{"id":1558,"date":"2020-09-05T11:28:03","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T11:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afrisupconsulting.com\/?p=1558"},"modified":"2020-09-05T11:28:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T11:28:07","slug":"7-qualities-of-a-great-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afrisupconsulting.com\/?p=1558","title":{"rendered":"7 Qualities of a Great Website"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No single aspect of marketing is more important than a quality website, your organization\u2019s front door. A \u201cgood\u201d website isn\u2019t good enough to break through and to convert users into engaged customers and brand ambassadors. What you really need is a great<\/em> website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of pre-made templates and themes make creating a website easy\u2014if all you want is a simple, off the shelf website that looks professional enough<\/em> to give business a basic start. But to differentiate in today\u2019s competitive landscape, you need a website as unique as you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what makes a great website?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Well Designed and Functional<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your site reflects your company, your products, your services and ultimately your brand<\/a>. So it\u2019s important to be visually appealing, polished and professional. Allow white space, uncluttered layouts with quality photographs and graphics look and let your message shine through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally important, the site must work quickly, correctly and as expected.\u00a0Build to web standards, proofread rigorously and test regularly for problems with speed or functionality. Every page should always be fast and functional, because any of them could be a potential customer\u2019s first or only impression. Broken, slow, or poorly constructed areas will leave your visitors frustrated and encourage them to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Easy to Use<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site visitors are always in a hurry. Don\u2019t make them work for information. User Experience (UX) plays a key role in helping visitors use, understand and stay on your website. Create obvious, logical navigation with clear hierarchy. Use consistent layouts and visual cues for functionality across the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your\u00a0site should satisfy both \u2018searchers\u2019\u2014coming for something specific, and \u2018browsers\u2019\u2014just looking.\u00a0Help users accomplish their tasks quickly with onsite\u00a0search, and keep them engaged by\u00a0suggesting\u00a0related content\u00a0and minimizing\u00a0dead ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Optimized for Mobile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today there are no excuses, your site must look great and work well on any platform. The growth of mobile and tablet devices is not slowing down and you just don\u2019t know what\u00a0your next visitor will be using.\u00a0Optimizing for mobile will improve both the experience of your visitors and your\u00a0SEO Rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Fresh, Quality Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be succinct, interesting and new. Use language that makes sense to your audience\u2014avoid jargon, corporate speak and acronyms. Visitors have short attention spans: spell correctly, be accurate, be relevant and update regularly. (Some tips\u00a0here<\/a>.) Blogs and social media updates are great ways to add fresh content, which keeps visitors returning and\u00a0helps\u00a0SEO<\/a>\u00a0strategy. Yes, keeping things fresh requires a bit of investment. No, you can\u2019t do without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Readily accessible contact and location<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your audience won\u2019t chase you down. Make it easy to engage, offer multiple points of contact: phone, email, social media and maybe an easy-to-use contact form. A Google map is a bonus.\u00a0Above all, ensure that this information is readily available on an easy-to-find contact page\u2014if not\u00a0every page\u00a0of your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Clear calls to action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your site asks nothing of visitors, they will surely do nothing. What is the purpose of your site? Is that purpose\u00a0clear to visitors? Even informational sites want visitors to read and share articles, follow the company\u00a0on social media, download toolkits, join mailing lists or learn more about the\u00a0organization. Include an ask on\u00a0each page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Optimized for Search and the Social Web<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not enough to build a nice looking website that\u2019s easy to use. It needs to earn traffic. Otherwise, all that effort in design, UX and content development will be for naught. There are hundreds of rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization<\/a>, so here are a few to start with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n