The internet isn’t a fad, as my grandpa called it, rest his soul, so it’s important if you are a business owner, run a non profit, or other organization to get your online presence dialed in. The web continues to play an increasingly important role in our lives, sometimes it seems like it’s taking over, so getting the web right for your business isn’t an option anymore, it's really become essential for any business or organization of any size.

 A well-designed website not only  helps businesses and organizations attract new customers, clients, or members, but also is a powerful tool to be leveraged in building brand awareness, and increasing revenue. Our 360 Website Solutions approach and goal is to Attract, Engage, and Convert your ideal audience and the beginning foundation of that is a powerful content rich website. 

In today’s highly competitive digital marketplace, creating a successful website requires more than just a good design. It requires a synergistic understanding and deployment of website design, development, content creation, SEO, and other key elements that work together to create a successful online presence.

 In this article, we will explore the importance of website design, development, content creation, on-page SEO, local SEO, technical SEO, schema, landing pages, funnels, payment pages, contact forms, calls to action, and graphic design and their intricate roles in creating a successful, powerful, and performing website. We will also provide insights into how these elements work together to help businesses achieve their marketing goals and drive revenue.

Website Design:

Website design, this is the fun part of making the website look good. Web design is an important part of the overall website process because you need a site to be visually appealing, user-friendly, easy to navigate and communicate your brand’s message effectively.  If your website doesn’t look good visitors will leave, and leave quickly. If a site is not user friendly, easy to navigate, and engaging, visitors leave quickly meaning you lose the opportunity to convert them to a client or customer. 

Website design involves creating layouts, selecting color schemes, choosing fonts, and creating images, illustrations, icons, and graphics that effectively communicate a brand's message. Good website design is important because it can attract and engage your users. 

Engaged users are users that convert! 

Quality website design captivates users, improves search engine rankings, and ultimately drives more conversions and revenue. Website design is very important, but it's just one of the many needed elements to provide a complete solution that gets visitors turned into paying clients. 

Who doesn’t want a cool looking website? 

Website Development:

Website development is the process of building a website and taking a design and turning it into an actual functioning asset for your business.  Website development is the technical stuff that goes into making the design actually work. This process includes coding, testing, and the launching of the website, as well as that important, often overlooked, element of websites, regular  maintenance and updates. Website development is important because it allows businesses to create unique, custom websites that meet their specific needs and requirements.

Website Care: 

In addition to designing and developing a website, it's important to ensure it is functioning properly 24/7/365. A well-maintained website is what every business needs along with the technical care and upkeep to ensure your website is running on all cylinders. Just like your care needs routine maintenance and service work to make sure it's performing properly, your website is in need of those same things, maintenance, upkeep, and service. 

A website is NOT a set it and forget it type of product. Website care involves monitoring website performance, making updates to the website's design, content, and functionality, and ensuring the website is secure and protected against cyber-attacks. Website care handles the technical back end, unseen elements that ensures your website is performing optimally, running securely, maintained properly, and backed up regularly.

Regular website maintenance can help improve website performance, enhance user experience, and protect against potential security threats. Security is a big deal, it’s really not a matter of if you will ever be hacked but when. You need to have website care in place by a reliable provider to make sure you are covered if and when things go wrong. 

It's important for businesses to work with a web development team or agency that provides ongoing website care and maintenance services to ensure their website remains secure, up-to-date, and performs at its best over time. By investing in website care, businesses can ensure their website remains a valuable asset that effectively communicates their message and supports their marketing goals. 360 Website Solutions offers website care in the form of our 360 Website Care Plans. At any level of our 360 Care Plan options, you will have that peace of mind you need knowing your website is in good hands.

Care Plans

Content Creation:

Content creation can be an overlooked part of any website. Nonetheless it’s a critical element in the engagement of your website visitor and, when done well, can have you separating yourself from your competition. Creating high-quality, engaging content for websites, social media, email marketing, and other digital channels can be a daunting task for any business. 

Especially when you have things to do, you know, like run a business.

Content creation typically includes elements like: website page copy, blog post copy, social media post copy, email marketing copy, and any other written elements of your website or marketing.The goal of content creation is to inform, educate, entertain, or persuade your website visitor. The more you give your website visitor what they want the more likely they are to continue to engage with your website and your business, increasing the likelihood of them turning into a customer. 

Content creation is important because it can improve search engine rankings, increase website traffic, and help businesses establish you as a thought leader in your industry all while distancing yourself from your competition, in a good way! 

We have a unique recipe we follow for creating content and ensuring it's positioned well for the search engines, and also engaging and informative for the website visitors. (eventually we will add: to learn more or read about our content creation process here with a link to a page about content creation)

On Page SEO:

On-page SEO refers to the process of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and earn more relevant traffic. This includes optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content to align with target keywords and user intent. On-page SEO is important because it can help improve website visibility and drive more organic traffic to a website. More traffic means more potential customers!

