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WebsitesEnterprise Nation AdvisorRachael Dines

WebsitesPartPartPartPartPart1:2:3:4:5:Different types of websiteWeb platformsPlanning a websiteDeconstructing a landing pageUsing WordPress

Different types of website

What type of business do you have?Products - selling physical things such as jewelleryServices - selling intangible things such as consultancy or legalManufacturing - creating finished goods from raw materials (engineering)Charity/NFP/CIC - benefiting society, raising funds for research

Business type:ProductServicesManufacturingCharityWebsite type:E-commerce website to sell onlineBrochure - i.e., consultancy / law / charityPortfolio - i.e., web design / photography / filmMulti-site - engineering / corporate

Website example 1Product business selling clothesE-commerce websiteCustomers can buy onlinePayment gatewayInformation pagesContact informationhttps://zolaamour.com/

Website example 2Service business / CorporateBrochure style websiteKey messagesInformation pagesContact informationhttps://www.forsters.co.uk/

Website example 3Service businessPortfolio style websiteExamples of workInformation pagesContact .com/seascapes

Web platforms

Site buildersGood for basic websites and widely used by freelancers, sole traders and very small businesses.Low costDIYDrag and drop builderSome have the ability to add on e-commerce

CMS web platformsContent management system web platforms and are usually created by web designers ordevelopers. They allow for versatility in the design and functionality and business growth.

What to think about whenplanning a website

Target audienceWho are you selling to?How will your product or service benefit them?What is important to them?

ContentWhat are your key messages?What do you want customers to do on your website?CTAs (calls to action - i.e., buy now button)

Navigation (menu structure)What do you want users to click/tap on?UX (user experience)Breadcrumb navigation

ImagesDo you need photographs?What style of photos or images reflect what you do?Where/how will you get images to use on your website?

DesignBranding / brand guidelinesColours / graphicsWeb layout

Website planning checklistType of websiteFor what type of business?What is their product orservice?Who is the target market?Website platformContentweb builder or professionalMessages, images, menuWho is going to create theIt is important to plan bothwebsite? The business ownercontent and imagesor a web designer?Designmarket shareBrandingThe design will be led bythe company’s brandingThe business owner usually plansThere might be brand guidelines toBusiness owners who build their ownthe content but might hire afollow. The web layout will need towebsites using web builders benefitcopywriter or content planner toaccommodate the plannedfrom advice and guidance.help.content.

Website technical checklistDomain nameHostingEmailSSLmarket shareURLPoints to the web hostingThe place a website ‘lives’Company email for yourwebsiteHosting is essential for self-hostedEmail is usually included in hosting(non site builder type) websitespackages.Website securitySome hosting companies includethis with host packages. Alwaysask.

Deconstructing a ‘Landing’ page

What is a landing page?1Why are they important?They are valuable for lead generation, listbuilding, increasing sales and web traffic2How do you measure its return on investment?You can track landing pages through webanalytics3Examples:Sales page, promotion, competition, adcampaign, service packages, client testimonials,case studies, stats

Example of a landing page

Landing page checklistOffer/PromoHeadlineCTACall To ActionYour offer or promotionneeds to be clear, conciseClear title saying what theand of interest to yourlading page is for.audience.Examples: e-book download, hints& tips, ‘buy now’ special offer,information with up to date/realtime content.Include an image to make the pageattractive and on brand.Analyticsmarket shareYour CTA is what you want Tracking your landing pageusers to do once they land will show you how effectiveon your page.Could be a buy now button,click to call/email, or an onlineform.it is.You can A/B test with twodifferent styles of landing pagesor different CTAs & see whichperforms better.

Using WordPressA marketer’s overview

A theme based web platform, popular with businesses of all types and sizes.Incredibly versatile and offers different solutions such as portfolio, brochure,e-commerce and membership web solutions.

WordPressPagesPostsAn overviewAll WordPress sites have a theme (offthe-shelf or bespoke) which determinesthe layout and the design.Pages are normally for informationcontent such as services, about thebusiness, contact page.Posts are split up into categories andcontain blogs, articles or events.Plugins and widgets help to addfunctionality such as a gallery or formand to improve performance.ThemeContent, blog,articles, categories,landing pagesType of website,layout anddesignPluginsWidgetsFunctionality,performance

Themes vary and can be free or premium (paid for). Some themes are industry specific such astravel or photography or are for a specific type or style of website such as an online magazine,blog, product or corporate.

Pages and posts contain the website content. Posts can be organised by category orfiltered using tags and contain blogs, articles, events or case studies, for example. Themain website navigation helps guide users around the content and on-page breadcrumbmenus helps to improve user experience (UX) and ease of navigation.

Plugins add functionality and performance such as an online form, drag and droppage builders, search engine optimisation, or added security.Widgets allow for on-page additions to the header, sidebars and footer areas such asextra menus or areas needing to be highlighted on every page or on specific pages.

Responsive designAll websites need to bemobile-friendly foroptimal userexperience and forSEO.Menu barOn desktop, it can beexpanded orcollapsed, horizontalor vertical. But onmobile, it will becollapsed andvertical.Images and textResponsive themeChoosing aresponsive theme isa good startingpoint but somelayout designs willneed additionalstyling for differentdevices.All content will be resized to fit differentsize screens so thewebsite should bechecked across avariety of devices.

When to use pluginsCompliance:UK cookie consent plugin is a good oneto use to ensure compliance.There are other website compliance rulestoo*.Page builder/layouts:If a more complex web layout is required orif the website is very heavily image based,then a page builder plugin can help createa content-rich easy to update website.Online form:If an online form is needed which isnot included in the theme or needsadditional functionality.E-commerce or booking:Add a shopping cart, event or appointmentbooking section. Most are free and somehave a premium** upgrade version.Gallery/portfolio/video:There are various gallery and portfolioplugins available to help showcasework, photographs and videos.Social media:Easily add social media icons, links andfeeds using a variety of plugins, again,some may be premium.**Premium version of plugins are available and the cost varies depending on the type of functionality.

How to use widgetsWidgets are blocks of specific functionality that enable content to bevisible in either the side bar, header/footer areas.Widgets are found in Appearance » Widgets page in theWordPress admin panel.An easy way to add things like galleries, popular posts, social mediafeeds, CTAs and other dynamic items which might have beenenabled via a plugin.

The example above shows a widget enabling a plugin to show up on the right hand side ofthe webpage to showcase the most recent post in a particular category.The plugin/widget allows different posts to show up on different pages/posts depending ontheir specific settings.

KeepingWordPressHow to usewidgetsupdatedNew versions come out at regular intervals.Keep WordPress updated to guard against security risks andensure it functions as it should.Plugins also need updating regularly.Only install a plugin if it's compatible with your currentWordPress version. Some plugins become unmonitored, so it isnecessary to find an alternative for a particular websitefeature.

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click to call/email, or an online form. Headline Clear title saying what the lading page is for. Include an image to make the page attractive and on brand. market share Analytics Tracking your landing page will show you how effective it is. You can A/B test with two different styles of landing pages or different CTAs & see which performs better.