Website development is a bit like building a home. What works for one family may not work for another, but like the infrastructure and foundation your home sits on, there are certain requirements for a well-developed website. So what makes a great website? That depends on your business and your goals. There is not a one-stop solution for everyone. Some functions and design elements are more crucial for some businesses than for others. But there are a few necessities to consider for every website that represents a business entity:
Up-to-Date & Secure
Number 1: Always make sure you update your site regularly. This is absolutely essential. This should go without saying, but I can’t keep track of how many times I have gone to a website to find business hours, a menu, or price list only to discover outdated information. A site that hasn’t been updated in a while will detract from your credibility in the eyes of visitors. Make sure to check it every week at least. Make an appointment on your calendar to remind yourself to review your featured content and make any necessary updates. You also want to add new information regularly for the search engines to crawl. You want it to look like there’s been activity and you want that activity to be real. Add some useful articles or blog posts. This will show that you visit the site frequently and are in touch with the needs of your customers.
Make sure all contact information is correct. Visitors who are unable to make contact with questions will often go elsewhere. You can avoid this by providing several ways in which they may get in touch. Some people want to call while others may prefer email. Your website will serve you well if it receives the right attention. Think of it as a part of your overall business and allow it to grow with you.
Regular maintenance is important to make sure your site is secure and does not get hacked. You invest in building your site, so invest in and budget for regular maintenance to avoid possible annoying (and sometimes devastating) consequences of website neglect.
Build Trust
Your website should help build trust and credibility. It tells your visitors you have something important to offer and gives them a place to go where they can learn more. If possible, include testimonials or recommendations from real people on your site. Here is where you will have the chance to build your online reputation. This builds on point Number 1–keeping your site up-to-date and secure. Your customers need to be able to rely on you to provide information that is accurate and timely, in a secure environment.
Trust starts with your website security or SSL. Some website hosts offer this service as part of the package. Some charge for this. I recommend going with a host that includes this service, such as Bluehost or Siteground. SSL is the abbreviation for Secure Socket Layer protocol which creates secure communication between client and server. If you see a padlock appear in your browser’s address bar when you enter an area of a website, that indicates it is secured via this protocol. Increasingly, internet users know to look for this before entering any personal or financial information online. If information is entered on an unsecured website, the data is transmitted from your computer to the web server viewable in plain text, and un-encrypted, which can allow your information to be captured and used fraudulently. When a site is not SSL protected, users may see an error message indicating that “this site is not secure” which may cause them to back out and look elsewhere for whatever it was they were seeking.
Mobile Responsive
A mobile-friendly design makes a website more easily accessible. Mobile users want to access sites on the web whenever and wherever the need strikes. A website that is not mobile-friendly may encourage visitors to search for another, more accessible site to explore.
Be Search Engine Optimized
A great website increases the odds of others learning about your business. Now that “Google”–as in “Google it”– has become a verb and not just the name of a company, the internet has become the primary, preferred method most of us use for researching nearly everything. We expect and trust it to produce results. These results are produced by search engines.
The ultimate goal is to receive high rankings for all your pages. The more individual pages that rank high on your site, the more visible you’ll be online. For this, search engine optimization (SEO) is key. The content of your website should incorporate keywords potential customers will use to find you. A well optimized site will place you higher in the rankings. SEO is a science that is continually changing, and if being on the first page of a Google search is your top goal, it may make sense to invest in a service to do this for you.
Show Who You Are at a Glance
Design is important. While you definitely want to keep the content easy to read and navigate, all your pages should be eye-catching and give visitors a sense of who you are and what you do. Your site should help you stand out from the rest. It should depict who you are and what your business is all about. Tell readers about the services you offer and what makes you different.
Many businesses choose a particular theme for their site. This helps give it a uniform look throughout. Many themes and platforms such as WordPress or Squarespace or theme designers or “builders” offer professionally designed layouts for specific industries. Choose a theme or look that is relevant to what you are offering. Consider usability while making sure the content and all elements will grab the attention of visitors. A well-designed site that is easy to navigate and contains useful information will prompt them to stay.
A great website will give a great first impression. This is very important, especially to those who are finding you for the first time online. You need pages that look professional, are user-friendly, and will provide your potential customers with everything they’ll need to begin taking advantage of your services.
Easy to Navigate
Large companies invest a huge amount of money on usability studies. On one hand, they want their site to be easy for visitors to navigate, but on the other hand, there is a growing trend towards minimalist design with few options to navigate. Personally, I am frustrated at times by some of the more modern, minimalist sites that give you limited options to find a particular page. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a hunt, or that they’re hiding the information they don’t want you to find. In general, I opt for transparency rather than pushing potential customers to a specific sales page with limited information. But this depends completely on your specific business and objectives. Try to think like your perfect customer. Are they going to be more interested in a “WOW” experience when they land on your site, or are they just looking to find the information they need quickly and without a lot of drama. Design and site architecture should be primarily about the user experience.
Case in point: Skype. I hadn’t used it in a while, and all I wanted to do was update my profile and my photo. Updating profile info was fine, but trying to find the page where I could upload a profile photo was ridiculously time consuming. I couldn’t find the page until I searched for how to do it in Google, and a a page listing this question came up on the Skype site. Their answer was to go to your profile following THIS LINK. The link to that page was not on any menu on the website that I could find. Ridiculous waste of time to complete what should have been a simple task.
So in my opinion, the best practice is to have redundancy built in. That means giving visitors several ways of finding your information. Start with a clean brief menu at the top or side with what you consider the most important pages you want your visitors to find, but consider adding a menu in the footer with links to additional pages. Add big buttons leading to pages you really want to feature. And include a site-map, please. More about that in another post…
So How Do You Get Started?
Today there are many fairly accessible and affordable tools and techniques available to help you build or redesign your website, or you can have it done for you. The tools and path you decide on really depend on what you are trying to accomplish with your site, and your budget, of course. Many developers and consultants can help you evaluate your needs and walk you through it or do it for you from start to finish, and rates are very flexible depending on the functionality and content involved. We would love to help you get your information out there for the world to see! Please contact us for a free consultation and estimate.