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Whosis reports that 148,716,750 domains are in use across .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, and .US top-level domains. But how many of these online addresses are reaching their potential for website marketing? Or, more to the point, is your own site complementing or complicating your brand identity?

Consider these basics. An effective website design should offer a balance of form and function. Posts shouldn’t be too text heavy but should invite and welcome engagement with images that help tell your story. At the same time, posts should be accessible, meaning they can be viewed by a wide variety of people. Certain color schemes, for example, don’t work for everyone.

Your website should also be built with a content management system (CMS), so that you can make edits yourself and don’t have to count on web developers to correct a typo or update an event. But you do want to count on a professional website developer for the creation of your online welcome mat to the world.

For your site, be sure to choose a professional with established credentials. Sometimes start-up businesses and organizations hoping to save on costs turn to a student, a volunteer or someone who creates sites on the side. The savings on costs, however, won’t always protect you from the trouble ahead if the freelancer goes back to school, gets a new job, gets really busy, moves out of town or otherwise makes a life change that affects his or her availability. Any number of people who have tried this route know stories of individuals who took the keys to their site or their domain ownership with them, and the company had to start from scratch. Also, consider what it’s like to work with someone who can only talk to you during his or her lunch break or your dinner time.

Need help with your site? Let us know. We’re an advertising and marketing firm in Montgomery, Alabama, and would be glad to talk. Just give us a call or shoot us an email.