Eight Essential Things Every New Website Needs

An official website is vital for every business today. With competition as fierce as ever, business owners need to put in extra effort into their sites to make them look and feel professional. A top-notch website should have the potential to break through the clutter and make your business stand out in the crowd.

If web development isn’t something you’re familiar with, you can always consider looking into websites for sale and purchasing a fully-developed site. On the other hand, if you’re building a site from scratch, it’s essential to create one that has the necessary groundwork to run smoothly without any glitches.

Additionally, it should also be trendy and shouldn’t look as if it’s outdated. If you’re unsure of where to start, it’s always a good idea to monitor competitors’ websites to set a benchmark for your business.

So, how can you ensure your website meets the mark? Here are eight things every good site must have:

A Catchy Domain Name

Your web address is the first thing you need to sort out. The domain name should be easy to remember and reflect on your brand name. If someone else is already using the name, then you should consider adding ltd, store, or company at the end of your brand name. Your domain name should ideally be unique, so visitors don’t get confused.

Additionally, your domain name should not include hyphens and numbers since such characters might be difficult to recall. Apart from this, it’s always a good idea to add trending keywords to the domain name. It should also be easy to type and short so customers can recall it quickly. If generating a unique domain name is challenging, you can always use a domain name generator,  to help you come up with ideas for your brand name.

Smartphone Friendliness

Many people navigate the internet through their smartphones and tablets, instead of their laptops and PCs. Hence, your website needs to have a mobile version that runs smoothly. You should test out this mobile version regularly to ensure there aren’t any issues.

Additionally, if your website has an app on Google Playstore or Apple App Store, then this app needs to be advertised so customers would be encouraged to install it.

Fast Loading Speeds

The speed at which your website loads could make or break your business. With a multitude of options available, customers can quickly jump to a competitor’s website if yours takes too much time to load. A one-second delay in loading time could result in a 7 percent decrease in conversions and 11 percent fewer page views.

A slow website will undoubtedly turn visitors away. Multiple reasons could be causing the lag, such as installing too many plugins or displaying too many ads. To ensure your website doesn’t face these issues, you should consider using one of the various website builders. Each of them can ensure that your site runs smoothly.

Social Media Integration

Having an active social media presence is as important as building a top-notch website. If you have profiles on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you should highlight your social media activity on your website. Many plugins provide customers a way to follow your social media profiles just by clicking a button on your website.

Moreover, you should also include your website’s link in the descriptions of your social media profiles. If your social media profile is updated with new content regularly, you should link it to your website, so content is uploaded automatically.

Clear Brand Identity

Your website needs to be in line with your overall brand identity. If you’ve already designed a logo for your marketing materials, then this logo needs to be displayed on your website. Additionally, the tone of the site should match the tone of your business. The overall theme of your website and its fonts and colors need to match your overall branding.

Strong Credibility

You can use your website in multiple ways to build your business’ credibility. For starters, an impeccably designed website automatically shows visitors that a lot of time, effort, and money went into the website’s development.

Perhaps the best way to show off your credibility on your website is by displaying your customers’ testimonials. Customer recommendations are one of the most influential forms of marketing, and a testimonials page shows visitors that other people had a positive experience with you. If you’re confused about what to display on your website, you should look over testimonial examples to know what would work.

Since Google displays business reviews on its results page, it’s more important than ever to encourage customers to leave positive feedback so they can offset negative reviews. Additionally, don’t make the mistake of disabling ratings or reviews since this will make visitors think you’re trying to hide something.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Sometimes, the problem isn’t with your website’s performance. It’s possible that visitors aren’t ending up on your website in the first place. If that’s the case, you need to improve your website’s search engine optimization.

There are various ways you can improve your ranking on the search engine results pages (SERP). Most business owners make the mistake of keyword stuffing where they incorporate keywords in every nook and cranny of their websites. This has the opposite effect on your website as it could look like spam, causing Google to lower your ranking.

Instead, you can incorporate keywords naturally by adding them to your meta description, image descriptions, and headings. You can also optimize your website and boost its ranking through other tactics, such as backlinking.

Security

Your website’s security needs to be a priority, not just for yourself, but for your customers, too. Website hacks are on the rise, which results in a damaged reputation, leaked private information, and a loss of customers. Companies such as Facebook, Google+, and T-Mobile have fallen victim to data breaches, so it’s crucial to ensure you’re not one of them.

Visitors can find out if your website isn’t secure, which could prevent them from trusting your business. For instance, if customers need to make purchases, then you need to use a secure payment platform, to alleviate their worries.

Additionally, if visitors are required to log in, then their login details must be protected to ensure passwords cannot be guessed or leaked. To beef up your website’s security, you can install plugins and firewalls.

Back to You

While the idea of building a brilliant website might seem daunting, applying the right aspects will no doubt attract unlimited traffic. The tips listed above are essential for every website today, so incorporate them soon to start enjoying the benefits!

What are the other things essential for a top-notch website? Let us know in the comments below!