Clients seek web designers typically for one of two reasons: you’ve either started a new business and need a website or you already have a website but are tired of feeling self-conscious about your outdated design. Whatever the reason, just know you deserve a website that will work for you. Your website should be your best employee.
At Up After Studios, we pride ourselves in partnering with you to achieve beautiful, bespoke website designs that you’re proud to share. In order to get started, there are a few things we’ll need to know first. Whether it’s getting more customers or helping you sell more products, here are 5 things that we need to know before designing your WordPress website:
How do you want your website to work for you?
All of our design decisions are based on your specific goals and ensuring your WordPress website does just that. Your website should be more than just a placeholder in your bio link; it should serve as the best representation for your brand and business. It’s our mission to build your site in a way that’s representative of your company, showcasing all your best features.
It’s important to know what you want your website to do for you and your brand. This will help you decide on the type of design, features, and functionality that are right for you. Think about what your goals are for the site:
Is it more important for visitors to find their resources through the navigation menu?
Do you need something more complex due to the nature of your business model or offerings (i.e., multiple products or services)?
What do your specific customers and clients wants?
However big or small your answer may be, that’s what Up After Studios will base your design around. Having the best possible user experience for your audience not only showcases your brand in the best light — it turns browsers into customers.
Who is your target audience?
When defining your target audience or dream client avatar, it’s easy to group customers into specific age groups or geographical locations — but it shouldn’t stop there. Your customers are unique and no two are the same. That’s why using personas is key to characterizing your audience.
A persona, in the context of digital marketing, is a fictional representation of an actual client or customer. Marketing personas are defined by a mixture of attributes including demographic, shopping habits, job role, interest in product, and need for product. There is a real person behind the screen who wants your service or product so creating a “fictional customer” will help you ultimately determine what your clients truly need and desire. This also gives you (the brand) a peek behind the curtain in how best to solve the problems and needs of your client.
Now, you may be asking: “what does this have to do with my WordPress website design?”
The easiest answer is when Up After Studios designs your website, we will ask you to create a list of users who you believe are the people your company and brand connects with the most. By doing that, we are no longer trying to reach blanket statistics, but actual personalities!
The result? More sales and a more engaged audience.
Having your customers and clients have a feeling of familiarity in thinking “this brand is perfect for me” will help increase your conversions.
What’s your web design aesthetic?
Knowing how you want your website to work for you as well as knowing your target audience will assist you in determining your visual aesthetic. A website that is aesthetically pleasing has a good layout and showcases clear graphics. The colors and fonts used should be appealing to the viewer as well as on-brand. One of the best ways to achieve this is by having a brand kit.
What is a brand kit? A brand kit is a short and minimalist guide to your brand’s visual identity. It’s a quick reference to understanding the logos, colors, fonts, and messaging that represent your brand.
It’s important to think about what message you want to convey through the look and feel of your website, as well as how it should function as a marketing tool. When considering these questions, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Who is your target audience? What do they like? What don’t they like?
- What do you need for your website (i.e., sales, lead generation, etc.)?
- How does your brand fit into the picture? Are there any specific design elements that could be added that would help convey your personality/brand values better than others would?
Everything we design on your WordPress website will stem from all of these things. It takes about 50 milliseconds (aka, 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website which determines whether they’ll stay or leave. Don’t let the lack of a web design aesthetic be the reason you lose a potential customer.
Your SEO and Keywords
When it comes to online marketing and web design, you should know the basics of SEO. “SEO” stands for Search Engine Optimization and refers to the process of improving a website’s visibility in search engines, like Google, so your website appears higher in search results.
“Keywords” are the words that users type into search engines to find information. They go hand-in-hand with SEO since they help your website show up on relevant searches. A good keyword strategy helps you attract more visitors who are likely to convert on your site, leading to more sales or leads for your business!
When it comes to keyword research, think about what people would be searching for when looking for a product or service like yours: are there any related keywords that come up? Do these words describe what you do and how you do it? These are questions worth asking yourself when conducting keyword research for your new WordPress website.
A great way to see how your website stacks up in terms of keywords is Ubersuggest, which ranks your website. A great way to add more keywords to your site is through a blog. Up After Studios is here to guide you in the best ways to get your business ranking higher and gaining more fans of your brand.
What are your long-term business plans?
A website is more than just a one-time project. It’s an investment that can help you attract and retain customers as well as a tool your business and brand will utilize for years to come. To make sure your website works for your business in the long run, you need to think about how it will evolve over time—and even consider how it will work with other marketing tools like social media and email marketing campaigns.
Something you should also consider is how your site will effect the goals of your brand. If there are certain metrics or benchmarks that matter most right now (like getting more leads or increasing revenue), then having those at the forefront of your mind is helpful when brainstorming what goes into each page on the site. For example, you might want links that encourage visitors to subscribe or download content! Whatever your long-term plans may be, it’s our goal at Up After Studios to make sure users find what they’re looking for quickly and easily on your site.
By following these five steps, we will achieve your vision of having a beautiful, bespoke WordPress website that connects you to your dream the clients and customers.
Time to fill that cup of coffee or tea, grab your favorite pen (you know you have one!) and get to work on:
- How you want your site to work for your brand
- Getting to know your target audience
- Determining your design aesthetic
- Finding your SEO and Keywords
- Listing your long-term plans
We are excited to begin working with you and look forward to building a beautiful, bespoke WordPress website that meets your brand’s needs and exceed expectations throughout the entire process! If you have any questions or concerns at any time during this project, please let us know.
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