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How to Design a Great Website for Start-ups
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How to Design a Great Website for Start-ups

By Mainak Biswas June 21, 2013 - 3,882 views

The number of people using the internet is increasing at a phenomenal rate and with more and more people getting on the internet; it has become a perfect platform to grab attention. When it comes to marketing and advertising this community of internet users masquerade as potential customers for any kind of business hence having a website for your company is of paramount importance. Frankly, these days the need of having a website has gone beyond the realms of advertising and marketing, it has become an indispensible part of the business itself. A company could easily pass for being obsolete for not having a website.

With myriads of websites cropping up every single day it has become a herculean task to make yours stand out from the crowd, until and unless it does not stand out it is not worthwhile to have a website. The importance of having a website for a start up is well realised by everyone and they strive to come up with a great website to put their start-ups on the map and propel their business to new heights. Having said so, you do not have to break your head over coming up with a groundbreaking concept for your website, all you have to do is abide by the famous dos and don’ts given below to make sure that your website fills the bill and serves the purpose.

  • Identify your demographic

Every business setup has a well defined demographic, it is very crucial to identify that community of target audience and focus on their needs and expectations rather than trying to please everyone. This could be little taxing, but its rewards are worth the pain plus it saves the extra time and effort you would have wasted trying to please everyone on the block. Once you are done identifying the target audience you can understand their taste and create a concept for the website along those lines. There are companies that focus on their potential customer to an extent of dedicating the whole website to their customers likes and this has paid off very well for them.

  • Chalk out a launch plan:

When a nascent business unit forays into a market which is already dominated by successful business units of its kind, it gets a tad difficult to carve a niche. To avoid being outshined by other companies and start-ups it is important to chalk out a launch plan for a start-up. You may go featuring ads on other famous relevant websites and create awareness amongst your target audience. It is a great way to gather publicity and advertise you web presence before it, but it may burn a hole in pocket. Nevertheless, this activity can put your website on the map and increase the web traffic by leaps and bounds. While you go about doing all the promotions make sure that you ladle out the reason why your start-up is better than other companies of its kind, almost making it sound like the prime feature of your advertising campaign.

  • Do not forget to list out the FAQs.

Answering FAQs may be the trickiest business, but having them featured on your website works like wonders. It helps you to rope in the potential customers without any hassles. While answering the FAQs make sure that you only sing songs in praise of your start-up and even if something in your FAQs alludes to a negative feedback, chew upon it, and try to make it sound favourable to your start-up. Having FAQs on your website may be like walking on eggshells, but it is one space on your website that every visitor watches out for. Visitors also have a propensity of believing all the answers mentioned in the FAQs, so it could be your chance of clearing the air about your start-up and dishing out information that you want to communicate to your customers.

  • Interactive website are in vogue:

When we plan a website we either end up flashing unnecessary information about our business, which is usually of no interest to the visitors. A website should be planned in a way to engage the visitors at it as long as possible which is only possible if it is an interactive website. This strategy is employed by most of the fast moving consumer goods companies; to help you figure the best suitable product from their existing range of products they ask you a volley of questions and even this interaction works to their advantage by making them look professional. Make sure that you do not spin the entire website around interaction with the customer, do dedicate a part of it to dish out information that you want your customers to know about your start-up.

  • Pick the web images very carefully.

Displaying pictures on your website is essential to save it from looking dull and vanilla. When you choose to display pictures be sure that they are relevant to your start-up and the necessary copyrights have been acquired. It is of utmost importance to have bought the images before displaying them on your website otherwise you could be charged guilty of stealing pictures and your website could be barred.Pictures in the home page of your website must represent your start-up in nutshell and should depict the purpose of your business rather than focussing on the products or services. In the other pages of your website you may post pictures which accentuate the content.

  • You website needs constant attention, just like your baby.

As you understand a website is your business home on the internet and needs constant attention especially when it is about a start-up. You will have to refurbish it every now and then; constant trending is a must to direct web traffic to it. To make your website successful you will have to engage yourself actively in social networking sites. This activity will not only direct traffic to your website but also advertise your start-up on social networking sites and as they say any kind of publicity is good for a start-up.

  • Never forget to design a Site map.

Having a sitemap for your website may sound silly for you because you are well versed with your website, but for the visitors of a website it is the most sought after feature. Scrutinizing the website of a start-up is not the favourite task of internet users and to add to it if your website doesn’t feature a sitemap it gives them all the more reason to skip, hop and jump to another site. Have a sitemap for your website and make it easily accessible to help the visitors navigate through your website.

  • Keep up with the times.

Website of a start-up is usually expected to be trendy and feature cutting-edge content. When you decide the content of a website be sure that it fascinates the customers and keeps them glued on for more. Try to maintain brevity in the text and avoid the use of complicated jargon, it has to be comprehensible and well articulated. Do not speak about the details of your business in the homepage of a website, save it for the rest of the pages in the website. The home page must be welcoming and should not be flashing unnecessary information.

  • Feature feedback forms

Marketing for a start-up is an uphill task, but you can get some leverage if you fathom the response of your customers just before entering the market. To achieve this you can use the website of your start-up to feature feedback forms. Each time you get a positive feedback you can act all motivated and if you get a negative feedback, there is always enough room for improvisation. While designing the feedback forms make sure that you do not shoot a volley of questions at your visitors because they might not fancy answering them, keep it brief and only address your major queries.

  • Register with the major search engines.

It is imperative for a website to be identified by the search engine giants; this gives a phenomenal boost to the traffic of a website. To be heard on the internet you need to be identified by the search engines, especially when your website is about a start-up. While registering your website you may be asked to fill in a brief description of your website try to using as many keywords possible, this acts as a search magnet.

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