Are you planning to build a business website but don’t know where to start? Having a well-designed website is the face of your brand online. This is where people will go to find more information about your business and make purchases based on what they see.
This is why it’s important to take your time and create a website that’ll represent your brand and what you stand for. Depending on your budget, you can either build a website from scratch or hire a graphic designer and a developer.
We discuss 10 must-have website features that’ll help you stand out online and earn search engines’ love.
1. Simple, Modern Web Design
When it comes to web design features, less is more. Your website should load fast, be easy to navigate, and lightweight enough for users to find everything they need in a couple of clicks.
User experience is an important component of building a website. The easier it is for people to browse, the more they’ll stay. Whether you run a fully online business or have physical stores, people will search for your brand online first.
You need to make sure they have a pleasant experience and aren’t bombarded with bright and loud colours, video autoplay, and a bunch of pop-up windows.
2. High-Quality Copy
No website can exist without web copy. It’s one of the most essential, yet most overlooked site features that can actually convert and sell. Every page you have needs its own copy with its own keywords.
Your blog page also needs relevant high-quality content that will be optimized for search engines. The more “salesy” the copy is, the fewer sales you’ll make. Take into consideration your target customer and craft the copy with their needs in mind.
3. About Page
The About page is a must on your website, but it’s not always about you. Many businesses think of it as a great way to brag about their quality, accomplishments, and advantages over competitors but customers care about themselves.
Your About page should tell your visitors how your business can help them. This is how you gain their trust and move them towards becoming paid customers.
4. High-Quality Images
High-quality images are website must-haves not only from a design perspective but also for SEO. Resort to stock photos only if you can’t have professional ones taken at the moment.
Bear in mind that high-resolution images may slow down your website and this is bad for SEO. Use plugins for image compression that will keep the quality but reduce the size. You can also have a gallery page if you want to attach multiple photos.
5. Videos
Videos are among the most important features of a web page for companies that follow the content marketing trends. You can show how your products work, present the production process, company culture, or behind-the-scenes footage.
Don’t enable autoplay on your website, and if you do, make sure the sound is off. This is a major pet peeve for customers and your bounce rate may go through the roof if you keep at it.
6. Clear Product Descriptions
Aside from clear product images, you also need detailed product descriptions. This will help your customers understand the product features and performance better, and help them make a purchasing decision.
Steer clear of vague or overly complicated descriptions. Keep the copy simple as your main goal is to attract the customers’ attention, not confuse them.
7. CTAs
Calls to action are the top website must-haves for businesses and their purpose is to make the user take the desired action. This can be anything from signing up for a newsletter, sharing a blog post on their social media to buying something.
It’s a gentle push for your customers to move forward with their intention without overwhelming them. CTAs can be buttons, pop-up windows, or text in a blog post.
Be careful with the amount and design of CTAs throughout the website because if you’re too insistent, you’ll drive your website visitors away.
8. Business Information and Contact Form
Business information is a crucial part of a good business web site. Your customers need essential information about your products, how you do business, your location if applicable, and how they can reach customer service for questions and issues.
A contact form is a place where visitors get in touch with you directly. You need a simple form with a couple of fields so that people don’t feel like they’re filling an application. You can also leave your email address on the contact page, but not many will go through the trouble of writing an email from scratch.
9. Testimonials and Customer Reviews
Testimonials and glowing customer reviews help build credibility and are a must on business websites. This way, new customers can see other people’s experience with your company or products and build initial trust.
You can also install a plugin that’ll show product reviews from all over the internet and the marketplaces where you sell the products. Customers often make final purchasing decisions based on reviews, so make sure you showcase them on your website.
If you don’t have any testimonials, don’t make the mistake of putting fictional ones to make yourself look good. Customers can smell fraudulent behaviour from a mile away and easily check if your claims are true in a few clicks.
10. Mobile Responsiveness
Building a mobile-responsive website is a must nowadays, as 60% of web searches happen through mobile devices. If a visitor lands on your website and it’s not mobile-friendly, they’ll leave in a heartbeat.
This is bad news for your bounce rate, but also your search engine ranking. Search engines are all about the users and if websites aren’t convenient for the users and don’t fulfil their needs, they’ll rank lower.
You can check how your website scores using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, which will also give you tips on how to improve it.
Stand Out Online with These Website Features
Your business website is one of your most valuable assets, so you should treat it as such and invest in good web design. A quality website should be mobile and user-friendly, fast loading, and contain clear copy that calls users to action.
The more visitors stay on your website, the more likely they are to turn into leads and customers, which should be your main priority when creating a website.
Curious to learn about the hottest web design trends for 2019? Read this article where we discuss the latest website features and updates, and offer tips on how businesses should adapt.
