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The Definitive Website Checklist

Websites are complex. There are so many things that are easily overlooked.
One of the common mistakes people make when building the first website is trying to do too much.

Ask yourself, before start building a website:

  • Will you spend a lot of effort and money to build a custom website with advanced features, and only to find out later that it doesn’t work for your target audience?
  • Will you end up re-designing your website because your custom design didn’t work, only to pray that the new design will give you better results?

Start with a basic version of the website that you need.
Test and see if the website works with minimal time and cash investment.
Once you know what you really, you can then invest smartly on your website.

What You Need to Start a Website

  1. Domain Name
    It is your digital address that people will use to get connected to your website.
    Example: www.webexmy.io

  2. Business Email Address
    Once you have a domain name, you use it to can create a business email like:
    [email protected]

  3. Website Building Software
    A website builder software is what you use to build your website.
    Some of the more popular web builders that you might have heard of are WordPress, Wix and Weebly.
    Alternatively, hire a professional like Webex to build your website.

  4. Hosting
    A host is the storage unit where your website content lives online.
    Types of Hosting:
    Shared Hosting: You are sharing a server with other websites.
    VPS Hosting: You are still sharing a server with other websites, but you get more capacity to handle more visitors.
    Dedicated Hosting: You have a server all to yourself and don’t need to share.
    Free Hosting: This is provided for all fully managed drag & drop website builder we mentioned above.

  5. Logo Design
    A great logo is a great way to help create a brand for your business and website.

  6. Copy-writing
    Expert web copywriters will create quality, SEO focused web content specifically for your business.

90% of the informative websites can be built with just the above – as simple as that.

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If you think web design is just about art and beauty, you’re wrong

You may think that web design and art are the same thing. Yes, a professional web designer can make your website look beautiful, but that’s only a part of the process.

The difference between art and design

While art is typically an evocative and creative expression, design is something else altogether.

Design is all about fulfilling a need. Achieving a goal. Meeting an objective.

To that end, a proper web design process will start by addressing these questions:

  • Why does your website exist? What is it for?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • What is the desired outcome after they land on your website?

Therefore, if you seek out a web designer for the sole purpose of making your website look good aesthetically, you’re looking at it the wrong way. For this simple reason: just because your website looks nice, it doesn’t mean it’s a good website.

It’s all about user experience (UX)

To create a website that serves its purpose, a web designer should help you craft an experience for users. So that it’s as easy as possible for users to take the action you want them to.

In fact, some of the most visited websites in the world are very well designed in terms of UX. They determine a desired outcome and design accordingly, for example:

  • Social media: to interact
  • Ecommerce: to buy
  • Content sites: to read or watch more

Even if your traffic isn’t as high as Facebook, you should still have the same UX principles, to drive action. For example:

  • Corporate sites: to learn about company
  • Restaurants: to make reservations
  • Suppliers/manufacturers: to learn about product, and see list of places to buy
  • Education institutions: to learn about the institution, and enrol

Other UX considerations

A web designer should also help make browsing your website as frictionless as possible.

  • Loading speed
    • Users tend to drop out if your website loads too long. So your site has to be designed in a way that users will see something first while the rest of the site loads.
    • Use the PageSpeed Insights tool to see your website’s speed score: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
  • Mobile responsiveness
    • As smartphone browsing becomes common, your website needs to be easily navigated on both small and large screens.
    • Use the Mobile-Friendly test to evaluate your website’s friendliness on mobile devices: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
  • Internal functions
    • Ideally, all user activity should remain inside your website, without having to bounce your users away to something else.
    • For example:
      • Sending you an email without opening their email application
      • Viewing contents without downloading a PDF
      • Buying your products without installing an app

Where art and beauty comes in

Once your user experience has been designed, now your website can accommodate art. A web designer will help you determine colours, fonts, visual elements, photography, iconography, spacing, and so on. If you have an existing brand identity, your website will visually follow suit.

To take it one step further, your website can also have animations to liven up the page. Or embedded videos to better convey information. As long as it does not compromise the experience of your user.

In conclusion, web design will make the difference between a pretty decoration and a money-generating asset. So be sure your website is worth your investment.

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Transform your Retail Business to Ecommerce during a Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the world in many ways. For brick-and-mortar businesses, the economic impact is evident; there will be no customers when shops cannot open.

This is why now is the best time to bring your retail business to the internet, if you haven’t already.

As customers stay home a lot more during this time, they will need to do most, if not all, of their shopping online. To enable your potential customers to buy from you through the internet, you need a website with ecommerce functions.

Investing in an Ecommerce Website

Yes, this would mean you need some capital to create one. But consider your alternatives:

  • Wait until the Movement Control Order is lifted and see if customers are willing to step out of the homes as before; or
  • Fold your business to do something else
  • If you believe in the value you bring through the products you sell, then it’s worth considering to invest in an e-commerce site.

Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Install ecommerce functions on your website

An online shop has relatively complex functions as opposed to a normal website that only shows information. Because a typical ecommerce website has a cart function, and a way for customers to create an account to save information for future purchases.

Due to such complexities, you will need a web development company like Orangesoft to help you.

Step 2: Connect your website to a payment gateway

This is important, as it does two things: allowing your customers to pay for your products online, and for you to receive your revenue on your bank account.

Step 3: Upload your inventory information

Once your site infrastructure is ready, now for the contents. Each product should have:

  • Title
  • Photo(s)
  • Variants, if any
  • Price
  • Description
  • Available stock
  • Shipping fee

The more information your customers can see, the better.

Step 4: Ensure your website is easy to use

It is best not to rely on your customer’s patience. That’s why you must ensure your site is easy to use:

  • Mobile-responsive
  • Fast loading
  • Easy to navigate
  • Compatible with their preferred payment options

Step 5: Testing your ecommerce functions

To make sure everything runs smoothly, perform a test by purchasing an item from the website. This is to prevent your potential customers from running into issues.

Fulfilling Orders

Once your website is up and running, your online shop is now open for business. As your customers buy from you, you will receive orders on your site.

To fulfil those orders, you will need to pack your items in parcels, and send them out by post. To keep your customer’s mind at ease, provide them with tracking numbers so that they can see the progress of the delivery.

Marketing your Site

To draw in new customers, you can advertise on platforms like Google and Facebook. If you’re not familiar with this process, a digital marketer can help you here.

Marketing is absolutely essential for your website to have visibility. Unlike brick and mortar shops, websites do not have passers-by or spillover traffic from neighbouring shops.

Conclusion

Selling online will have different challenges and opportunities as compared to selling offline. The good news is that logistics companies are still operating during the pandemic in Malaysia. With an online store, you now have a whole new revenue stream.

Ready for your ecommerce venture to begin? Talk to us, and we can help you get started