Business Centre Web Design
Are you a business centre thinking about how to design your website? There is a number of factors to consider when deciding on how your website should look and function. Obviously it will depend also on what budget you can apportion. The cost of building a website varies from £50 up to £5,000 and beyond, so there is a massive amount of choice on the market! Generally speaking, when it comes to web design, as with most other things in life, you get what you pay for. A £50 is likely to look like a £50 website. Below are the main elements to consider when designing a business centre website.
Design
How do you want the site to look? Lots of images, movies, animation, text, a modern theme, a classic theme, corporate or SME? Think about who you want to appeal to? Who will arrive on your site? What you should choose will depend what kind of business centre you are and who your target audience is. High tech, corporate centres in prestigious parts of London will most probably prefer a swish, sleek style of website – reflecting there client base. Where as a more traditional or rural business centre might prefer a more classic style.
Layout
This is crucial as is it will help determine the usability of your site. Would you rather have a minimalist homepage, or one with lots of content? Again it depends on what type of image you want to project…take a look at some other business centre websites, and see if you like any other the styles. You may want to completely differentiate yourself from what has gone before, however, remember that people generally prefer conformity!
Search Engines
It is imperative that your design company ensures that the site is made search engine friendly. Failing to do this will meaning poor performance on the search engines, meaning no one will find your spanking new website! It could also mean a hefty bill of having to pay someone else to ensure the site becomes search engine friendly. There are some basic principals that the site should conform to, which any reputable design company should be able to explain.
Usability
Ensuring your website is easy to use is important if you want visitors to stay on your site. Usability generally clashes with other elements such as design and content, and sometimes there is a play-off between the competing elements. The ideal situation is to have a balance between all the elements. Keep important information and conversion information above the fold. It is incredible to see websites where the phone number is not on the homepage!