Create a website: guides & advice

Did you know that 56% of Internet users do not trust businesses without a website? A number that says a lot, doesn’t it?

But be careful, creating a website is not an easy task and requires in-depth reflection and a well-thought-out strategy. It’s not just about beautiful images or “wow” effects. It’s a real journey to understand and meet the needs of your visitors.

In this article, discover how to combine aesthetics, creativity and strategy to offer a user experience that will make an impact and boost your business!

Why create and invest in a website?

Unsurprisingly, an online presence is essential for any business or organization today. A website is a long-term strategic investment which, with good practices and a thoughtful approach, will open up many perspectives to support your growth.

Find the 8 good reasons to have your website, with added cultural touches.

1. 1Visibility and accessibility:With more than 4.9 billion people using the Internet worldwide in 2023, your website is the best way to reach your audience and more 24/7.
2. 2Credibility and trust:****A professional site strengthens your credibility and the image of your brand. Internet users, prospects and customers will feel reassured and confident by finding indicators of quality and trust on your site. 75% of users judge the credibility of a company based on the quality of its site. By offering regular, dynamic, adapted and qualitative content, you will increase the interest of your visitors, their commitment and their attachment to your brand. By 2025, it is estimated that 82% of online traffic will come from video. Don’t neglect the video format on your networks or your site to improve visitor engagement and retention.
3. 3Attractiveness and engagement:By offering regular, dynamic, adapted and qualitative content, you will increase the interest of your visitors, their engagement and their attachment to your brand. By 2025, it is estimated that 82% of online traffic will come from video. Don’t neglect the video format on your networks or your site to improve visitor engagement and retention.
4. 4Lead generation and conversion:With smooth, well-designed UX journeys, you will maximize your business results. Using dedicated landing pages can significantly increase your conversion rates. Many features are also available to facilitate user engagement and encourage them to take action in one click: simple and quick contact form, intuitive online appointment booking with Calendly for example, or even a callback request. The little extra to keep in mind: colorful call-to-action (CTA) buttons can increase conversion rates by up to 35% simply by catching the eye.
5. 5Analysis and optimization:Thanks to web analysis tools (such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Matomo, or Hotjar), it is possible to collect and analyze valuable data on the behavior of Internet users. These tools are a real gold mine since they allow you to better understand how users interact with a site: which pages or products catch their attention, what are the friction points in the customer journey, etc. By analyzing this information, companies can then make targeted improvements to their site, such as optimizing ergonomics, adjusting offers, or personalizing marketing campaigns. This approach is not limited to e-commerce. Although online stores benefit greatly by directly increasing their sales, any business with a digital presence can benefit. For example, a service site can use this data to improve lead generation, while a B2B company can refine its marketing and customer relations strategies. Analytics tools also help optimize online advertising campaigns by better targeting audiences and maximizing return on investment. By using these tools strategically, businesses see an average increase of 10 to 20% in revenue because they are able to make more informed decisions and respond more precisely to their customers' expectations, both online and offline.
6. 6Reputation and branding:Stay consistent. By deploying a unique brand image and identity on your site, your networks and your communications media, you reassure your target and gain notoriety. Be careful, web trends evolve, your site must live and follow the web fashions of the moment just like a shop window follows the seasons.
7. 7Competitiveness: Not having a site can put you at a disadvantage. Consumers judge the credibility of companies based on their presence on the internet, the quality of their site and the reviews collected. Your absence leaves more room for your competitors but also for possible usurpers who could use your brand for fraudulent purposes.
8. 8Market expansion and growth:87% of consumers research products or services online before making a purchase. A website allows you to reach your customers but also potential customers worldwide.

The essentials for a successful website

IDENTIFIER ET CONNAITRE SA CIBLE

The creation or redesign of a website is part of an overall marketing strategy whose starting point always remains the same: your customer. Before you get started, it is therefore crucial to identify your target to create offers and messages that meet their needs, desires and behaviors. A user-centered approach offers multiple benefits including a significant increase in your ROI.