Local SEO:

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website for local search queries, such as "near me" searches. This includes optimizing the website for local keywords, creating local business listings on directories like Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business), and building local backlinks. Local SEO is important because it can help businesses attract more local customers and improve their overall visibility in local search results.

Technical SEO:

Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website's technical elements to improve its search engine rankings. This includes optimizing website speed, fixing broken links, and improving website security. Technical SEO is important because it can improve website performance and help search engines crawl and index the website more effectively. Better website performance leads to better conversion rates which leads to higher ROI and increased revenue!

Schema:

Schema is a type of structured data markup that can be added to a website's code to help search engines understand its content. This markup can help search engines display more relevant and rich snippets in search results, such as ratings, reviews, and other important information. Schema is important because it can improve website visibility and attract more relevant traffic.

Landing Pages:

Landing pages are just that, pages visitors land on. These pages are highly recommended when running any type of ads campaign. Sending people from an attractive ad either on a social media channel or from a Google search directly to a business homepage is a waste of those marketing efforts and a horrible customer experience. You want to send people to a page that speaks directly to the thing that enticed them to click on your link, ad, social post, etc. When you send people to a page speaking specifically about the thing they are interested in, they will stay engaged. The engagement leads to higher conversion rates. 

Just dropping people on a homepage means they now have to “work” to find the thing they were interested in or looking for. This is a very bad user experience and will likely cause that visitor to bounce. We want conversions, not bounces, landing pages are a great way to increase conversions by keeping the website visitor engaged because you provided them more information on the thing they were looking for. Giving people what they want usually leads to them giving you what you want, their business!

Funnels:

Funnels are a series of steps that guide website visitors through the process of becoming a customer or taking a specific action. This can include lead capture forms, email follow-ups, and other types of marketing tactics. 

We here at 360 Website Solutions like to call these the “mouse traps”.  The goal is to get your website visitor to do the thing you want them to do on the page they landed on within your website. This process is important to set up correctly because, when deployed properly can greatly increase conversions by filtering out visitors who are NOT a good fit for your product or service. They can also be very enticing if leveraged properly, into getting that web visitor to want your product or service even more!

Funnels are important because they can help businesses improve conversion rates and streamline their marketing efforts.

Payment Pages:

Payment pages are web pages that are designed to securely process online payments, such as credit card transactions. Payment pages are important because they can help businesses accept online payments and streamline their checkout process. The recipe we use for online payment processing is the best in the industry and incredibly secure. Our suggested processor also has some of the most competitive fees in the market today. 

 Website payment pages are a great way to get that purchase from an interested site visitor now. Plus it not only gives you the site owner peace of mind but also the end user, ensuring more confidence in the security of their payment data. 

Contact Forms:

Contact forms are web forms that allow website visitors to contact a business directly through the website. Contact forms are important because they can help businesses collect valuable customer information and improve customer service. The great advantage to contact forms is our ability to really gather almost any information you may want from your website visitor. 

Contact forms can be set up to have page breaks within the form so the website user only sees a few questions at a time instead of a long daunting form. The ability to make fields required or leave optional is another fantastic way to ask for information you really would like to have but leave it to the discretion of the user to complete those “non required” fields or not. We can also easily integrate payment options too. 

Calls to Action:

Calls to action (CTAs) are buttons or links that encourage website visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a newsletter. CTAs are important because they can help businesses improve conversion rates and achieve specific marketing goals. Effective CTAs should be clear, compelling, and prominently displayed on a website.

We also have the ability to make “click to call” or “click to email” CTA buttons for an even better user experience. With the increasing rise of mobile internet usage these “click to” buttons make it literally a “click” away from then calling you for your services or products. With some specific code we can make it so when the buttons are “clicked” on mobile it automatically calls your business, company, ministry, or organization phone number. Or we can set it up to open an email so they can with a “click” start to email you! 

Integrating calls to action in specific planned out places, with the user in mind is vital to persuading engagement. The more your website  prompts the user for engagement the greater the likelihood of a conversion. Conversions not only lead to new customers and clients, but ultimately to the end goal of more revenue.

Graphic Design:

Graphic design involves creating visual content, such as logos, images, illustrations, and other eye-catching graphical elements that effectively communicate a brand's message and values. Graphic design is important because it can help businesses establish a unique visual identity, set you apart from your competitors, improve brand recognition, and make your website more engaging and visually appealing to visitors. Good graphic design helps improve website usability by making it easier for visitors to understand and navigate the site. Plus, the right graphics implemented properly just look cool!

In conclusion, website design, development, website care, content creation, on-page SEO, local SEO, technical SEO, schema, landing pages, funnels, payment pages, contact forms, calls to action, and graphic design are all crucial elements that can help businesses improve their online presence, attract more traffic, and achieve their marketing goals. Each of these elements plays a unique role in creating a successful website and improving user experience. By implementing these elements effectively, businesses can create a professional, engaging website that effectively communicates their message and values, and drives conversions and revenue. Get these elements right and watch the money come racing in!