How to Build a Website That Delivers an Excellent First Impression

​First impressions are important in life. You only get to make one, so make it count! Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to your business website. Here are three simple tips for making the best first impression with your website.

​Social Media is Not a Website

A business’s website should be one of its most important assets. Your website will play a huge role in determining how successful your business is in this day and age. It would certainly be a brave move to launch a business without an accompanying website. Even among those businesses that do choose to forego the traditional website, they will compensate for it by using a social media profile as their main website.
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Of course, a social media presence is important, but it is no substitute for a dedicated website that has been professionally designed and built and which is unique and personal to your business. Your website doesn’t have to be overflowing with useless features - even if it is only providing basic information about your business, this might be all that is required. A dedicated website makes your whole organisation seem more professional.

​NEVER Autoplay Videos

​This is something you should take very seriously, as Shakespeare himself could not coin a phrase adequate for capturing the level of hate and vitriol that autoplay videos bring out in people. When was the last time you opened a web page to a video that you didn’t ask for, automatically playing at full volume, and you welcomed it with open arms? It is more likely that you frantically tried to find the ‘close window’ option. An autoplay video that hasn’t been requested is going to have people clicking off your website without a second glance. Needless to say, that’s not very good for your website’s long-term prospects.

​Add Value at Every Opportunity

The first thing that you should focus on when designing your business website is ensuring that it contains all of the most essential information that potential customers and clients might need. However, once you have the essentials in place, you can then start thinking about ways of further enhancing the value of your website.

A common means of doing this is through the addition of a blog that contains articles relevant to the business and the industry it operates in. As well as providing news, you can also provide articles that contain advice, guidance, or just information of interest to your audience.

For example, consider a business like Utility Bidder. Utility Bidder offer a price comparison tool that compares utility prices for businesses from a number of different suppliers. As well as connecting businesses with energy suppliers, Utility Bidder also has articles like this one about manufacturing energy and the various government grants that businesses can claim. Not only is this useful information for customers, but it is also an easy way of boosting your SEO and targeting specific keywords.

With all the free tools now available that enable businesses to build their own websites in minutes, many have lost sight of how important a professional website is. You only get one shot at making a first impression, so you want audiences to respond as positively as possible to your website. The tips above are just a starting point; there’s no shortage of other things you can do.