When you’re getting your business up and running online, it can be challenging to figure out what makes a good website. Now, more than ever, it’s vital to have a website that showcases everything your business is about, even if you have a brick-and-mortar store.
Since I began freelancing, I’ve created numerous websites, but the most important one is the one that showcases my services. Without it, I would not have received as many clients as I have.
I owe a lot of my business success to implementing the features of a good website listed in this article. This post covers everything you’ll want to know about elevating your website to the next level.
Sisällysluettelo
What Makes a good Website?
What Makes a good Homepage?
What Makes a good website Design?
How To Make a good Website
Johtopäätös
What Makes a good Website?
These are the main things to consider when creating a website.
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
How do you make a good website? Well, you make sure that it has SEO implemented, or else it’s never going to get any traffic from any search engine, especially Google. In order to have your content seen, you’ll need SEO.
A terrific website pays attention to good SEO.
SEO can take time to build up, so make sure that you start implementing it when you start your website for good measure. If you don’t know a whole lot about it, I suggest investing in an SEO course or using free resources that you can find online.
2. Design
Without a strong design, you aren’t going to have an appealing website. design is what sets your website apart from others so that it doesn’t look so cookie-cutter.
Truth be told, the design does not have to be as in-depth as you might initially think. It can be as simple as using a free template and changing out the colours to make sure that it doesn’t match other websites that use the same template.
3. calls to Action
To know what makes a good website, you have to learn what a CTA, or call to action, is. Essentially, this is any time on your site that you prompt your visitor to do something.
For example, “download now” is a simple CTA commonly used when talking about freebies on a website.
Make sure to create a powerful call-to-action phrase
The best way to make these recognizable is to have them be designed the same way every time there’s a CTA. So, maybe every CTA has a green background so that your visitor knows where they’re prompted to do something.
4. user Experience
At its core, your website was created to help, educate, or inspire a visitor. So, you want to make sure that users can quickly get around your website without much hassle.
Think about what would make the most sense as someone visiting your site. What do you want them to see first? would they be more likely to look for your social media links at the top of your site or in the footer?
User experience will be different for every industry.
5. Links
Links are vital when it comes to having a strong website. Not only is it good for SEO, but it makes your user experience a lot better too.
When I say links, I don’t only mean links to other websites but also other pages or posts within your own site. Interlinking your content is key for navigation, and having readers see more of your content.
If you mention a freebie or a downloadable that you offer, be sure to link to it.
6. easy to Read
When you write your website copy, you want to think about how easy it is to read. keep in mind that legibility and readability are two different things; legibility is discussed later in the ‘what makes a good website design’ section of this article.
Great content is important for a solid website.
Readability refers to how easy your writing is to read by someone else. You don’t want to oversimplify your copy, but you do want to make sure that anyone who check outs your website will be able to read and understand, what you have to say.
7. Simplicity
When it comes to a website, simplicity goes a long way. never go overboard. Don’t have a million pages with a ton of colours that don’t go together at all.
At the end of the day, you want a minimal website that gets the point across without being too flashy (learn more about design below).
8. Security
Without security, people aren’t going to feel safe doing anything on your website. This includes making purchases or even just visiting your most recent blog post.
It may sound simple, but make sure that you have an up to date SSL certificate. When someone check outs your site, they should see a locked padlock in the top left corner by the URL ifthey are on Google Chrome.
9. Consistently Fresh Content
Consistently creating fresh content is what makes a terrific website.
You want to make sure that you are always updating your site and adding new posts when necessary. This doesn’t mean you have to do it every day, but you should be posting something new at least once a week.
Kasvata verkkosivustosi ja ansaitse rahaa
Ilmaisessa SEO-koulutuksessamme opetamme sinua ottamaan harrastusblogisi ja muuttamaan siitä kokopäiväinen, rahaa tekevä kone, joka käyttää Advanced SEO: ta ja ABC-kaupallistamiskaavaa, joka toimii kaikenlaisella verkkosivustolla tai blogilla.
Hanki ilmainen koulutus
By consistently posting, you help your SEO rankings and show visitors that your site is still active and frequently used.
10. Mobile Optimisation
What else do you need to make a good website? You need to make sure that your website is responsive on all screen sizes, including mobile, tablet, laptop, and desktop.
Make sure to produce a good responsive website design for all devices.
If your site is not responsive, you miss out on reaching a lot of potential website visitors. If someone is on their phone and wants to see your website, they should not run into any problems — otherwise, they’ll click away.
Luckily, most website builders will make your site responsive for you automatically.
What Makes a good Homepage?
The homepage is an important part of your whole website — without an appealing one, people are just going to click away from your site.
Here are a few of the features you’ll want to make sure you have on your homepage.
