Characteristics of a Good Website

What makes a website successful? Keep the following points in mind when creating your website to get the most out of it:

• Content

Quality content on your website can provide users with the information they are looking for. Content also allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. When your website visitors are looking to make a purchase they will feel more comfortable with your products and services if you have built their trust and confidence through what you have written on your website.

Keyword-filled content is also crucial for getting high search engine rankings. Most internet users trust search engines to help them find what they are looking for. Taking the time to create high quality content can have huge payoffs through increased search engine rankings.

• Simple and Attractive Design

The design of a good website should be simple, yet professional. The design should not take away or distract from the content. Websites with excessive use of Flash and moving images can be very distracting. Use design to help you get your message to visitors, not to distract them from the message. Colors should not be hard on the eyes, and text should be easy to read.

• Easy Navigation

Navigation and links provide opportunities to incorporate design elements in to the website; however, navigation schemes should not be so elaborate that the user has trouble knowing where to click to move to another page. The average visitor’s attention span is a matter of seconds, and if it is hard to find what he or she is looking for, you will loose that visitor very quickly. Links to your most important pages should be easily found on every page. A good rule of thumb is that every page should be accessible in two clicks from your home page (this may not be possible with larger sites).

• Unique

The most successful websites will stand out from the crowd. There are a number of was that you can make your website stand out: better design, high quality articles, a blog, a newsletter, some type of resource or tool. Find something that would be appealing to your target market.

• Fresh

Having a website that changes or is updated frequently will encourage repeat visitors. Repeat visitors will be more loyal and more likely to buy. There are a few different options for keeping your site fresh:

1- Update the site and add content occasionally – This will require you to either pay a designer or do the work yourself.

2 – Use a blog – With a blog you can add content to your website from any computer with an internet connection. All you’ll have to do is login and type. No special software or skills are required.

3 – RSS feeds – With RSS feeds you can add news headlines, weather, stock tickers, etc. to your website. Additionally, you can add content from most blogs to your site with RSS. The benefit of RSS feeds is that once in place they will automatically update.

• Optimized

A successful website will be search engine-friendly. Optimization includes things like using page titles and meta tags for all of your pages. Using headers and alt tags for images can also help optimization and accessibility. Even a website that is strong in other areas but weak in optimization may be hard for users to find.