There isn’t any one thing you can do to create a great website, but there are things you can do to help. Some key things to focus on is making it user-friendly, clean and providing information visitors want as soon as they load your site.
Here are our top ten tips on creating a website that visitors will want to come back to time and again:
1. Good navigation
Let your visitors ‘see’ your website by having good clear navigation. Give them the information they need to find what they are looking for.
2. Design – colours and fonts
When designing your website spend some time thinking about what colours and typeface you want to use.
The type of service/product you are advertising will have a certain influence, but also think about visitor’s perception and attitudes when they view your site. Consider what they are searching your site for and their expectations, making sure your font and palette match your business sector.
3. Spelling and grammar
One of the fundamental features of a website is good spelling and grammar. Just think what impression you get when you read things that are spelt incorrectly or doesn’t quite read right. For many visitors to your site it can be a deal breaker, if you can’t get your website spot on what sort of service will they get from you?
4. Use casual language
Gone are the days when we were told to write little content on our websites and use bulleted lists where possible, we’re now supposed to write as if we’re talking to a friend. Using casual language will make visitors feel at ease and more comfortable when searching your site, rather than as if they are intruding on someone else’s space.
5. Keep links current
Broken links are a sign that a website isn’t maintained, and there isn’t anything more frustrating than clicking on a link to be met with a 404 ‘page not found’ error message. If you don’t care for your site, then visitors won’t either and they will soon be off elsewhere.
Unfortunately, link rot often happens without you even noticing, but an HTML validator and link checker can help check your site for broken links.
6. Contact information
Putting contact information on your website will give visitors confidence in you and your business. An email address is great, but many people want to know you are reputable with at least a telephone number so they know they can contact you if they need to. A creditable website should have a contact page to help visitors contact you easily.
7. Clear brand message
Visitors to your site should be able to instantly see what your company is all about and what your key messages are. They shouldn’t have to go hunting for information, we are all busy people and simply don’t have the time to be spending deciphering websites.
8. Keep images small
Images are a great way to add impact to your site but remember to keep them small as you don’t want your site taking an age to load because of large images.
9. Make your logo a link
These days it’s the norm to make your logo a link to your homepage, in fact we expect it. Many website designers are dropping the ‘home’ tab in favour of the logo to do the job, which helps free up some space on the menu bar too!
10. Increasing the hit area on a link
A great usability trick is to add some padding around links to make the clickable area larger. This not only prevents mis-clicking on a link, but helps in mobile web design where extra-large hit areas on a link can make all the difference for usability.