26 Aug 5 Elements of a Good Website
You know you need a website – up to 80% of users research a company online before getting in touch or buying today. But it’s not enough to simply have a website. A digital footprint, your website is a customer’s first impression and first point of contact with your business. You need to get it right! So what makes a website ‘good’? Keep reading to learn 5 important elements of a good website, that will help you reach your ideal client and make more sales.
1. Clear Goal: What’s the next step?
Your website has an integral purpose in your overall business and marketing strategy – a goal or action step you want users to take when they visit. A beautiful and optimized website will do little for you if you don’t have a thought-out plan and clear direction for the user where they need to go and what they should do next. Your goal might be to sign up for your email list, schedule a Discovery Call, get in touch with your team or make a purchase from your online shop. Plenty of websites leave users left clicking around for the basics without any real funnel encouraging them to move towards your desired goal. This leaves users confused and often moving on to another business. Bottom line: Have a goal and make it easy for users to follow.
2. Sales Funnel: Have a CTA
Often overlooked yet one of the most basic elements of a good website, is sales funnels and calls to action (CTA). A thought-out funnel builds on your website goal, with obvious next steps and clear calls-to-action on every page. It is a huge component of a high-converting website. It is crucial that you make it crystal clear to the user where they need to go and what they should do next. We recommend featuring a CTA as a button or large banner with contrasting colors and action language (‘book now’ ‘schedule a tour’ ‘get in touch’). Incorporate your CTAs into the body or pages, as well as your header and footer!
3. Client Focused: Solve a Problem
When creating content for your website you want to ensure that you are speaking directly to your target audiences, not just offering general information. Step one of selling – people want to be seen and understood. Speak directly to each of your audiences with landing pages that use copy and images that speak directly to this audience. If you have one primary audience (like service-based business leaders), landing pages can focus on specific offerings (like branding & websites or business coaching). Having content they personally resonate with is how website design can drive your sales.
4. Professional: Don’t DIY
One of the top elements of a good website is its appearance of professionalism. You want to be known as a pro and a leader in your industry. Then why are you using candid images to showcase your work? Professional images, a thoughtful company brand, and concise copy that is mindful of SEO are not things you want to skip. They also go a long way in setting you apart in your market, keeping visitors captivated, and allow you to charge more for your services! Prime examples that tip people off to a less than professional business include:
- Not Mobile-Friendly
- Dated designs
- Readability issues
- Inconsistency
- Alignment & spacing issues
- Strange or over-the-top fonts
5. Optimized: Don’t overlook the back-end.
Search engine optimization (aka SEO) is a buzzed-about marketing tool that can help you rank better on Google. And when you are trying to grow a business, ranking high on Google for specific keywords is the holy grail. Investing time into learning about SEO, and regularly optimizing your website’s SEO as well as being mindful of best practices for the content you create is one way to help you rise above the competition. A few of the most important components include a site map, keywords & meta-description, and SSL Certification. For more information, check out our blog on the SEO must-haves!
Are you ready to reach more of your ideal clients and start doing more of the work that you’ve longed to do? Then sign up for a FREE 30-minute Discovery Call and let’s start mapping out the path ahead. Or visit our Digital Shop and peruse our curated resources, including our Website Audit Checklist & Client Pain Point Worksheet.