Will your next website be a valuable tool for your company
and its customers, or “just another site” that makes you look like one business
out of dozens?
The business owners and executives we talk to always want
the best, of course, but they aren’t always sure what that might be. In other
words, they can tell whether they like the look of a website or not, but
figuring out what makes a new design outstanding (from the perspective of a
marketer or a customer) can be a little more difficult.
It’s tough to get what you need when you aren’t sure of the
specifics, so today we want to share with you 15 things that separate the very
best websites from all the rest…
#1 A Narrow Focus
The best websites aren’t designed for just anyone. Instead,
they are drawn and coded for a specific type of customer. That’s because strong
marketers and creative teams know that no business can appeal to everyone, and
few have the resources to even try. By zeroing in on a specific buyer type, you
make it easier to manage the process of putting a website together and
marketing it to customers.
#2 Unique Style
Have you ever noticed how many websites within a specific
industry all look alike? That’s not doing much good for companies who want to
stand out, but building generic layouts is easier for lazy web design teams and
clients who don’t want to take any risks at all. If customers can’t tell you
apart from everyone else, they don’t have any strong reasons to do business with
you.
#3 Clear Navigation
Most of the potential customers who arrive at your website
for the first time aren’t going to find the information they’re looking for in
your home page (or whichever page they are referred to by Google, Facebook,
etc.). With a good navigation structure in place, you can make it easy for them
to find what they need. Otherwise, they could get frustrated and take their
attention and money somewhere else.
#4 White Space
A new website is like a small apartment – it’s easy to try
to cram too many things into a limited area. Experienced web designers know
this and will separate various items like text blocks and images with white
space. This gives your website a cleaner feel, and is easier on the eyes. It
also encourages visitors to scan and find what they need without too much
effort.
#5 Vivid Images
The human eye is drawn to images, particularly those with
bright colors, animals, and human faces. The sharper and more interesting your
visuals are, the easier it is to maintain a visitors focus and convey an idea
or emotion. Conversely, if you have old, grainy, or low-resolution pictures on
your website, it can give the feeling that your site is outdated, regardless of
how good your layout is.
#6 Persuasive Content
We could (and have) devote entire articles to the importance
of web content. Suffice it to say, the words on your pages attract search
engine visits, help you put your most compelling sales points forward, and turn
searchers into leads or buyers. Your creative team should help you come up with
content that isn’t just search-friendly, but also persuasive and informative.
#7 Fast Page Loading
Internet connections are getting to be faster and more
reliable than ever. As a consequence, visitors to your pages aren’t going to be
patient. They want your content to display quickly or they’ll move on to the
next Google result. By investing a few dollars a day into premium web hosting
you can do a lot to speed up the performance of your site and keep buyers
engaged.
#8 Reliability
If fast website loading is important, then you can imagine
how critical it is that your content never go off-line. However, with the wrong
hosting package, outdated plug-ins, or HTML errors within your site, specific
tools and videos – for your entire website itself – could become unavailable
without warning. That’s never going to help you make a good impression on
customers or generate leads.
#9 Useful Plugins
Speaking of plug-ins, it’s important to choose the ones you
want to include on your website in a careful way. They certainly can help you
to add features and functions that improve your marketing or make your website
more useful to customers. However, if you have too many apps (or the wrong
ones) they can slow down your pages, cause errors, and even lead to ongoing
security issues.
#10 Strong Security
It’s absolutely crucial that your website be safe and
secure. You’ll want to ensure that anything prospects or customers send to you
is encrypted, and that hackers can't steal sensitive information by breaking
into your database or CMS. There are a lot of factors that go into website
security, including strong hosting, regular backups, and routine checkups. A
good web design team can handle these details for you, but you have to make it
a priority.
#11 Search Visibility
Did you know that Google processes roughly 5 billion search
requests per day? That’s why a top spot on the world’s most popular search
engine can do so much for your online sales and lead generation campaigns. A
great website is built with surge of visibility in mind, with every page set up
and structured in a way that is friendly to automated spiders that catalog your
content.
#12 Local Exposure
If you’ve been in business for more than a decade or so, you
undoubtedly remember what it was like to place ads in the Yellow Pages or other
print directories. These days, you can get a lot more exposure – and save
yourself quite a bit of money – by simply promoting your business to local
buyers through Google and neighborhood review sites. Of course, you can’t take
advantage of those sales and savings unless your website is set up to attract
the buyers.
#13 Positive Reviews
New customers rarely ever decide to stop in and visit a
company without checking out their reviews online first. That’s because they
want to know what other buyers have experienced before risking their own money.
Whether you have lots of positive reviews already, or need to gather some, part
of building a great website is making sure people can find all the wonderful
feedback that’s being posted online.
#14 A Sales Funnel
There is undoubtedly something you would like your new
website to do. The best web designers will set up pages so they can generate
leads, attract walk-in visits, or even create revenue through internet sales.
Those are all good goals to focus on, and none of them is going to happen by
accident. A great website needs to have a plan – complete with a sales funnel –
in place to guide visitors from their first contact to the point where they’re
ready to either contact you, or finish a purchase.
#15 Accurate Contact
Info
This is an easy detail to overlook, but every great website
features accurate contact information that’s easy to find. In fact, you should
have several different ways customers can reach out to you. Some might want
quick answers through email, while others could prefer the personal touch of a
phone call or a scheduled meeting. You may even discover that some customers
and prospects want to follow up or ask questions through social media. Why not
give them options that make it convenient regardless of their preference?
Want to Turn Your
Website Into More Profits?
Whether you need a new website for your
business, or just a new approach to online marketing, we can help. Contact the
Kinetik IT creative team today to schedule a free consultation and see why
we’re a favorite of companies throughout Arizona.