One of the most popular platforms for telling stories is your own website. But how do you create a good website? We asked our expert Alexander Gerstendörfer from DACCORD and reveal six tips for creating and maintaining websites and landing pages - from graphic design to SEO.
Since Alexander Gerstendörfer and his brother Johannes founded the web development agency DACCORD together with his brother Johannes, he has been working on websites every day. In our blog, we have summarized his most important tips and tricks for your own website.
1. choosing the right tool
The website is the digital home of a company and should make a professional impression in order to strengthen the company's credibility. However, with the right tool or partner at your side, building your own website doesn't have to be a mammoth task. The choice of tool depends on what you want from your website. There is nothing wrong with free web design tools such as Wix per se, but they only offer limited options in terms of functionalities, plugins or applications.
So it's best to ask yourself: What do I want to show on my website? And do I need professional support, or is a tool with ready-made designs enough? After all, first impressions count online too! And would you invest in a company that only invests the bare minimum in its online presence?
2. a well-thought-out plan
Regardless of whether you set up your website on your own or with the help of a web design agency, think carefully about who you want to reach with your website and how you want to present yourself. The more detailed your thoughts are, the better your partner agency will be able to implement your concept. Our tip: Get inspired by looking at other websites and think about what you particularly like and what you would like to adopt.
3. contents that must not be missing
When it comes to the content of your website, the following tip is key: Whether the user knows you and your offer or not, they need to find their way around immediately when they arrive on your website. The content should be organized and structured in such a way that they immediately understand what they are getting on this website - content should be as short and concise as possible. For further or detailed information, it is best to link to subpages of the website or to your blog, for example. Menu items such as testimonials or an "About us" or "Team" page also help to gain additional trust or likeability points. team page.
Attention: Your key message definitely belongs on your homepage - often also called "Home". What added value do you offer? A good first impression of your homepage must convince users to stay longer on your website.
4. inspire confidence with the right design
In addition to the content, the graphic design of a website is of course also crucial. A website must be visually appealing. A design that is too simple or minimalist can quickly give the impression that the company does not want to invest in its website, which in turn does not inspire confidence. Photo and video content is also welcome in today's visually oriented society and enlivens the website. But beware: If you show too many videos or animations on your homepage, this will lead to long loading times for your website, which in turn will harm your performance and findability. As a general rule, a loading time of more than three seconds is suboptimal, as impatient users will bounce straight away.
5. an eternal life for your own website
Keeping your finger on the pulse is not only important in the world of PR and marketing, but also for your own website. Because a static and outdated website stands out - in a negative sense. But don't worry, you don't have to build a new website every few years. If you regularly take care of your own website and adapt it to the latest trends and customer requirements, a website has a potentially eternal life. Regular updates also protect against security vulnerabilities!
6. SEO is a must
Anyone who deals with the topic of websites will sooner or later stumble across the word search engine optimization, or SEO for short. SEO is a sub-area of digital marketing with the aim of improving your own visibility in search engines such as Google. A good SEO strategy therefore helps you to catapult your website to the top of Google search results. SEO keywords are important for this. Sounds complicated? But it's not at all. If you're new to the topic of SEO, listen to our StoryRadar podcast episode "SEO for dummies", where we introduce you to the topic step by step. Alexander's tip for SEO: Find the right keyword - also with the help of tools - and specialize in it. But be careful: don't focus too much on a single keyword. One to two keywords per text block is ideal.
And one last tip at the end: Don't forget to optimize your website for mobile devices - these days, this is almost more important than the desktop website.
After all, the coronavirus pandemic has once again clearly shown us that a digital presence is essential for a company. And your own website not only needs to be created once, but also regularly maintained so that it is always state of the art. If you don't have the resources for this, we recommend the unique "Website as a Service" product in the DACH region from DACCORD which is unique in the DACH region. You can find out what's behind their service - and all the information about web design & support - here here.
You can find out what other tips Alexander has for you on the subject of websites in our podcast episode with the website expert at StoryRadar. Listen in now!