1. clear Logo
This probably goes without saying, but one of the features of a good website is to have a clear logo that isn’t overdone. This should be situated in your header so that people always know exactly what website they are on.
A terrific logo design will help your website standout.
Your website’s logo should not be super fancy. In fact, the simpler your logo, the better. If too much is done to it, then it will be hard to read.
2. lots of CTAs
Lots of CTAs are what makes a good homepage. Take the homepage of Goats on the Road, for example; there are at least seven different CTAs, prompting visitors to “subscribe,” “learn more,” and “download for free.”
Without CTAs, your visitors aren’t going to know what you have to offer them. the best place to showcase them is right on your homepage so that visitors don’t have to go too far into your website to find all the good stuff!
3. recent blog posts or Resources
You should always showcase your most recent blog posts, if you have any, right on the home page. Yes, this doubles for service companies and other small online business owners too.
You could do this in a few ways, but the best way (as far as web design goes) is to showcase the featured image with the post title and post date. You could opt to include a short excerpt if you wish as well.
4. about Section
Even though your website should be mainly centered around how you can help other people, you do want to include a short section introducing your visitors to the face behind the business.
On your homepage, make sure to include an excerpt from your about page along with a photo (or a video if you want to get snazzy) and link to your actual about page with a “read more” CTA button.
5. social media Links
One of the most underrated features of what makes a good homepage is having social media follow links either in your header, sidebar, or footer.
You mainly want your visitors to subscribe to your website, but having them follow you on other platforms can help your brand reach and exposure.
A good homepage has all the social media links.
Ensure that you make these easily accessible with a simple “follow us elsewhere” line of copy or something similar.
6. simple Tagline on a website Banner
Your homepage should quickly introduce all visitors to what you do and what your site can help them with.
That’s why you don’t want to underestimate the power of writing a strong line of copy to go above the fold of your website (that is, the part of your website that can be seen without scrolling).
A terrific example of this, again, is the homepage for Goats on the Road! By simply visiting this website and not even scrolling, you already know that the Goats are here to help you turn travel into a lifestyle.
7. showcase Freebies or Offers
One of the easiest and best ways to grow your email list is to have free offers or resources that visitors can sign upfor and download instantly. Whether it’s a checklist, ebook, template, or something else, you want to showcase it on your homepage.
Dedicate one of the sections on your homepage to only showcasing your freebies, or at least featuring one of your most popular free offers that you know people will want to sign up for.
8. subscription Links
Separate from social media links, you want to make it easy for someone to simply sign up for your email newsletters if they want to. This helps grow your list and lets your visitors know that they can easily keep up with you if they wish to.
A common way to do this is to add a subscribe link in the footer, but you can also dedicate a whole section on your homepage to it, too, if you want.
9. benefits Section
What are the benefits of someone visiting your website? one of the best features of a good website is a section showcasing exactly how you can help someone, separate from what you wrote above the fold in your website banner.
Will you help grow their follower count on Instagram if they sign up for your social media services? maybe you’ll help them prepare for life on the road as a digital nomad. perhaps you can help them start a business and coach them along the way.
Whatever it is, let people know, so they don’t have to scour your website to find out what it’s even about.
10. Social Proof
Finally, a terrific feature to have on your homepage, depending on your services or what your website is about, is to showcase social proof. This works a bit better with service-based business websites or websites that sell products.
social proof will help grow your website.
An example of this is if you have a course, for instance, on how to travel the world on a budget. showcase a few testimonials from students of the course on your website, so people visiting know that you are legit.
What Makes a good website Design?
If you are wondering what makes a good website, then you’re in the right place. Below, learn more about specific design elements that can help elevate your website above your competition.
1. use of White Space
Many people think they have to cover every little possible space on the page when designing a website. Well, I’m here to tell you that you want to do the opposite.
Ajattele sitä; the more you overdesign a page, the more distracting it’s going to be. White space is your friend, which is one of the first things any graphic designer is taught while in school.
Use the white space to your advantage to guide your visitor throughout your website.
2. consistent Typography
Typography is one of the most challenging design aspects to learn, but you want to keep it as simple and consistent as possible. For instance, if you always use Times new Roman in all caps for your headers, make sure it’s like that on all pages.
You also want to put together fonts that work well. Often, this isn’t two serif fonts because that can get distracting. Instead, pair together two simple sans serif fonts or a serif and a sans serif for a touch of elegance.
3. Imagery
When thinking about what makes a good website, you probably initially think of imagery. If you want your website to be visually intriguing, you need to include images throughout your site.
While this may seem picky, the best way to use images is to make sure that they are all on-brand and edited in the same way. By doing this, you ensure that the pictures aren’t too distracting to the visitor but instead enhance their experience on your website.
4. strong Branding
One of the best features of a good website is branding, which is something many people just starting out overlook.
