for bookings, scheduling software, or lead generation. Here are some of the basic pages on a business website, in addition to some thoughts and ideas that you can incorporate into your business website.
Web Design Armagh Business Website: Home Page
- Home page that focuses on the services you offer and the problems you solve.
- Engaging content at the top of the homepage – the hero section – including videos, dynamic slides, explanatory infographics, and calls to action (CTAs).
- Calls to action should be strong and clear according to the nature of the business: ‘Book Now’, ‘Get a Quote’, ‘Chat with Our Expert Today’.
- A tool to get your customers engaged with your brand once they land, like calculating the cost of their project or a quiz answered to direct them to the right sales funnel.
- Alternatively, a funnel for different customer personas, for instance commercial, family, student, etc.
- Testimonials and reviews featured on the homepage.
Web Design Armagh Business Website: Must Have Pages
- About page includes your mission statement, vision, brand story and promise. Many companies like to have a ‘Meet the Team’ section on that page.
- Services page – can be a one long page with all your services listed with clear content and description or can be multiple pages, each with a customer journey and a call to action. It depends on the number of services you have and how many pages you wish to have for your website.
- Contact Us page is one of the most important pages because if anything goes wrong or if the client wishes to get in touch directly, this is usually the first page they will click on.
Web Design Armagh Business Website: Additional Ideas
- News/Blog – corporates, consultancies, and start-ups should use content marketing to create inbound leads. HubSpot, for instance, has taken this to the next level by creating top notch content and using their business blog as a lead generation tool using free and gated educational.
- Client Portfolio – while some businesses may not find this necessary, others consider it the silver bullet, or ‘the selling factor’. Creative agencies, for instance, rely on their portfolio to showcase their style and creativity. So, they prefer to separate it and create an entire page for it.
- Chatbot – some businesses find this super useful while others find it useless. Once again, the industry and target audience of your brand will affect the decision.
Web Design Armagh: Business Websites Versatility
Business websites are versatile – and sometimes very specific to each business. Some businesses want to have a booking system on a separate page. Others, like to add resources, files, and PDFs. Some software service businesses want to show the features of the product. Some even mix between having a business brochure website and ecommerce setup where they want to have a homepage that focuses on the company services, and a small ‘Shop’ page. So, while it is not mainly an ecommerce website, it does have an online store.
Web Design Armagh: Business Website Tips and Tricks
Web Design Armagh Business Website Tip #1: Pay Specific Attention to Content
You may be surprised to know that most clients coming to us for rebuilding a business or a brochure website never mention content as an issue. Content marketing is not only important for blog websites or ecommerce ones. We audit so many business websites and we often find that their home page and service pages do not have enough content – not to mention clear or engaging. Content doesn’t only tell the visitors who you are and what you do. It also tells Google what to associate your website with. Without it, the search engine is blind and that affects your traffic negatively. The advice is always to dedicate time to crafting compelling content for your homepage and service pages.
Web Design Armagh Business Website Tip #2: Keep It Professional
Clients will judge your company based on your website, that’s a fact. So, for a business website, you want to gain the trust of visitors. The only way to do so is by keeping it professional. And please do not confuse ‘professional’ with ‘boring’. Professionalism is best presented through preparedness and clarifying all the information to your customers. For example, explain the on-boarding process thoroughly and clearly. Mention how your solution solves their problem in a way that they would understand and relate to. Be honest about deliverables, timelines, and cost so that they can manage their expectations. Professionalism is something that clients will sense from every touchpoint. The branding, language and tone of voice should reflect your brand clearly.
Web Design Armagh Business Website Tip #3: Transactional Business Website
If your business website has some transactional pages such as an online store or a booking system, you must align that with your internal staff members. Who will be notified, how they should respond and what does the internal process look like. You don’t want the website to become a circus for those handling your website on the backend. Remember that clients are looking for a holistic experience where they won’t bother talking to three people and every time, they would speak with someone different. In case of having transactional pages on a brochure website, we always recommend getting CRM to be organised and efficient with your internal work process.
