Digital communication now occupies a place of choice within companies. It requires the use of several tools, including the website. This can take various forms. You can thus create an institutional site for your activity. Such a platform is primarily intended to inform customers, partners, and anyone wishing to know more about your activity. However, in practice, how to design an institutional site? What are the important elements?
What is an institutional site?
An institutional site is a platform whose main objective is to present a public or private company, an association, or an organization, in a professional manner. Seen in this way, the institutional site, also called the corporate site, may seem to have similarities with the showcase site. However, in reality, it stands out because it is more information-oriented.
In addition, being free of any commercial purpose, the corporate site also highlights the values of the company, as much as it presents its news. This is why it also promotes useful exchanges with customers and partners. This platform does not bother with the management of requests of a commercial nature.
How to create a corporate website?
The destination of a corporate site being now clear, if you want to create an institutional site, you will have to follow different steps. Similarly, your site must integrate various pages, some being essential, others optional.
The steps to follow to create an institutional site
To create your corporate site, you should ideally call on an agency specializing in digital strategies and solutions. The first step of the project will be to submit the technical brief of your site. This is a document that lists your expectations for the institutional site, your requirements from a technical and aesthetic point of view. Also included in the brief are the limits of liability of each party. The technical brief allows your service provider to better understand your expectations.
Once these steps have been completed, comes the launch phase of the production of the corporate site. It will be necessary, on the advice of your agency in digital strategies, to choose the domain name of your institutional site. This is also the time to choose to host for your platform. The latter must therefore be robust to support the operation of the corporate site. Depending on the specifications (technical brief), the wireframe version of the site will be offered to you. It details the operation, the structure of the pages, their arrangement between them, as well as the positioning of the contents. If you validate this version, it is worked on to become the model of the site, which now integrates the graphic charter of your entity.
It is important that the model chosen is tailor-made and highlights the values of the organization. Finally, follow the stages of testing (verification of the proper functioning of the site) and putting the site online. Your agency may be able to train you in the management of your corporate site.
The essential and additional pages of the site
On an institutional site, certain pages are essential:
- the home page presenting the sector of activity, the addresses, the main services, the contact details, and links to the social networks of the company,
- the page dedicated to the organization chart of the company and its key figures,
- the history of the entity,
- the press section,
- contact forms,
- the T&Cs, legal notices, and T&Cs,
- the presentation page of the company’s projects and achievements,
- the presentation page of the company through its values, its commitments, and its expertise.
Other important aspects
Like other sites, the institutional site must meet certain requirements dear to search engines. To do this, you must ensure that your institutional site is optimized for SEO. In terms of design and ergonomics, it must also stand out. The responsive side and security are also important variables for a successful corporate site.
The institutional site for whom and why?
Similarly, you can design a website whether you are a union, group, federation, or governmental organization or not.
Given the nature of these entities, they are bound by a need for information and updating of information and news. The creation of a corporate site in such a configuration is essential.
An institutional site allows you to establish your notoriety on the internet, the most privileged channel of communication and information today. Finally, keep in mind that the distribution of information on a showcase site is essential. To do this, it must propose a tree structure in accordance with your needs.