Top Products to Help You Launch Your Website
We’ve all been at the crossroads of going another year without updating our website or diving in deep and going through some long, sleepless nights learning Wordpress. Don’t get us wrong, we LOVE websites! Even though we are a social media company at heart, websites are a MUST for any business today. It’s the best hub to send new and past clients to! It’s where people can learn, hear and see what your business is all about in one clean and simple to use website tab.
We all know how important it is to update your website, but why does it always seem like the biggest hurdle to get over? Well, we are here to tell you that websites have simplified over the years and tackling that massive to-do list has now become a lot easier! First off, studies have shown that in the last two years the average attention span in the US has dropped from eight seconds to seven seconds! You know what that means? People are reading less and less, and instead are skimming websites or looking for videos. This, first and foremost, should be a relief! Now you can focus on less copy on your site that is simple and engaging enough to get your point across quickly!
Along with this, the rise of social media has made your website another stepping stone in the process for users to establish that like, know, and trust factor with you and your business. So, this means that prospective clients will land on your website and read a little about what you do, then go over to your Instagram page and see what your team or your office space looks like. So what has become more important than ever, is to make sure your website is updated, to the point and reflects all of your other social media platforms that most visitors will be searching.
So, if you are still feeling overwhelmed we hear you! Our MeyCo Team has compiled a list of our favorite launch products that will help you cross off that website to-do without all of those sleepless nights.
Top Products to Help You Launch Your Website
Find Your Stylized Photos on Unsplash
Sometimes there is just not enough time in the day to get that perfectly lit, stylized photo of your products. A good way around spending some extra money for a photographer or even good equipment is utilizing some free stock photos!
Our team is a big fan of Unsplash because they highlight smaller photographers work that oftentimes looks very boutique and authentic. All of the photos are free to download and all come in high quality, large files for all your website needs!
2. Cut All Your Copy In Half-- Use a Word Doc
It can be so overwhelming writing paragraphs upon paragraphs to explain a product or service for everything you offer and who is really going to read all of it? Now that we have such a short attention span, focus on presenting what you want to say on your website in digestible bite size pieces. Maybe write everything out and then cut your wording IN HALF!
This may end up being the most time consuming part of your website overhaul, but trust us it is worth it!
PRO TIP: The most important page on your website is your About Page, so spend a little extra time making sure it is as fancy and you want it but that it’s still easy to read, understand and get across what your business is all about.
3. Find A Web Design Platform You Like
There are so many platforms to choose from nowadays: Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix, Showit, GoDaddy, Dreamweaver- the list goes on. It’s hard to decide what fits your budget and what capabilities you want your website to have. If you are DIYing your website we recommend Squarespace or Showit! Their easy drag-n-drop format makes it a simple process to build your website and if you are a visual person, then this can be really helpful.
If you are in the market to hire someone to re-do or create your website, first choose a designer who’s own website style matches what you are looking for. More often than not, they will understand your vision on what you want your website to look like because you have similar design tastes. This will help A TON when trying to describe what you want on your website.
PRO TIP: If you know periodic changes will need to be made once your website is launched- new blog posts or new products- be sure your designer can leave you a video on how to add these pretty seamlessly. That way you can save the extra time and money to continually update your website as the year goes on and you don’t let all these small changes snowball into yet another website re-do in a few years.
4. Search for pre-designed Templates
Finding pre-designed templates is one of THE BEST ways to redo your website and avoid staring at a blank slate with no idea where to start. There are a ton of companies out there that provide budget friendly templates you can DIY on your own or even purchase and work with a designer from their team!
Our website actually was a mix of a template, DIY and designer work! We wanted to be able to put our own touch in it but make sure that we had a designer help us with the launch and connection of all the wonderful free guides and blog categories we wanted. We used a template from Tonic Site Shop for our re-launch and loved every minute of the design process! The template was designed in Showit so our team took some time to play around with it to get the exact design we wanted.
If you are not a Showit fan we also want to point you toward Go Live HQ! They are an awesome website design company run by boss ladies who create edgy Squarespace templates with options for you to customize on your own with their step-by- step video guides or talk to one of their designers for that extra Go Live magic!
The Skim
Re-doing your website can be an overwhelming and long process, but there are tools out there to help you if you’re DIYing your site or even hiring a designer! Do your research and find the right team of people to help you tackle this project and don’t overthink it too much! Websites are meant to be changed and evolve as you go!
