4 Things Needed For A Successful Website

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If you own a business or brand or are looking to start one, you know that there is an absolutely crucial need to have an online presence. In today’s world, it would be near impossible to find success without a website.

So what makes for a successful website? There are many factors that could be discussed, but there are a couple that I consider to be even more important than the rest. Of the four, two deal with user experience, and two are on the more technical side of a website.

Design/Layout

What your website looks like is critically important. The world used to accept poorly designed sites because that was just how things were. The businesses with sites that were above average really stood out. Navigation really just involves a menu heading for each of the pages on your site.

Now you stand out (in a bad way) if you don’t have a fresh, modern-looking site. It is important that the design and layout of the website are appealing and easy to follow. Users are less likely to get confused or lose interest in your product if they feel they can trust your website. Navigation is much more advanced with a plethora of menu and organizational options.

Functionality

How well does your website work? Does it load quickly? Do any errors appear when clicks are made?

This is about more than your website working, it’s about your website working well. When a user navigates to your website they are wanting an easy experience, either to buy something or get more information. If the website works poorly, you are shutting the door on a lot of potential business; who would want a good or service from a company who doesn’t even have a good, high-functioning website.

 SEO

So you now have a website that looks amazing and works immaculately. So that’s that, right? Nope, not even close.

Just having a great website does not help you at all if people can’t find it. That is where SEO comes in. Search Engine Optimization is the process of building credible material that will help show Google what you do. Google will then rank your website higher when someone does a relevant search. That’s the very, very watered-down version.

No one knows everything Google looks for when they crawl websites. Literally no one, Google is constantly changing how it works. There are a couple of solid factors, however.

Optimizing your website with keywords, or words that you think people will search for when looking for your product, helps Google see that your site is relevant. Creating citations, or essentially business listings, on the internet shows Google you are legit because multiple sites have your verified information, and this will also play into the rankings. And maybe one of the most important factors: backlinks. Backlinks are links on other websites linking to yours. This shows credibility, and the more you have the higher you can climb.

Traffic

SEO will help your website show up when people search, but how are you actively driving traffic to your site?

Some common forms of doing so are social media accounts and digital marketing. Having social media accounts heightens awareness of your brand or business. People will see your profiles and can visit your website. It is even more likely to occur if your website URL is included on your social media profiles.

Digital marketing involves a lot of different tactics. Online advertisements, like banner ads, can put an ad in front of a lot of people. Pay-per-click is a common form of advertising on Google and social media where you create an ad and then pay only for every click that occurs. Email marketing is also considered digital marketing and is the method of choice form any companies.

Whatever the method you choose, digital marketing can help not just increase the chances of people finding your site, but actually direct and drive traffic there.

Conclusion

There is a lot that goes into having a digital presence. If you feel overwhelmed you can hire professionals to help you out. Smartly Done Websites makes this even simpler by offering professional, modern-looking website templates for you and will help you with the digital marketing and SEO aspects of getting your business found.

We live in a digital age. If you keep up with the trends, your business could thrive beyond all expectations.