No matter why you’re creating a website, your design and content are key. Stand out from the crowd by using these simple tips and tricks to craft an engaging website that keeps your readers coming back. Read up on the 6 most overlooked things you won’t want to forget when you build your website.
1. Utilizing Good Design
Design doesn’t just lead to a pretty website. It’s important for converting visitors into regular readers, providing easy-to-read information, and encouraging readers to complete your call to action. With some website tools and plugins, it’s possible to conduct A-B testing to determine which designs convert more viewers to regular readers and customers. Combining data with art creates a powerful tool set for navigating the world of customers, clickthroughs and analytics. Overall, design is a tool that can catalyze your business’s success.
2. Digging Deep Into Keywords
It is more important than ever to use strong keywords to improve your website’s search engine ranking. However, it’s not always that simple. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, involves many factors. From including prioritized keywords to optimizing the density of specific phrases, there are plenty of ways for you to increase your website’s traffic. You’ll need to craft creative, keyword-based titles paired with strategic content if you want to stay on top of the game. By paying attention to trending keywords and regularly updating your website, you can ensure regular readers and increased traffic.
3. Usability
Do you get excited by the idea of adding splash pages, using flash, and displaying custom cursors? Don’t get too involved in the bells and whistles of website design. What you need is a functional, well-designed website that delivers strong content to your readers. Too many business owners and website creators alike forget that even if they can do something doesn’t mean they should. You may wish to ask your website designer to add fancy, flashing graphics or frantic animations. Ideally, however, you’ll focus on efficient and direct design when you build your website.
3. Display On Mobile Devices
With so many users browsing the web on mobile devices, it’s imperative that your website is accessible and readable. When you hire a website developer who can work with mobile devices, they’ll work with a different skill set than those designing solely for desktop. You may even want to enable the user to switch to desktop-view on a mobile device, as this can often provide easier and more familiar browsing even with professionally-designed mobile websites. With today’s changing technology, it’s difficult to create a website that looks great on both desktop and mobile devices. Overall, the most important thing to focus on is usability. If you keep that in mind, you won’t forget anything when it comes to creating a website for mobile devices.
4. About Pages, Tabs And More
Don’t clutter up your website with useless tabs and added information! Get straight to the point. If you go crazy with tabs and sub-pages, so will your readers. You may want to stick to a home page with listed content and an about page with information about you. Ultimately, the goal is to keep only what you need. If you’re a cake decorator, don’t include a tab with family vacation photos. If you’re a plumber, don’t add a page about your favorite cars. The same can be said in any niche or industry, as it’s important to deliver the content readers are interested in. Clutter only distracts and confuses readers. If you remember to keep your website focused and organized, you’ll have no trouble building an interesting and effective website.
5. Make It Easy To Contact You
The top of every page should contain your name and contact info. Your readers should have no problem knowing who wrote what and who to contact if they require your services. This is especially important if you’re a freelancer reaching out to clients or a job seeker looking for work. Make it easy for readers to get the information they need by providing contact information on every page.
6. Don’t Forget About Error Messages
Don’t leave your visitors wondering what happened if they experience an error. Have your websites developer create clear and easy-to-understand error messages to inform visitors what happened if they’ve reached a page that is no longer available, failed to fully complete a form, or tried to access a page without logging in. You don’t want to turn away potential readers by forgetting to create these simple messages. If you don’t forget about error messages, you’re one step closer to an excellent website.
With these easy tips, we hope you’ll have an easier time creating a website. These 6 simple things are often overlooked, but it’s more important than ever that you remember them when building a website. From keeping your layout uncluttered to focusing on usability, you’ll have an engaging website in no time.