What Makes A Website Truly Great?
Website owners spend a great deal of time making small changes to their websites, aiming for increased functionality, traffic and conversions. However, you may want to take a moment to evaluate the big picture. Oftentimes we get stuck in the minutiae, avoiding the bigger and more serious problems in design and navigation. To avoid this trap, ask yourself the big questions about what makes a website truly great, and how you can adopt these strategies for your own website.
Below you will find our top characteristics and the elements that support them in truly great websites. Use these suggestions to capture the traffic and dollars you are working towards.
Great website characteristic number one: Amazing design.
#1. Captivating Banner
Your website banner is your chance to really grab visitor’s attention. Make sure that your text is lively and offers value. It may take a few attempts to get it just right, so consider A/B testing to figure out which is best.
#2. Delicious Color Scheme
The colors you choose to represent your brand are a big deal. They must be consistent throughout the site to present a unified brand effort. Don’t shy away from hiring a professional to help you choose, as it may save you hours of design time.
#3. Impactful Images
Sourcing great images can come at a high cost, however, this doesn’t have to be the case. Stock images can be helpful as long as you add your own personal touch. Get acquainted with a photo editor like Photoshop (or Pixlr, Photoshop’s free cousin) and make sure your images really shine before uploading to your site.
#4. White Space
Overcrowding your website is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. This is an easy mistake to make when you have so much information you want to get out there. However, if you pack too much into one page, site visitors will quickly become overwhelmed and click away to other sites.
Great website characteristic number two: Navigation must-haves.
#1. Fast Loading Time
This tip is often easier said than done, but a slow-loading website will deter traffic faster than just about any other issue. If you are struggling, try employing a Content Delivery Network like Cloudflare to help boost connection times.
#2. Simple Menu
Ease site navigation with a menu that displays your website content with as few clicks as possible. Icons can help boost smooth page transitions and a site footer can act as a resource to anyone who may be confused by your design.
#3. Responsive Design
Websites are increasingly accessed from mobile and tablet screens. Ensuring that your website is equally as appealing and functional on various sized screens is no longer a luxury, it’s absolutely crucial. Our Website Builder comes with fully optimized templates, letting your website shine no matter the method used to view it.
Great website characteristic number three: Quality content.
#1. Just Enough Text
Similar to the white space recommendation above, crowding your website with too much text almost certainly guarantees that no one will read it, and will likely click away from your site. Instead, make sure to break up text with headings and images for a smoother, eye-pleasing read.
#2. Regular Updates
Stale content is not only bad for website viewers but search engine optimization as well. Make sure you review existing content regularly as well as updating a news page or blog whenever possible. Regularly updating content shows your website traffic and search engines that you are invested in your creation.
#3. Correct Tone Of Voice
As a website owner, you most likely know a lot about your website’s topic or industry. It can be easy to include industry jargon and information that could be confusing for industry newcomers. As you write website content, be sure that your tone is friendly, inviting and not patronizing or condescending.
Great website characteristic number four: All the bells and whistles.
#1. Supreme SEO
While it’s hard to tackle search engine optimization (SEO) in one go, there are tools that can help you spot weaknesses and make the most of search engine results. Try a free website scan from our Website SEO Guru to see where you should focus your energy on best SEO practices.
#2. Maximum Security
As a website administrator, it is your job to be sure that your website is secure enough to be trusted with valuable information. An SSL Certificate can boost your reputation, encrypt personal information and keep out prying eyes. Tools like SiteLock can run regular malware scans and defend against identity theft.
#3. Social Media Connections
When people stumble across great content or websites, it is instinctive to share it among their peers. Make sharing simple with social media buttons connected to your brand pages. Not only will you see the benefit of increased traffic and engagement, but your website visitors will delight in sharing their latest discovery: your truly great website.
Start building your own fully functioning, aesthetically pleasing, traffic capturing website today by partnering with Midphase!