Web Design Armagh: How to Choose the Right Web Design Agency for Your Business
We take a different approach to web design because we’re also content marketing and SEO specialists. Plus, we’re locally based too. This means you won’t just be found online but will be found by the people in need for your services and your site can be partnered with great content to drive real results to actively support your strategies.
We love hearing from our customers about their tips for other local businesses about to update their web presence with a freshly designed website. Since our clients tend to be repeat customers we’ll keep in touch with as their business – be it in Armagh or further afield in NI – grows, we get to learn and share their tips for making the most of their new site.
Web Design Armagh: What Our Clients Say
Web Design Armagh: Go Below the Surface
Our clients discover that a website ‘looking great’ isn’t enough, they’d have been given quotes for website designs that have no focus on driving return on investment, usability for the business, or adaptability as technology and customer behaviour changes. Taking time to explore the substance over style of a custom-made web presence brings huge benefits compared to a ‘quick fix’, instant site.
Web Design Armagh: Nobody Has a Monopoly on Good Ideas
We’ve known companies who, early in their process, see the development of a new website as management-led without factoring in communication – two-way communication that is! – with their team. Great ideas for making your site work harder, such as a resource that could help the sales team or a functionality that could help how customers see your brand, can and should come from any colleague.
Web Design Armagh: The Customer Is Always Right
Are you asking your customers how they should interact with your company or telling them? ProfileTree can help understand how your customers, and potential customers, behave online and how they behave on your new site. This way, you make the things they need easier and conversion to a sale much easier too.
Web Design Armagh: Return On Investment Is Everything
Great web design, whether you’re a business in Armagh centre or further afield, is built around finding ways to make your new site perform for your company. For example: if you’re focused on sales, producing leads will be a goal for your website. Think ‘goal’ to unlock great returns. You’ll have noticed local companies who’ve invested heavily in a great-looking website but discovered that it doesn’t meet customer’s needs or becomes outdated quickly. We’ll help you to work smarter online.
Web Design Armagh: A Team Effort
Your team will have great ideas for how to make your new website design work harder for your business. What would help the sales team most? What would help marketing promote your brand? A team effort creates a team website everyone will use. After all, no one has a monopoly on good ideas. Every person in your business can suggest ways the right website can help their work, and most will have an insight into what your customers are saying too.
Web Design Armagh: Great Customer Experience
Customers, or potential customers, who find your website frustrating to use won’t feel good about your brand. A poorly designed website breaks trust and makes your audience feel like their interaction with your company isn’t valued. However, surpass expectations to build better customer relationships. We’ll help you understand how your customer wants to interact with your website, how to make things as easy as possible and how to help customers engage further.
Web Design Armagh: Adapt, Adapt, Adapt
Those same customers will also lose patience with your website when they find their new device, their new way of searching (such as using voice) or their new needs aren’t met by your site. A specialist web company will help you keep ahead of your audience. In fact, we LOVE digital strategy because we shape our own business around planning for digital change before it happens. Ask us how.
Web Design Armagh: How Much Does a Website Cost
Working with so many different businesses over the years taught us to work with different budgets and requirements. We have created three different packages for our web design and development projects; through which we cater for different needs and requirements. In other words, you set the requirements, we tailor a package within the limits of your spending. The average cost of a website at ProfileTree is 7000£ covering research, UI/UX design, web development, SEO, and content migration. This price figure is subject to change according to the requirements of the website and future updates to our packages.
Web Design Armagh: Ready to Book a Free Website Audit?
Fill the form and send us your questions, we will be happy to answer all of them. Please do let us know if your business is registered in Armagh. Alternatively, you can book a chat with one of our team members to audit your website for free and find out how we can help you establish a strong website presence in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
More services: Social Media Marketing Armagh, SEO Armagh, Content Marketing Armagh, Digital Training Armagh
