What Makes A Good Website For Your Business?

Access to the internet is growing exponentially year on year, and more businesses are taking advantage of the opportunity to get their products and services in front of a global customer base by creating their own online space.

Whether you are a multinational conglomerate, an e-commerce shop, a news site, a gaming business like 777 casino, or even a local, small mom-and-pop store, having a brilliantly constructed website is the best way to get more business and find new customers.

A website is often the first contact that a potential customer will have with your business, and while a good website might do the job, it takes a great website to convert visitors into customers and then turn them into brand ambassadors.

The statistics back up the need for a good website – in 2014, $1.3 billion was spent in online transactions around the world, and by 2021 the figure was almost $5 billion.

So, what do you need to think about when you are creating your great website?

Design

If you think of your website as the online version of your store or office, you want it to be appealing and inviting for customers so they want to spend more time there.

When designing your website, think about your brand identity, what you stand for, and what customers will get from you and your products or services. Use colours and fonts that speak to your business purpose and choose graphics and videos that have a clear purpose.

The right design will have a positive impact on the way a visitor will view your website (and your business) instilling more trust and making it more likely that they will become a customer.

Function

Think about why a person will be visiting your page, and make sure that it is easy for them to get what they need. The search intent of visitors should be your mission.

All websites should have a clear goal. Most websites share expertise to build the reputation of a business, generate leads to convert into sales, and provide advice, service, and aftercare for already converted customers.

User Experience

The user experience, often referred to as UX, should be the most important thing that you are thinking about when you are designing your website.

You need to make it easy for a visitor to become a customer, and there are various things that you can do to achieve this:

• Make navigation easy and obvious (clickable links and pictures, logical menus)
• Use consistent layouts and themes (keep the design the same on all pages)
• Follow an F-shaped pattern (most users will read from the top left across and then down and across, so put key details there)
• Speedy loading (visitors won’t wait more than a couple of seconds for a website to load)

Don’t make potential customers have to work hard to buy your product or service.

Mobile Optimisation

In 2021, 70% of all retail website visits worldwide were made using a smartphone, so there is a clear need for every website to be optimised for mobile users. In fact, most website development tends to follow a ‘mobile first’ protocol.

In some cases, for gaming companies or e-commerce stores, creating native apps for iPhone and Android is the best idea because every feature and function will work in line with what the phone user is expecting.

However, mobile sites can be just as effective if you can keep the user experience seamless and follow the same design and function ideas that you use on your website.

Safe and Secure

Making online transactions can be a risky business for customers, and this makes it imperative that your site has at least SSL encryption. The little lock icon in the address bar gives a potential customer the reassurance that the site they are visiting is legitimate and increases trust.

If you are accepting payments online, look for a trusted payment provider that offers fraud protection and encryption. Make sure that potential customers have a way of contacting you.

Content

The information on your website is the content, and this is what visitors are going to be interested in. There are several different types of content that you can include:

• Pictures
• Videos
• Blog Posts
• News
• User Guides
• Testimonials and Reviews
• Products

When deciding on the content to use on your site, make sure it is relevant to the business, the products, and what potential customers are looking for (whether that is a particular product, some advice, or more information). It needs to be interesting and informative and should only be included if it has a clear purpose.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation might be the last point on this list, but it is one of the most crucial factors in website creation. There are around 2 billion websites online at any given time, so the only way to stand out is to be found in searches from potential customers – and that is where good SEO comes in.

Some businesses pay to get into the top results on search engines (Pay Per Click or PPC), but that can be a costly way to get in front of potential customers, especially if you can do it organically. Some of the things you can do to optimise your website for search engines include:

• Using terms that customers are searching for (keywords) in links and in content – naturally
• Include page titles, meta tags, and alt tags for images
• Ensure HTML and other code is clutter free
• Check the sitemap is up to date and does not have any broken links.

When you consider your website from the point of view of a potential customer, you will be able to make your site more welcoming, solving the problems of visitors and converting them into loyal customers.