Web Development Starts at the Beginning

We here at Montana Banana, a Seattle website development firm, are so deep in the conversation of building websites that often we forget that so many business owners who contact us don’t know even the simplest rules of how to make a good website.  Our friends at Inc.com asked us to write a short list tending to this topic. This article starts at the very beginning of the journey.

Braving the World Wide Web can be a daunting task for any business owner looking to start, maintain or build an existing online presence. The expert coders and creative strategists at Montana Banana Web and Mobile Development believe any website can be vastly improved by these simple yet effective tips.

5 Simple yet effective website tips:

1. Create a call to action

Give your user a single point to focus on as soon as they enter your site. Draw their eye and hook them in by creating a function that links them to direct action. Consider what your user wants and what you want them to do. For example, “request a quote” or “subscribe to our newsletter” are two straightforward and nonabrasive CTA’s that benefit both you and your user.

2. List benefits, not features

While listing the features of a product can educate users about important technical characteristics, describing its benefits gives users tangible, positive results to believe in. If you are selling a camera, for example, describing how easy it is to hold for hours on end is much more captivating than listing ‘Ergonomic Design’.

3. Prioritize information

Creating a hierarchy within your website provides the user with a compact and efficient flow of information – much like the structure of a news story. Consider what your visitor deems most important and provide that information first. Prioritization of information is the reason your “About Us” tab should never come first in the main navigation of your site.

4. Make yourself available

If you are a physical location, add an easy-to-use link to directions, hours and contact information in the header, above everything else. Chances are, a large percentage of your audience is accessing your site from a phone – and most of those visitors just want to find your store or look up what time you close.

5. Invest in your brand

One of the easiest ways to improve the quality and professionalism of your online presence is to invest in professional photography. Mediocre photography is often more harmful than no pictures at all and if the images looks bad, so does your product. Show people you value your brand as much you believe they should.


Founded in 1996 in Seattle, Washington, Montana Banana is a full service web and mobile app development company oriented towards online marketing and solving business problems.
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Filed under: Tips, UI/UX