The median age in Jamaica is 30 years1. People who are 30 years old today were born in 1992. This is a generation that grew up with the internet, is tech savvy, and is very familiar with websites and other online platforms. Therefore, it is no longer enough for a business in Jamaica to just have a website. In order to use your online presence effectively, you need to ensure you have a website that is well designed and delivers a quality user experience.
Unfortunately, even today, the internet is filled with poorly designed websites. In this article we explore the best practices that you and your web development agency in Jamaica should follow:
1. Be realistic
One of the main factors that contributes to a poor website is unrealistic expectations set by customers. It’s important to understand that the design of a website that delivers good user experience and is functional may not align with your vision of what a good website looks like. Often, we end up focusing too much on aesthetics and lose sight of function. Find a reputable website development agency in Jamaica and trust their expertise to guide you on website design decisions.
2. Budget correctly
Creating a website requires the investment and purchase of resources. In order to get these resources, you will need to spend money. It’s important to budget correctly. Put some time into thinking about how much you want to spend on hosting, your CMS, API services that will help improve site functionality. The cost of building and maintaining an effective website is not limited to a good looking mock up. Clients should also be aware that some costs are recurring. For example, you will need to pay for hosting every month/year.
3.Be SEO ready
In order for a website to rank for relevant keywords and get traffic, it needs to be SEO optimized. A good website design agency will ensure that SEO is part of their design and will not treat it as an afterthought. There are a lot of technical SEO factors that should be implemented not just for search engines but also because they improve user experience. For instance, having a website that loads quickly will not only improve your SEO rankings, it will also provide a better experience for website visitors.
4. Build your own list
As privacy laws around the world become stricter, there are going to be significant changes to how digital marketing works. It is important for businesses to have their own customer lists so that they can market effectively. Your website should have contact forms and CTAs placed strategically so that website visitors are encouraged to leave their information. Build an email marketing strategy with your digital marketing agency so that you can be in touch with your customers directly.
5. Think mobile first
In June 21, 48% of website traffic in Jamaica was generated via mobile, 43% from desktops, 7.9% from tablets and 0.1% from consoles2. Google has a mobile first approach to their rankings. We are used to seeing desktop mobile designs first and then adapting those designs for mobile. Its time to change that mindset. Website should be designed for mobile first and then adapted for other screen sizes.
6. Optimize your text
It is true that over the past decade the importance of visual content has increased. However, we are not yet done with text content. It plays a key role in a website’s ability to convert. It impacts click through rates from search results and it can help users quickly learn more about your products and services. Make sure you use short sentence and include paragraph breaks. Use active voice and write in first person where ever possible.
Talk to your digital marketing agency and implement a pillar and cluster page strategy. This will help ensure your site is well structured and covers all topics users might be interested in.
If you are looking for a website design agency in Jamaica to build a functional website, contact us at Toucan Jamaica.
Sources:
- 2022, “Jamaica Population”, Worldometer, [available online], available from: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/jamaica-population/ [accessed Mar 2022]
- Feb. 2022, “Share of web traffic in Jamaica in June 2021, by device”, Statista, [available online], available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/934675/jamaica-web-traffic-share-device/ [accessed Mar 2022]