How to build a successful website in 2023

In that case this is an article for you ( video also available ) in this article I’m going to share with you 5 Steps how to build a successful website in 2023. With these tips you’re going to be able to build a website that will generate results and help your business grow.

Step 1: Research and planning 

The first step in building a successful website is research and planning. That’s a very important step that is unfortunately  overlooked too many times. Why it’s so important? In order to build a successful website you have to know what you’re building and for whom. 

What kind of research do you have to do? 

Your Ideal Customer:

First, you have to know who is your ideal customer so for whom you’re building a website. 

Let’s say you work in a B2B you have to define your ideal customer:

• In what kind of industry they work in.-
• Are you going after big or small companies
• What’s their average yearly revenue so they can afford your services
• What are their pain points and motivations? 
• Location

My tip here would be to go after the companies that can actually afford your services and to whom you can bring the most value. Bringing value to the table is truly the easiest and most sustainable way to grow your company long term so focus on the clients you can help the most. 

Keyword research:

You have to research around which keywords you’re going to build your new website. 

My advice here would be to go after the keywords with at least 500 monthly searches and with low competition. That way you’re going to be able to rank your new website in google and get some good results. 

Research your competitors:

Visit the websites and social media of your competitors and take a look at what kind of content they are using. What kind of copy, photos and videos they are posting and what brings them the most engagement. The key in this step is to figure out what works for your competitors and whats not working. Learn from their mistakes and wins, after all…you are going for the same audience.

Now that you understand your ideal customer, you found perfect keywords and you researched and learned from your competitors now you have to develop the main message of your website and your unique selling proposition. Develop USP that will differentiate you and resonate with your audience.

Step 2: Design

The second step in building a successful website is design. Now that you have done your research you have to communicate your story trough the design. 

Most small business owners build their websites with templates and that’s not the best option if you want to get results with your new website.

WHY?

Simply because templates are built to fit and meet the needs of as many people as possible and that’s not the best approach to effectively communicate with your audience. 

My tip would be to team up with a web designer who will develop a custom design for your new website based on your ideal customer and their customer journey. When developing custom design for you visitors that is based on their needs and is addressing their pain points and providing the solution they are looking for that’s the moment where magic happens and you get a ton of new leads.

Step 3: Content

Now that you have your design done you need the content to fill it with. There are three main areas:

• Copy: Your copy should be focused on your ideal customer. It should address their pain-points, motivations and provide them with the solution they are looking for.

• Photos: Photo truly is worth a thousand words so use a good quality photos on your website to back up your content.

• Video: If photo is worth a thousand words how many words is video worth? Videos are a great way to present content to our viewers in easy to digest way.

Photos and videos attract way more attention than just copy would so make sure you are using this format of content on your website. When it comes to photos and videos I also recommend you to use photos/videos of yourself or your team and stay away from stock photos. 

Why? Because using your personal / your teams photos / videos is one of the best ways to give a personality to the website and by doing that we are building a trust with our visitors and our visitors must trust us to get in touch with us or to buy from us.

Step 4: Web Development

As a small business owner you have two options: 1) You can build a website yourself or 2) you can hire a freelance web designer or an agency to build it for you. 

If you decide to build the website yourself you can choose from quite a few tools that enable you to do so such as: wix, squarespace, WordPress etc. By build website yourself you have to expect quite a steep learning curve and you’re going to have to invest quite a few hours in building a decant website. 

Two key areas you have to prioritise when building a website (if you are building it yourself or if you hired someone):

1. Speed of the website: Websites have to be fast in order to offer a good user experience and to rank in Google. Loading speed is an important ranking factor in Google so if your website is slow your options to rank on the first page on Google are slim.

       2. Mobile friendliness: It’s not a secret that the majority of us are  using our smartphones to search the web so websites have to be responsive and offer a great experience both on desktop and mobile screens. 

Step 5: Marketing

Great job on completing your new website! Now the priority is to bring some visitors on your website and here are some tips how to advertise your website without breaking the bank:

1. Google Business Profile: It’s going to help you a lot with your local SEO and get you the first exposure your new website needs.

1. Local and Niche Directories: Gets you some exposure and valuable backlinks for your website.

1. Share your business online: Create social media profiles for your business and share your website with your personal connections. Spread the word around!

1. Paid Ads: Great option to get potential customers on your website fast. Use Google Ads or Facebook / Meta ads and target your audience. 

These were 5 Steps how to create a successful website in 2023. Put them in action and you will see some great results for your website!

I’m a web designer in Wien so if you need any help with your website I will be more than Happy to help you!

If you have any feedback or suggestions please get in touch with me and let me know!