1. Stay Active

 

Trust me I know how hard it is to find content but it is so vital to keep your website up to date. People do not want to return to a site that never has new content, it gets boring. Dig deep and find relevant content that will engage and interest your users. For example, for my website, I found relevant updates and current events that are relatable to the club I was promoting. It doesn’t have to be exactly what you are promoting or selling, but something useful and relevant to the user.

 

2. Post High Quality Photos

 

Posting pictures is always a good way to spruce up a website. However, nothing is worse than seeing an out of focus photo. Its distracting and not ascetically pleasing. Ways to avoid this is, first, to make sure that the size of your photo matches the space you are going to occupy on your website. Play around with the format and crop of the photo. Lastly and most importantly, make sure that all your photos are high quality prior to posting.

 

3. Get users involved

 

Bringing in new voices can make the website more exciting and engaging for the user. Open up your posts to responses and allow your users to engage with the post and with each other. A way that I incorporated this on my website was to to have a blog. This allowed different voices to be heard and allowed people to interact as well.

 

4. Spell Check

 

This seems obvious but trust me it is extremely vital. You can read over your posts and content millions of times and odds are you will not find that one tiny typo. My advice is to get another set of eyes on your content to catch what you cannot catch yourself.

 

5. Consistency

 

Keep your website consistent and clean. Pick a theme, font, and color scheme and stick with it. This allows for a professional and cohesive look that will be appreciated by the user.

 

 

 

6. User Friendly

 

This is, yet again, is extremely vital. The users that are going to your site want to find what they are looking for. So, make it as easy as possible to do so. Have tabs, links to other pages, FAQ’s and more. You want to think as a user and provide all the necessary tools to make their experience easy and enjoyable.

A good way to check this is to have a friend go through your website and ask them to look for specific pages or content. If they can’t find it quickly and with ease, then you know that it is time for a change.

 

7. Mobile Accessibility

 

Always think MOBILE FIRST! People live and breath for their smart phones. Make it easy for your users to access all your content on both their mobile devices and online. This will only help you. It will increase your views as more people have access to your site at any time and at any place.

 

8. Integrate multiple media sources

 

Spice up your website by adding videos, audio recordings, photos and more. Text is useful and informative but also sometimes can be dry and boring. Add some interactive aspects and use different tools to get your message across in different ways.

 

9. Link to other social media sites

 

Don’t be afraid to self promote. Your website is a great place to promote your other social media sites. Link to them for more information, for photos, and for any relevant content that you do not want to post on multiple platforms.

 

10. For Beginners (like me) Don’t Be Afraid to Use Website Builders to Help

 

I had no idea where to start when creating a website. I was lost and found that my best bet was to use a website builder to help me get started. I used SQUARESPACE, which I found to be extremely helpful. There are many website builders out there, don’t be afraid to try them out and find your favorite one. It’s a great way to get started and makes the experience easier and quicker!

 

 

 

Maya Steinberger is a Sophomore majoring in Marketing and Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin Madison. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.