I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that technology is always evolving. This of course includes how people view websites and content on the web, which affects how website designers go about building websites for their clients.
But with that said, we can see how to build websites today so that they are still relevant and useful in the future. Here are a few things you can do today to ensure your website doesn’t stink tomorrow.
Responsive Website Design (also referred to as Device Agnostic Website Design)
One of the things that has already shifted in the way that people view content on the web is mobile. More and more, people are using their smartphones, tablets and small laptop-tablet hybrids to browse the internet. This means your site had better be optimized to look good on those pieces of technology. Problem is – who’s to say what size the next great smartphone or tablet is going to be? Insert Responsive Website Design.
Responsive Website Design simply means that the website ‘responds’ to the width of the device it is being viewed on. (This is also called Device Agnostic Website Design because the website ‘doesn’t care’ what device it’s on.) This is done by using special coding that allows many different widths of devices to still view content on the web the way it was intended to by the designer.
Great Fresh Content
One of the things that will never change on websites that are regarded as ‘good’ is fresh content. You can have a poorly-designed site with great content and still attract a lot of visitors and/or business leads.
Spend time creating content for your site at least several times per month. I advise planning to blog (or add content, if ‘blogging’ isn’t the term for you) twice per week. The benefits in blogging are endless and you’ll see results that will make you happy you spent the time. With most content management systems, you can schedule posts long in advance, so on a lazy Saturday, you can pump out 3-4 posts and schedule them throughout the week and not have to worry about it complicating your schedule.
Build Your Site with a Flexible CMS (Content Management System)
I develop all of my clients’ sites using WordPress. WordPress is one of the most widely used CMS platforms (Content Management System) on the web today. WordPress offers a lot of flexibility in the way that you can add a new theme (or template) to a site whenever you feel a change is needed without having to completely redesign your website. I wouldn’t advise changing the look of your website too often – maybe once every two years at the most to keep things fresh.
Future-Proofing Your Site
Bottom line? A great website built today doesn’t guarantee a great website 2-3 years from now. But by following these tips, you’ll at least be assured to have a site that is optimized for mobile devices of any size, has fresh content and can grow and change along with your business.
