A website is one of the most powerful tools any business can have. Websites grow business by grabbing attention, building credibility and trust, improving professionalism, and enhance relevance.
Today, more than ever, a website plays a significant role in the way we do business. So it’s essential you make your website as compelling as possible.
Here are the top 10 things every website should have.
Websites with distracting functionalities, clashing colors, hard-to-read-texts, poorly executed web elements are all a thing of the past. The internet is always changing, so there is a constant development of new website standards and updates to meet the latest design and security measures.
Your best employee and the most significant asset is your website. It runs all the time, even when you’re asleep. In case your website isn’t benefiting your business, then it’s non-efficient.
Obsolete websites lose quality and interest from their audience. They don’t benefit from developed technologies for websites that could have made them more powerful platforms.
An ugly, outdated website does nobody any good. Some people think just having any form of web presence trumps having none, but that isn’t true. That could very well be a fast way to losing business.
A website must contain a contact page, header, footer, or any prominent spot to include your email and physical address, business hours, phone number, etc.
Don’t make it hard for your visitors to contact you if they want to request more information or place an order.
More than 60 percent of people who use the internet and access online content are doing so from their phone devices. What that means is that you have created a website that is responsive and accessible on mobile devices; one doesn’t need to pinch in and out to read any information.
Google made an SEO algorithm update in April 2015, making mobile responsiveness almost critical for a website’s success.
Suppose your competitor’s website is mobile friendly and yours isn’t. In that case, they will show up in Google search result before you and you already know how important Google search result is.
It’s frustrating for users to visit and stay on a website that isn’t mobile-friendly. Suppose it’s difficult for users to connect with you or read your content. In that case, they will have no choice but to abandon your website altogether.
Using visual elements can help direct the eye of users around a page and break up text-heavy content. Visual information like graphics is processed much faster than written information. These visual graphics can be the deciding factor whether a user will leave your website or stick around.
When visitors enter your website, what do you want to happen within the first few seconds? Do you want them to be drawn in right away and compelled to stay, or do you want them to take a quick glance and be off your website?
Every website should use high-quality images because pixelated visuals aren’t just hard on the eyes; they don’t complement any design. Also, always use images that are consistent with your brand and content.
Just because the eyes process visuals much more quickly than text doesn’t mean it will make up for the confusion if it’s irrelevant. Your graphics are not supposed to produce more questions but drive home your message.
One of the most powerful aspects of a website is to maintain your brand’s focus. One of the best ways to portray your business as trustworthy and professional to your audience is by staying visually consistent.
When it comes to your branding, certain things have to be consistent about the theme. These include colors, fonts, and other visual components. This theme will not only be utilized on your website but across social media accounts and other marketing assets like business cards, posters, and more.
You want to leave a lasting image of your business in people’s minds, and being cohesive can play a huge role in achieving this.
One of the easiest ways users typically find information on your site is through the navigation menu. Ensure that the essential pages of your website are accessible but ensure the menu is not overloaded. Users can quickly get confused with information overload.
One way to do this is to break up information into two or more separate navigation bars. This is great if it is done strategically and if you have significant purposes for each.
Pushing visitors to take action is the whole point of your website. You are the one who decides what you want them to do. It may be to contact you, purchase a product or service, sign up for a newsletter, or share posts on social media.
Whatever it is, every business has its own goals. Still, these goals have to be clear so you can better strategize your calls to action for faster conversions.
The last thing website visitors want is to be confused when they land on a page. This leads to a negative user experience. You want your users to be sure and willing to do something you have suggested when they leave your website, so ensure you make calls to action clear, grab attention, and are carefully sprinkled all over your website.
Content is king, so they say. This is true eventually. Websites are nothing without content. And not just any kind of content, but useful and relevant content.
If you don’t define a purpose for writing but just writing things just because you want to write them, you risk losing your audience, and once they’ve tuned out, it can be hard to get them to tune in again.
While trying to post explicit and helpful content to your website, you should also ensure you pay attention to the content’s display and organization. Ensure you are making good use of clear headings, lists, and catchy visuals. They break down your content so that it’s easier for your visitors to read and digest them.
While SEO related matters may sound a little intimidating, using internal links is simple and packs plenty of power. Internal linking refers to connecting one page of your website to another page of your website.
Internal linking can help to make the user experience more seamless. It also makes it easy for them to quickly access more relevant information based on the content they are already reading or interested in. You also get to keep visitors browsing your pages longer with internal linking, which lowers bounce rate – another vital SEO metric.
Some people include a ‘Related Posts’ section for internal links or simple linking parts of content to another related post on another area of their website.
It’s 2021, and social media icons are essential for any website. Social media offers a fantastic way of getting your customers to find you and stay current with information about your business and industry.
It offers your customers a way to connect with you on different platforms and adds a very high level of personality to your brand.
With social-sharing buttons added to your website, you can make sharing content easier too.
If you regularly update your blog or if you have a portfolio, you would want more people to see the content, right?
To get more people to see that content, you have to give readers an easy way to share that information on their social media platforms. This allows your work to be placed in front of a new audience you didn’t even do any additional work to get.
Again, while it’s good to include social buttons on your website, there’s more to it than just tossing buttons that link to social media pages anywhere. You have to be active on those platforms as well.
If, for example, you haven’t posted anything to your Facebook or Twitter pages in months, running into years, they may get the feeling your business has lost relevance. You have stopped communicating with your audience for that reason.
These ten items can make or break your website and your inbound lead generation. If you are not familiar with completing these tasks, then reach out for your free consultation and see how we can optimize your website together.
Having all ten of these will help your website be great, convert your visitors into leads, and generate new revenue for your business. Strise is here to help you create an amazing website to show off your brand and take your business to new heights.
