4 Steps to Developing a Site with a Killer First Impression
Every web designer dreams of developing at least one authority web site where users will return to based on their first impression to find quick answers to their tough questions or to continue learning about the subject matter that is compiled on the web site. While there are countless web sites that aspire to such goals, in reality, very few are actually able to actually that kind of status.
There are 4 steps to developing a site with a killer first impression. While following each of the steps listed below may not guarantee your success, at the very least, you will be pointed in the right direction.
1. Have Your End Result In Mind
Before you even begin planning your web site, keep the end goal in mind. How much content do you need? How much will it cost to have this content produced? By keeping your ultimate goal in mind, you can design your web site to meet your goals from the ground up. The best web sites were in planning for weeks before the first word was published. If you keep this in mind while developing your web site, you can make your first impression as powerful as your completed web site.
2. Brainstorm Article Topics
It is not enough to have a few keywords selected to develop your web site. You need to actively brainstorm exactly which articles you will feature on your web site. When you have enough articles selected, you can begin rating them in order of importance and scheduling your web site development based on which articles will be the most powerful from the very beginning. Be careful with blogs, however.
If you put your best work in the first few blog posts, you may need to aggressively link back to them for the rest of the time that you are posting. If you are having a hard time with your titles, you may want to consider hiring a company that offers article writing services. Most of the time, you will be able to get some good insight with which topics will work best to meet your goals.
3. Be a Problem Solver
Creating a web site that has a killer first impression is a great deal like inventing a new tool or product. If you solve a problem with your invention, it will likely be successful. With every page of your web site, try to solve a specific problem or answer a specific question. Use keywords that draw traffic from people that are looking for such a solution or answer. The more questions that you can answer, the more likely your web site will be to have a killer first impression.
4. Make Your Readers Hungry for More
This is often referred to as creating the web site sandwich. No matter what the sandwich, there are usually three elements – the top slice, middle and bottom slice. you can keep this in mind when drafting each article. However, it is much more important to think of your web site in this way. The top slice can be content that draws readers in such as promises or marketing campaigns.
The middle can be the meat of your sandwich – solid groups of information in the form of articles or posts. The bottom slice of your web site sandwich can be the content or features that keep the readers coming back for more – updated news or resources that are time sensitive.
Although there are generally 4 steps to developing a site with a killer first impression, there is also a great deal of work involved in accomplishing such goals. Remain open to new ideas and, above all, be an individual. There are few successful web sites that simply copied another web site’s idea. Even if they did, their approach required fresh ideas and a new approach. Try new things with your web site but be patient for your hard work to pay off. If you do so, your first impression will indeed be killer.