The internet has become an indelible part of our 21st century world. We live in an age where just about everything is readily available at our fingertips. It has changed the way we think, work, and live.
That being said, you can not argue the powerful impact of a really great website. Whether you’re a blogger and want to share your stories with the world, or if you’re a business owner and want to bring in customers; a well-built website can be a priceless weapon in your arsenal. But building a good website isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time, patience, and thought. It takes planning and creativity. But if you are really serious about making your own website, you should know the key elements of a successful one. Look no further, you’ve come to the right place.
Organization And Navigation
The first most crucial aspects to having a successful website is an organization and navigation. It can be difficult to organize all you want to say, promote, and do, on your website. It is vital that you take the time to organize your thoughts and ideas and then create a website layout that is easy to navigate. When people visit your website, some may want to browse around and take a look at everything, but others will want to find certain aspects of information and won’t want to click on a dozen different things and alternate tabs to find it. Making it easy to find those particular searches is very important. Time is money these days, and nobody wants to get stuck in a website search ‘rabbit hole’ because the website is complicated and unorganized. You have to make sure that your menu, set-up, and navigation is clear and concise. Making your contact information easy to find is also a pretty important aspect of your organization. You want your customers or subscribers to easily be able to get a hold of you and ask questions if they have to.
A Good Domain Name And Web Hosting
Every website has a domain name but a great website has a unique one. A domain name will be unique to your website and no other website will be able to have it. That being said, you want to think of one that really captures your audience’s attention. The site also has other fun features too that will help build a great website. You can use humor for your domain name, something clever, or even something odd that people will have a hard time forgetting. If you make it unique and different from other websites it will stand out from the rest, and that is exactly what you want it to do! A successful website won’t blend in like the others, it will outshine them. You can read more on hostingfoundry.com to set up a good domain name and go about setting up web hosting. A good WordPress web hosting service will allow you to make your website accessible, via the web.
Good Design
Did you know that certain shapes, colors, and even patterns can actually have a psychological effect on the viewer? It’s true! For example, the color blue actually stimulates relaxation and tranquility. You will actually feel calmer in a blue room more so than if you were in a red room. It may seem small and insignificant, but good design can literally take your website from good, to great! So, think about the purpose of your website. If it is an educational website, you should avoid bright colors or distracting images. Chances are, your viewers will be spending a significant amount of time on that site. Maybe they’re doing research for a school paper or studying for an exam on your website. That being said, colors and shapes that are easy on the eyes might be best for a website like that. Think about it, if you had to stare at something that had neon green in the background for an hour, you might have a bit of a headache or at least some eye strain. Give some thought about your website’s audience and consider what they might like to see and the vibe you want your website to give off to them.
Make It Mobile Friendly
These days, our mobile phones go everywhere with us! In fact, a lot of work, read the news, do our day to day activities with our phones. That being said, if you really want the maximum website impact, you are going to want to make it mobile friendly. You want to make sure you create your website with responsive design. Responsive design will automatically adjust the content of your website to adjust to different screen sizes and widths for the best viewing experience. Without this feature, you will be limiting your audience. So, make sure to make it viewable and accessible to everyone.
Establish Your Credibility
Whatever your website showcases, it is important that you establish your credibility! Which sounds more appealing to you – a cooking website run by a person who has never cooked before, or a cooking website run by an experienced chef? If you are that chef, don’t be afraid to put your skills, degrees, achievements, and anything else you can think of in your website. You can post a list of happy clients, testimonials, work portfolios, anything you want to! These will establish your expertise and make your website more professional and just all around better.
Search Engine Optimization
You can have the most beautiful, brilliant, and amazing website that ever existed in the history of history. It isn’t going to matter though if nobody can find it. Nearly ninety five percent of internet sessions begin on a search engine. This means somebody is going to plug whatever their fancy is into Google search and then see what comes up. You want your website to come up! So, make sure that your website’s content and information are aligned with keywords and metadata! The more you utilize, the better chance of your website’s traffic!
Patience is a virtue and practice makes perfect. It can be tricky to build a great website. A lot of thought and work is going to go into it, but as long as you follow these steps, you’ll be on the right track. With a little hard work and some creative concepts, your website will be glowing.