No matter how much you may not want to think about it, web design has never been more critical to get right. Everyone has moved online now, which means that it isn’t enough to have an accurate website with data-rich information. You need to have the pop and class and attitude in order to back it up as far as the skeptical choice-rich customer is concerned. For that reason, there’s never been a better time to learn all about the exciting world of web design essentials. Whenever you are approaching your online presence, you’ll want to be extra sure that you’ve got these website essentials in place.
The most critical website essentials
While the order of these, and the inclusion of some versus others, may vary, here are what we deem to be the true essentials of web design.
• Deliberately plan with SEO at the front of your mind: Realistically speaking, SEO is not one of those things that you can take or leave as think is best.
Now more than ever, you are going have to plan out your website specifically with the purpose of SEO.
This means paying proper attention to the title tags, the headings and subheadings on your pages, and even details such as meta tags, alt descriptions, and good old fashioned keywords and long-tail key phrases. Since there is so much content out there competing for the same readers, you have to pull out every trick in the book that you can to make sure that you are correctly earning and keeping the attention of anyone searching for your services or products.
• Really focus on the quality and amount of content that you have: You’ve probably heard the expression that “content is king.” We can be happy to assure you that not only is this still the case, but it’s also now certainly the main focus point without question. You will want to make sure that you’ve got enough content and that it’s well-written.
As far as benchmarks go, it’s essential to make sure that every page of your website has at least 400 words of content. This is what search engines determine to be the minimum of content for the page to be relevant.
You are also going to want to make sure that any pages on your website have the proper SEO with keywords in the body content itself.
While the title tags and meta tags, etc., already necessary, the phrases and words that you use naturally in the content are also critical in helping you rank.
As if that wasn’t enough to worry about, you’ll also want to make sure that your content is precise, accurate, enjoyable, and free from errors. You can see, now, why material is considered “king,” right? It more or less runs the entire website and determine’s your business’ success!
• Don’t forget the “About Us” section: One often neglected page on a website is the one titled “About” or perhaps “About Us.”
While keywords still matter, the core focus of this page is in showing the customer that you are who you say you are.
You’ll be able to list your business’ information, including history, and explain a little bit about why you are worthwhile trusting amongst the competition. A lot of smart searchers will gauge whether or not to go further with your website based on this page alone, so take it seriously!
• Be prepared to pamper your customer: Your customer has many options, as stated already. So when they get your website, make sure you pamper them. The website should be engaging, exciting, use friendly and funny language, and it should be very easy to navigate. If you do all of this right, you’ll basically be rolling out the red carpet for interested customers. When it comes to being treated the right way, they will really like that.
• Plan for phone searches: Now more than ever, customers are using their phones to do searches for companies and businesses.
While you could get away with just having a desktop website, you’ve got to plan strategically for phone searches.
If you don’t want to have a separate mobile site, make sure your website is designed to adapt to the screen size without compromising your ease of use.
• Don’t skimp on the security aspect: Customers will want to know that their privacy and security are a priority for you. This means that you will want to make sure you’ve got high-end serenity and protection in place as much as possible. From Brute Force protection to firewalls and beyond, protect your customers.
• Make use of any and all analytics: The best way to learn about how a website is doing is by taking a look at your analytics. To make that as easy as possible, make sure you use plug-ins and other add-ons to infiltrate your analytics right into your website. You will be able to keep on eye on what’s working versus what’s not working. This can be really helpful for making changes, too, to see if they are enhancing or discouraging the customer experience.
• Keep your website as low-maintenance as possible: You’ve got a lot to do and not enough time to do it. Since you need to keep your energy levels as high as possible, try to focus on keeping your website low-maintenance. While you will have to make time to tweak and update content and features regularly, the actual core content of your website and its ages should be low-maintenance.
This is your most recent local website essentials package to put in place to ensure that you are going to be starting on the right foot for customer satisfaction. While it may seem overwhelming, the right web design can make this list of focus points a piece of cake. All you need to do is put your trust in the right local website design company to do it all for you. Give your website the focus, love, and time that it deserves with these web design essentials to lead the way by example.
