7 Steps to an Awesome Website
Are you proud of your existing website? Does it stand out in the highly competitive world of the internet? Can it be found easily via a quick Google search? In short, does your website do your business proud?
If you answered no to any of the above questions, quite simply, your website isn’t awesome. In 2016, a survey showed that for the first time ever, more shoppers are heading online than to the high street to make purchases. With more and more people going online to discover new brands, research goods and services and spend their cash, it is more important than ever to have a website that is designed to showcase what you offer and why buyers need it.
So, how do you ensure your website is well designed and does justice to your brand? Here are seven steps to an awesome website:
A clean uncluttered design
Creating clutter is never a good practice, especially when designing a website. Cluttered websites overloaded with unnecessary copy, images, pop-ups and videos, often act as a deterrent for visitors, causing them to hastily click off the site and go elsewhere.
Evaluate a cluttered website and ask yourself which elements aren’t absolutely necessary and what can be removed. Aim to communicate only the most important information and do so in an approachable, engaging way. And be concise!
Place call to actions above the fold
A call to action is a snippet of content that encourages a visitor to take further action on a webpage, such as a ‘contact us’ button or a ‘discover more’ link. Where one is positioned on a website or landing page can have a direct impact on its success as a CTA.
It is widely agreed in website design practices that the most effective placement for a CTA is ‘above the fold’; this is also the most common location for a CTA with many websites having a visually prominent CTA. Above the fold in web design essentially refers to the top half of a web page. The idea is that by placing a CTA above the fold, it is more noticeable to a visitor and helps grab their attention, meaning the call to action is more likely to become a conversion.
Make sure your site is mobile responsive
Online shopping has gone mobile; industry data shows for the first time ever, the majority of online purchases are completed through mobile devices rather than laptops or desktops.
For a website to be awesome, it needs to be mobile responsive, or in other words, fully optimised for mobile devices and responsive to the user’s behaviour. A mobile responsive website means the growing number of people who visit sites from mobile devices are able to view the site property, navigate with ease, shop securely and easily, and generally have a good user experience.
Mobile responsivity is also rewarded by Google, optimising your site for the search engine; but we’ll talk more about SEO shortly.
Stand-out content
Does your website’s content stand out, or does it make you want to yawn and leave the site in favour of a competitor’s? If it’s the latter, it’s time to get savvy with your content creation.
Content comes in more forms than just the written word; as well as original and engaging copy that doesn’t bombard visitors with too much information, aim to offer a balance of inspiring visual content as well, such as videos, pictures, or infographics which can help your website stand out online and keep visitors returning.
Make every page actionable
From the homepage to landing pages, each page on an awesome website contains an actionable feature. Ensure your visitors know how they can get in contact with you, sign up for your newsletter, and benefit from your services. Actionable features on every page will help a website generate a better ROI.
Think about the design
If your site looks a tad lacklustre, or by contrast, too fussy and overbearing, you may need to tweak the design. Simple changes, such as limiting the number of fonts you use on the site, using more striking colours and ensuring everything is large enough to read comfortably on a range of devices, will help you craft a website that can be considered awesome.
Work on your site’s SEO
Of course, an awesome website isn’t much use if nobody can find it! For a website to be truly awesome it needs to be optimised for search engines (SEO). When designing a website and writing content for it, you should include keywords relevant to your business to help boost its rankings on search engines such as Google.
If you require any assistance in building an awesome website that puts your brand on the global pedestal it deserves, get in touch with Disruptor Media, specialists in high-quality website design, SEO and digital marketing.