My goal is to create great websites for my clients. So how do I define a great website? In my mind, a great website as one that effectively conveys your business identity, clearly communicates your offerings, optimally attracts search engine traffic, and maximally converts visitors into customers.

The process I follow to create outstanding websites for my cleints involves several key steps.

Step 1 - Understand Your Business & Your Customers

Crafting the perfect website begins with a deep and thorough understanding of your business. This foundation is crucial for developing effective copy and messaging that connects with potential customers and converts them into actual ones. My approach includes reviewing your existing website and marketing materials, followed by a detailed discussion wiht you, the busniess owner, to clarify my understanding.

Your Business Identity

Another important aspect of understanding your business is knowing what identity you want your business to project. A business's identity is a combination of elements that establish its unique market presence and distinguish it from competitors. These elements are critical for building connections with your target audience and conveying your values, mission, and offerings. They include:

• Brand Name: Essential for first impressions, requiring memorability and relevance to your services or products.

• Logo: A distinctive, scalable visual symbol embodying your company's ethos.

• Brand Colors and Fonts: Selected to complement the logo and evoke specific emotions or values.

• Tagline and Slogan: Summarizing your mission or value proposition for quick recall.

• Brand Voice and Personality: The tone of your communications, reflecting your brand's character.
  

Understanding your business is paramount for informing the design of your website so it's a crucial first step the can't be missed.

Step 2 - Design the Framework of Your Website

With a solid understanding of your business, I can then organize your offerings into a logical website structure. This includes defining the pages and the navigation and determining the purpose of each page, with the home page serving as a pivotal introduction to your business.

My design ethos emphasizes simplicity and clarity, becuase this makes if easier for vistitors and potentail customers to understand and appreciate what you have to offer and how it will solve their prolems or fullfill their needs. On the other hand, overly complex and bsuy design can confuse and distract visitors.

Step 3 - Design & Build Your Website Pages

Starting with the home page, the design of each page follows a structured process:

1. Write the Copy: Crafting compelling content that resonates with your audience and enhances search engine visibility.

2. Design the Layout: Developing a visually appealing and engaging presentation that amplifies the message.

3. Build the Page: Executing the design with precision, incorporating SEO strategies to optimize search engine performance.

Writing the Copy

The cornerstone of any website's pages, and indeed any sales narrative, is the substance of your message and the sequence in which it's delivered. Dwelling on the layout, visuals, and stylistic elements before solidifying the core message is akin to putting the cart before the horse. This initial step ensures that the design amplifies the message rather than distracts from it.

Having meticulously analyzed and grasped the essence of your business and its value propositions, I possess the essential insights needed to draft an initial version of the website copy. This draft serves as a starting point from which we collaboratively refine and enhance the messaging through iterative reviews, steadily honing it until it resonates perfectly with your intended audience.

A crucial facet of copywriting lies in the strategic use of keywords and phrases that your potential customers are likely to use in their online searches. This practice, rooted in understanding the language and queries of your audience, significantly boosts the visibility of your website in search engine results. Consequently, this increased online presence translates into more visitors to your site and, ultimately, a higher conversion of these visitors into customers.

Parallel to this, another critical component of effective copywriting involves the creation of meta tags and descriptions—often referred to as the "hidden text." This text plays a pivotal role in how search engines interpret, display, and recommend your website to users. By meticulously crafting this hidden text in alignment with SEO best practices, we can further enhance your site's discoverability and relevance in search results. Prior to the actual page construction, we'll document and review this SEO-focused content, ensuring it aligns with our overarching strategy to attract and engage your target audience.

Designing the Layout

With our mutual agreement on the core messages and their sequencing firmly established, I'm now poised to propose how we might best encapsulate these messages within the website's structure. This stage involves careful consideration of specific sections, layouts, visuals, and styles—all meticulously chosen to enhance and elevate the message, ensuring it captures the audience's attention in both a visually appealing and engaging manner. It's essential to understand that while the design serves to amplify the content, it can never replace the precision and persuasiveness of well-crafted copy. The design complements the copy, creating a harmonious balance that enhances the overall impact of the website.

In practice, this collaborative design process often begins with a simple sketch. This initial draft serves as a visual starting point, inviting your feedback and ensuring that the design evolves in a direction that aligns with your vision and expectations. Through a process of iteration, we refine these preliminary ideas, gradually shaping them into a final design that resonates with both of us. This iterative approach ensures that every design element, from the overarching layout to the smallest detail, contributes to a cohesive and compelling online presence. Once we achieve a design that we both endorse, we are ready to advance to the final stage of bringing our conceptual vision to life.

Building the Page

At this juncture, with a crystal-clear understanding of both the content and aesthetic direction for the page, we stand on the threshold of actualization. The groundwork laid in the preceding stages positions us well, ensuring that the construction phase proceeds with minimal need for revisions. This efficiency stems from our thorough preliminary work, which now allows us to focus on refining and finalizing. Your role in this final review phase is pivotal; a detailed examination of the live page followed by your approval signals that our collaborative efforts have coalesced into a tangible, functional representation of your vision.

An indispensable component of this construction phase, echoing the considerations highlighted during copywriting, involves the strategic integration of SEO elements—what could be termed the 'hidden text'. This includes meta tags, alt attributes for images, and structured data, all meticulously crafted to bolster your site's visibility to search engines. The careful embedding of these elements is not merely a technical task; it is a deliberate effort to draw a roadmap for search engines, guiding them through your site in a way that enhances its discoverability. This optimization is a critical lever for boosting your website's traffic, thereby increasing the potential for customer conversion and sales growth.

With the completion of these tasks for one page, our methodical approach beckons us to replicate this process across the entirety of your website. Each page, crafted with the same attention to detail and strategic foresight, brings us closer to unveiling a website that not only meets but exceeds expectations. This iterative process, while meticulous, ensures that I produce a truly great website for your business.

Step 4 - Testing, Approving & Going Live

The final step in the creation of your website involves thorough testing, your approval, and the official launch of your website. This marks the beginning of your marketing efforts to attract and engage potential customers. Which ultimately, is crucial to the success of your businesses web presence and a topic that should not be overlooked.