Creating a website

Creating a website - a step by step guide.

So you’re thinking of building a website to promote your store? But where do you begin and how can you be sure you’re making the right choices? Here at Insight we asked an industry expert to guide us through the key stages and considerations for a typical schoolwear retailer.

Good websites don’t just sell products they help to build relationships, says Vernon Thorpe of Viarti Design, a specialist in digital marketing. ‘This means that they require careful planning and an investment in time as well as money’. Get it right, Vernon explains, and the benefits can be transformative; but misrepresent or over complicate and you can end up frustrating customers with promises that can’t be kept.

The key is to keep it simple wherever possible says Vernon. ‘You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to create a clean, stand-out website’. What’s most important is to commit to delivering it well, even if that means limiting the scope of your offer until you are ready to expand.’

Here are Vernon’s top tips on planning your website...

Think like a customer

Modern websites have a dizzying array of features that it can be tempting to simply say yes to. But before getting into what’s possible, its vital to consider what’s most important to your customers. Try to think from their point of view, or even better, host a research session with parents and schools. By involving users early on you avoid mistakes and confirm what’s most useful to your target audience.

Don’t complicate the design

With modern Content Management Systems, (WordPress, Wix, SquareSpace) a lot of the background work has been done for you. Choose templates that reflect your identity and customise to reflect your brand. Even though there are thousands of fonts available, you don’t have to use them all. Two will usually be enough and clearer for the organising of your content.

Organise your content

Creating a site plan will help ensure you are displaying content as your customers would want to view and access it. It will also help identify who will be responsible for providing the content and filling any gaps there may be.

Keep it consistent

Make sure the site has a consistent style of headings, sub headings and common elements like bullets and buttons. The look and feel of your site should be the same across each page and screen. If you are selling products, choose a good e-commerce platform, such as WooCommerce or Shopify, that will integrate your product range and connect to your payment systems in a style that’s consistent with your main website.

Use specialists when you need to

It pays to use experts for tasks that are outside of your skillset. Investing in a web designer for just the initial look and feel of your site could be a great way to ensure you start off with a fundamentally well-designed site. Writing copy for your website can appear daunting - and writing copy that search engines can match to users’ search terms is a skill in itself.

Design for all devices

It might look great on a big screen, but since 2021 over half of all web traffic is viewed on mobile devices. Most content will automatically stack and resize to fit the device it is being viewed on but sometimes you may want to display different or shortened content on smaller devices. Check how it appears to your users and decide if you need to modify it.

Don’t skimp on hosting

Make sure that your site is with a hosting company that offers automatic backups and website security. As with any system, your site will need to be kept up to date to avoid any security issues and ensure you are running the latest version of any content management software. And remember, once your site is live, it will need to be updated to ensure content remains fresh.

Keeping content fresh

Even the best designed websites will tire over time, but by regularly updating your content you can stay fresh and relevant for longer. Using Banner’s Media Hub is an ideal way of adding new images and product information. If you have a news section or a blog, make sure it is up to date and add content every week. Ideally you should review your content on a rolling cycle so that the words and images in every section of the site are updated at least annually.