7 Qualities of a Great Website
In a digital age, no aspect of marketing is more crucial than having a high-quality website. Your website serves as your organization’s front door, and a merely “good” website isn’t enough to convert visitors into engaged customers. You need a great website to stand out and make an impact.
So, what makes a great website?
1. Well Designed and Functional
Your website reflects your company, products, services, and ultimately, your brand. It’s essential to have a visually appealing, polished, and professional site. Utilise white space, uncluttered layouts, and high-quality images and graphics to showcase your business in the best light.
Equally important is functionality. Your site must work quickly, correctly, and as expected. Build to web standards, proofread rigorously, and test regularly for speed and functionality issues. Accessibility is key—every page should be fast and functional because any of them could be a potential customer’s first or only impression. Slow or broken areas will frustrate visitors and drive them away.
2. Easy to Use
Site visitors are often in a hurry. Don’t make them work for information. User Experience (UX) is critical in helping visitors use, understand, and stay on your site. Create logical navigation with a clear hierarchy. Use consistent layouts and visual cues for functionality across the site.
Your site should cater to both ‘searchers’—those looking for something specific, and ‘browsers’—those just exploring. Help users accomplish their tasks quickly with onsite search and keep them engaged by suggesting related content and minimizing dead ends.
3. Optimized for Mobile
There are no excuses today—your site must look great and function well on any device. With the growth of mobile and tablet usage, optimizing for mobile is crucial. This not only improves the user experience but also boosts your SEO rankings.
4. Fresh, Quality Content
Be concise, interesting, and current. Use language that resonates with your audience—avoid jargon and corporate speak. Explain your “why.” Visitors have short attention spans: be accurate, relevant, and update regularly. Blogs and social media updates are excellent ways to add fresh content, which keeps visitors returning and benefits your SEO strategy. Yes, it requires investment, but it’s indispensable.
5. Readily Accessible Contact and Location
Your audience won’t chase you down. Make it easy to engage by offering multiple contact points: phone, email, social media, and a user-friendly contact form. A Google map is a bonus. Ensure this information is readily available on an easy-to-find contact page—if not on every page of your site.
6. Clear Calls to Action
If your site doesn’t ask anything of visitors, they won’t take action. What is the purpose of your site? Is that purpose clear to visitors? Even informational sites want visitors to read and share articles, follow on social media, download resources, join mailing lists, or learn more about the organization. Include a call to action on every page.
7. Optimized for Search and the Social Web
A visually appealing and user-friendly website needs traffic to be effective. There are many rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization (SEO). Here are a few basics:
Use page titles and meta tags on every page, and alt tags on every image.
Optimize content to align with search terms real people use.
Use keywords appropriately in content and links.
Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for layout and keep your HTML code clean.
Make it easy for visitors to share your content. Social media can drive significant traffic and improve your search ranking. Don’t forget to include obvious sharing links (even if they are rarely used in actuality).
This high-level overview covers seven expansive fundamental aspects of a great website. These principles will help you get more value from your web presence while you’re starting out. For a deeper dive, get in touch below to see how I can help you create a great website.