Having a website is an opportunity to make a great first impression and can help to reassure customers of your legitimacy. An effective website can also be a useful selling tool. There are approximately 2 billion websites on the internet (source: Hosting Tribunal), so how do you make yours stand out in 2023?
The most successful websites have the following attributes in common: well-designed, user-friendly, informative. Let’s look at these in more detail.
Well Designed
- Before you begin designing your website, think about what its purpose is. Your visitors should have a clear understanding of what the site is about.
- Keep your web address as simple as possible.
- Reflect your company branding on the site, keep it professional and uncluttered.
- Include Calls to Action throughout the site, don’t miss an opportunity to direct people to where you want them to visit; whether this is your blog, shop or contact page.
- Include professional looking, uncluttered content. Use great imagery to capture attention.
User Friendly
- Make sure your site navigation is easy to understand.
- Check your site on different mobile devices – around 60% of internet traffic is now from mobile devices. Identify any areas which could be improved. How long is your page loading speed? Users expect pages to load in around 3 seconds but the average mobile landing page can take 7 seconds to load. Reducing image sizes can help with this.
- Don’t include too many pop-ups on your website; these can have a detrimental effect on the user experience.
- Keep content easy to read and understand.
- Accessibility: Making your website accessible to users with disabilities is not only a best practice, it’s also required by law in many countries. This includes providing alt text for images, using proper heading structure, and ensuring that your website can be navigated using a keyboard.
Informative
- Include information about who you are, the background of your company and your products.
- Give your contact information. If possible include a landline number where customers can reach you rather than just a mobile number. This reassures customers that your business is well established.
- Include a FAQs section to answer any questions your customers may have.
- Include a blog section on your website. Blogging has the benefit of improving your SEO and driving traffic to your website.
If you would like professional advice on designing your new website, speak to us at Zonkey.