Deciding to design a website for your business is a huge step to the next level. Sometimes just deciding to start is a good start. But you want your website to appeal to other businesses and not get lost in the shuffle and look like those other spammy sites that carry malware. Well, to design your own b2b website that is eye-catching and functional, you will need CMS software, a page builder, and a basic knowledge of good design practices. Let’s dive deeper and find out how each of these can help us design our website.
Computer Management System (CMS)
There are two ways to design your website for your business. The first is to get a web developer to hard code the website for you using their repertoire of HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Python skills. The second option, and typically the most cost-effective, is using a content management system (CMS). A CMS is software that allows users to create and design websites without the need for coding. CMSs make uploading and designing content easy by using templates and themes. WordPress, Joomla, and SquareSpace are good examples of CMS software. WordPress is by far the most popular, with over 43% of all websites in the world using it.
This is great for small B2B websites. It offers small business owners an entry into the digital space with the same software, give or take a few plugins. Picking the right content management system depends on your business’ needs. Want quick and easy software that you can use from your phone? Get SquareSpace. Want free and easy software with lots of add-ons? Use WordPress. You don’t want to change content management systems often, if ever. So take the time to think about what you and your business will need, not only now but in the future.
Page Builder
A page builder is a plugin or piece of software used to help design a website and provide easy design customization rather than using hard code. Page builders make designing a website possible for non-coders and those who are less technical with computers. Most page builders use an easy drag-and-drop method and allow for quick navigation. Most websites that are made today are built with page builders. Especially websites of small-owned businesses. Web development and coding are very technical skills and can be used for a number of highly sensitive things like cyber-security, front-end and back-end coding, and more. So the necessity of a web developer for a small business is little to none, unlike for medium- to large-sized businesses, which might have the funds to invest in one. Some CMS software even comes with built-in page builders, such as WordPress.
If you have web design clients, they will want to make changes to their website pretty often. Just a heads up. Using a page builder allows you to create an easy client portal where your clients can log in themselves and add photos, content, or products. This way, your client doesn’t feel like they have to wait on you to add updates or make minor changes to the website. Be careful with giving them this kind of access, though. Make sure they are technically inclined enough to actually make changes. It may be their site, but they could easily break it if they don’t know what they’re doing, which odds are they probably won’t, which is why they have you in the first place.
While page builders offer less flexibility than hard coding and web development in terms of design, they are a great starting point for small businesses. New and small businesses are typically looking for a professional design for their websites that doesn’t burn a hole in their wallets. If you’ve been considering getting a page builder to bump up your website design, we suggest trying Elementor, Divi, or SeedProd.
Structure Website For Business
There are multiple factors that come into play when structuring a website. General structure to business. Homepage,about,contact, etc. The basic structure of your website should include just those basic elements. Basic pages such as a homepage, about page, service page, blog, and contact page are vital for any business’ website. Without these pages, you’re probably just wasting your time. Then there are the not-so-basic elements to use, such as landing pages, pop-ups, and internal links. These are still general things to keep in mind when structuring your website, but they can come after you get the initial pages setup. These later elements you add better help grab users and leads, which eventually leads to a conversion. Remember, the whole point of a website is to attract and maintain new visitors and convert them into sales.
Next, there is industry structure. Structure your website to serve your business and industry needs. For example, let’s say you have a small photography studio where your typical clients are wedding venues and newly married couples. If you make a website, you will definitely want to make sure you’re showing off your portfolio and keeping your text to a minimum on your pages. This approach to creating this website is different than, perhaps, an electrician’s website, which would need more text and far fewer portfolio photos. For this, it’s good to keep in mind three different types of website structures:
- Hierarchical Model: Pages and data are organized into a tree-like structure, with links connecting one another.
- Sequential (aka Linear) Model: When building a B2B website, sometimes you may want to steer your visitors in a specific direction depending on their choices. This is great if you want people to make a single choice, like using a landing page or new customer onboarding.
- Matrix Model: This is the most common site architecture and is particularly useful for e-commerce websites, where visitors can navigate forward, backward, and sideways through the interlinked pages.
These website structures help you create an organized layout that visitors are familiar with and maintain functionality. That way, you and your visitors can navigate your site with confidence since it has a layout they recognize.
Good Design Practices
In designing your B2B website, you don’t want to just throw a bunch of different images and colors together on your page. Even if you have proper navigation, if the design makes visitors feel like your website is spammy or not secure, it can turn them off and lead to low conversions. This is known as having poor UX design. To avoid this, we want to implement good UX design practices that compliment our website’s structure. Good web design practices include:
- Navigation: Simple and consistent navigation is vital for retaining customers.
- Visual Hierarchy: Structure your website elements so that visitors naturally gravitate towards the most important elements.
- Responsive Design: Making sure your website layout is consistent and functions well on multiple devices.
- Branding: Keeping branding consistent across the customer journey helps give your products and services meaning in the consumer’s mind.
- Color Scheme: Your color scheme should reflect your brand’s personality. This will help visually and psychologically communicate your design’s message.
- Consistency: This is one of the most important web design practices. Keeping all your fonts, colors, spacing, and typography consistent on all pages is vital for a good web design experience.
By implementing these design practices, your website will go from looking drab and mediocre to looking clean and professional overnight. If your business’ website is currently under construction, make sure your web designer is keeping these aspects in mind. Remember, a good web designer will use good web design practices.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the bread and butter of your business’ website. Other than your services, it is the only way to attract visitors to your website. It is often even responsible for attracting customers to your services in the first place. Content marketing is a form of marketing that is used to attract, engage, and retain an audience through blog articles, videos, podcasts, and various other forms of content. Content marketing applies to a business’ social media presence, website presence, and every other aspect that strengthens its brand. The goal of content marketing is to show that your website and your business are authorities in their industry. This is a large task to tackle, so it is good to break up your content for general marketing channels like social media, email, video, and your blog.
This will undoubtedly be a learning process for your business. While there are many resources out there that tell you about the basic and generic process of a content marketing strategy, it may be difficult for you to actually find a concrete strategy that seems sustainable for your business. Rather than looking for a golden strategy to fall out of the sky and work perfectly for your business, we find it best to develop your own content strategy. Yes, we know that developing your own content marketing strategy is daunting, but that’s all it is. Daunting. Not too difficult to accomplish. Try reading case studies to learn exactly what real businesses did to make changes and improvements in their marketing.