There are almost 2 billion websites out there today, so good luck getting traffic to your site, much less getting your visitors to stay there. To ensure your website serves its purpose and attracts traffic, it should present a clear objective. It should be visually pleasing and easy to navigate. It should perform well for a wide range of visitors and be technically stable and secure. Good websites are attractive, functional, and useful.
Your website is sometimes the only thing your customers see. You want it to be so eye-poppingly awesome that it attracts backlinks, case studies, media attention, and customers.
Here are the four basic principles of what makes a good website to keep in mind before your redesign/launch:
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Purpose. Great design starts with a purpose in mind. Ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish with this page?” If a page doesn’t have a clear purpose, consider getting rid of it.
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Aesthetically pleasing. Your site needs to look good. If your site looks like it was built in the 90’s, it’s time for an update.
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Relevant and original content. Your site should show content that’s relevant to your target market and original. Plagiarism is illegal and penalized by Google. Besides, it’s better to be a first-rate version of yourself than a second-rate version of someone else.
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Clear site navigation. Any page on your site should be within three clicks of any other page on your site. Your navigation should be intuitive and simple. This helps both Google for SEO and your visitors with navigation.
Branding Through Site Design
Your brand is your image. Everything from the colors you use to the fonts you choose affects people’s perception of who you are. What do you want people to think when they see your site?
Edgy, modern, satirical, professional, something else?
You can convey those things through your design. Just take a look at the psychology of color – different colors convey different emotions.
In fact, a study titled “Impact of color on marketing” found that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on color alone, depending on the product.
Another important aspect of website design is the font. Regardless of the font you choose for your logo and branding efforts, you should always choose readability over emotional feel for your main body font. Typically that means sans serif fonts, as they read the best on the web.
One last tip on font choice: Don’t use more than two fonts in your design. Pick two that compliment each other and stick with those for your entire brand.
Finding, Designing, and Using Images
Imagery is a major part of website design. And yet so many people do it wrong. Great images add value to the visitor. They help explain a key point and give the eyes a break. They even help sell your products and services.
For example, if you’re an eCommerce site, you want your product photos to be high-quality and show tons of different angles.
Any image that doesn’t have a purpose is a bad image. Period.
If you needed more incentive, page load speed is extremely important to SEO and usability. Having too many big images slows your site down.
So, how do you find, design, and use images on your website? Here are a few examples of good images you can use:
- Charts and graphs of data points
- Screenshots
- High-quality stock photography (choose wisely)
- Custom designs and vector graphics
- Professional (or at least well-done) photography
SEO
SEO is important for a modern website. Prepare a checklist to show you what you need to add/edit to optimize your page for the keyword you choose.
Google Analytics
Google analytics can give you much insight into where your traffic is coming from, going, and stopping. And since it’s free, there’s no excuse not to use it.Here’s a guide to installing and using Google analytics.
Basically, your website is your business card. It’s the thing everyone – your customers, shareholders, friends, and family sees when they think of doing business with you. By keeping your website looking sharp, you ensure everyone who visits it views you as trustworthy, professional, and worthy of doing business with.
Plus, a strong website pulls in traffic through Google, gets links from authoritative sites, and is shared more often.
We’re in 2020. A great website is no longer a “nice to have”. It’s an absolute must.