It’s no secret that a well-built website is virtually a part of the cost of admission for doing business today. At the same time, some companies continue to operate with little to no web presence, and those that do so miss out on a wide range of marketing opportunities and potentially valuable new markets. Building a website that reflects the quality and personality behind your brand is an essential step.
You could just choose a service providing web development in Calgary and fire off a general brief in an email—but that won’t always get you the best results. When business owners engage more directly with the design process, the outcome most often better reflects their original vision. That doesn’t mean you need a crash course in website coding. Instead, consider the following tips and how they can help you come away from the process with the best website.
Make a List of Your Top Competitors Online
Seeing what your competition does should be your first step. Look up your most direct competitors in your industry and list their website URLs. When you work with a designer later, it will be easy to showcase what you’re up against—and easier to figure out how to beat them at their own game.
See What Features the Competition Offers Online
While you’re looking at those websites, take notes about the primary features of their pages. What kind of navigation do they use? Do they have a prominent blog link? How do they communicate with users—and do they do so effectively? This is your chance to evaluate the competition with the same point of view as an uninitiated user.
Take Note of What You Like—and What You Don’t
Having a “wish list” to work from is very helpful for any web designer and using your competitors as inspiration is just savvy thinking. Note what you particularly like about how a website looks or functions but also keep track of the things you believe you can definitively improve upon. Investing this time into research will make future conversations about design more accessible and engaging for you.
Imagine Yourself as a New Visitor to Your Website
Take those fresh eyes you used to examine competitor websites and imagine yourself as a brand-new user of your website. What’s the first impression you want them to have? What are the first things they see and interact with on the page? How did they get to your page in the first place? Even if you don’t have all the answers to these questions, you can explore them in-depth with your designer.
Connect with a Proven Design Agency Today
With information like this on hand, working together with a professional providing website design in Calgary is simpler and more enjoyable. At Digital Lion, we love helping our clients build the best website possible for their brand. Using a personalized process and a diverse skill set that includes coding and SEO, digital marketing, and graphic design, we can help you stand apart online. Talk with us today to learn more about how we can collaborate.
Calgary-headquartered Digital Lion, with secondary locations in Edmonton and Ottawa, is a digital marketing and design agency built with a purpose and passion to partner with its clients and provide first-class Web Development, Graphic Design, Logo Design and Online Marketing services. We work with clients across Canada, as well as worldwide, and are focused on being environmentally friendly and giving back to charities that we are passionate about. Our mission is to “Design a Better World®.” Browse our website, follow our social media channels, and contact us anytime for more information on how we can customize a package that meets your needs and suits your style.
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