The number of websites being used has grown dramatically in recent years, especially with the pandemic leading to more businesses operating online rather than in person. In this blog we’re answering what makes a website effective.
Website features
There are many features that appear on websites that most users don’t notice unless they are broken, so it’s important to keep an eye on your website to ensure that everything is running as it should be. Website design involves features such as the way text appears on a site or the way an image may only appear when you hover over a section. All of these features make your website appear more impressive which leads to a positive user experience.
Images
Using high quality images throughout your website is a great way to support blocks of text. It’s important that the images are relevant so that users can rely on these if they do not have time to search through your text to find information. Images can be displayed in various ways to fit the tone of your brand.
Text
Text is one of the easiest ways to share information regarding your business, whether that’s done through blogs or through product descriptions depends on what works for your business. It’s important to avoid long sections of text as it’s unlikely that users will remain engaged unless they are really interested. As well as this, you can add headings to split up blocks of text. Not only will this support your SEO, it will also make it easier for users to find the most relevant information to them.
Ease of use
Like we mentioned earlier, most website users don’t realise the extent of website design until something doesn’t work on a site in the way they expect it to. A great example of this comes from a website’s navigation. Everyone uses the menu to get around a website and when it’s unclear or doesn’t link to the correct pages, it can be very frustrating and users will often leave. In order for a website to be effective, the navigation needs to be clear, to support this you can also add relevant call to actions throughout the site. A common call to action is a contact button, which when clicked will take the user straight to the contact us page.
Optimisation
Optimising various features on your website can have a great impact on your site’s SEO. The use of mobile devices to access websites has grown very fast and therefore it is so important to ensure that your website is optimised for mobile as well as desktop. For a while now, Google has used mobile optimisation as a ranking factor, therefore rewarding the websites that have achieved this simple feature. If your site doesn’t display properly on mobile then it’s definitely time to take a look and make some changes.
Contact
This one is vital for a business to succeed online. You must ensure that all of your business’ contact information is up to date and being regularly monitored. If a potential customer needs to contact you for any reason and they are unable to, it’s highly likely that you’ll have lost their custom. An effective website will have a range of contact options available to the users and they will be displayed in a clear way.
Branding
Consistency really is key when it comes to ensuring that your website is effective. This is particularly important when it comes to your branding. Some businesses have already built up a presence on social media or other platforms and therefore it’s very important to ensure that your branding is the same. If you have a colour scheme on social media and change to a different colour scheme on your site, users may find it difficult to recognise that it’s the same brand and may choose to work with your competitor.
Security
One of the main reasons why users will leave a website is if it is not secure or appears to be outdated. It is not likely that users will feel confident inputting their personal information onto a site with no security features. Website trends change fast and therefore it’s fairly obvious to users when a website has an outdated design. It goes without saying that users are more likely to purchase products and services from a company with an attractive website design compared to one with outdated features and no security.
Ensuring that your website is effective can be done in many ways. If you think your website could be more effective, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’re happy to help.