Make sure to:

• Segment your market
• Create personas to humanize your audience and guide your strategies
• Transform accessible raw data into useful knowledge (insights) to make the best decisions
• Question your customers: opinions, testimonials, feedback
• Observer la concurrence

LISTEN AND ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE

Once you have identified your target and defined your personas, it is crucial to maintain continuous and personalized communication with your audience. Implementing a conversational marketing strategy will help you determine the features and levers to implement on your website to create a relationship of trust and retain your audience.

Establish regular interactions. Engage your users through various channels such as chatbots, social networks and personalized emails. Personalize the user experience and use the data collected to tailor your messages, recommendations and offers based on individual preferences. This personalization will create a more relevant and engaging user experience: 80% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a brand that personalizes its communications.

Take into account the opinions, comments and suggestions of your customers using solutions such as Verified Reviews or Trust Pilot. Then use this information to adjust your products, services and messages to better meet your audience's expectations.

Finally, respond quickly to your customers' questions and concerns. Responsive and attentive customer service fosters a relationship of trust and improves customer satisfaction. Zendesk, Salesforces, Gorgias, Hubspot… we will guide you in implementing the best customer solution.

REFLECT AND ENHANCE YOUR BRAND IDENTITY

A website that fully embodies your values is essential to establishing a strong and lasting relationship with your visitors, ensuring the long-term success of your brand. From a strong and unique brand image, we will be able to create and imagine an engaging, coherent and relevant web design.

Reflecting your values through your website offers many benefits:

1. 1Creates an emotional connection with your Internet users, visitors, prospects or customers
2. 2Builds trust and credibility: consistency, consistency and consistency! Your brand image must be credible and seamless.
3. 3Improves engagement and loyalty. The more your content resonates with your users' values ​​and interests, the more likely they will be to spend time on your site and return. It’s well known that when you love you don’t count!
4. 4Differentiates your brand from the competition, you are unique, show it on your site.
5. 5Booste la conversion

By deploying these thoughts in the creation or redesign of your website, you are not just satisfied with an aesthetic site but with real added value to improve your visibility and your growth.

ADDRESS AND ADAPT YOUR SITE FOR E-COMMERCE

E-commerce is no longer reserved only for B2C. B2B companies must now consider creating a secure and intuitive web portal for their business customers. These features must be thought through and identified from the launch of the site to present an effective and efficient customer journey. Developing a customer portal for your e-commerce is now a must-have, allowing you to include essential features such as online order management, quick and easy access to invoices, consultation of personalized prices, and the creation of wishlists to simplify recurring purchases.

These customer portals improve the experience and strengthen customer loyalty by offering them a tailor-made service, accessible at any time and from any device. And the customer portal is no longer reserved only for the B2C e-commerce site, professionals now expect a purchasing journey similar to those available on their favorite website in order to benefit from simple, rapid and personalized monitoring (specific pricing conditions, recurrence of purchases, recommendations, etc.)

In summary, don't forget to integrate your e-commerce strategy into the creation of your website to stay relevant in the market and meet your customers' expectations.

The methodology of our web agency Smotly

By combining our business expertise, from creativity to technique, we support you in the creation or redesign of your website, window or e-commerce. Depending on your needs, expectations and objectives, we will build hand in hand the site of your dreams combining functionality, accessibility and graphic trends.

5 main phases make up the creation of a site:

1. 1analysis of needs and specifications
2. 2la phase de conception
3. 3the production phase: time for development
4. 4the deployment phase: testing!
5. 5la maintenance et l’accompagnement long terme

The design phase is based on our UI/UX methodology, organized to respond to the essential and preliminary stages of putting a website online:

• Persona Creation: Brands that use detailed personas see a 20% improvement in customer engagement. They allow you to create more relevant messages, thus increasing the chances of converting visitors into customers.
• Defining your value proposition
• Construction of the site structure to meet the needs of personas
• Creation of wireframes (page zoning)
• Creation of models

This first phase of projects is always the most substantial, involving a set of trades and profiles. By following our advice, your website will combine accessibility, functionality and consistency to meet the needs of YOUR audience. Alongside the application of UX and technical best practices, our web designers will advise you on the trends to adopt for a modern web design that reflects your colors.