In the ever-evolving digital landscape, a website serves as the virtual representation of your business or organization and is often the first point of contact for potential customers or clients. Ensuring your online presence is not just functional but compelling is crucial. Whether you're launching a new website or revamping an existing one, these five tips will guide you toward creating a digital space that not only attracts visitors but also keeps them engaged and converts them into loyal patrons. So, let's dive in and explore how you can elevate your website to new heights of success!

Establish Purpose & Call-to-Action

It’s important with any website, old or new, to establish a clear purpose for what you are trying to achieve through your online presence. Think not only about the needs of you, your business, or organization, but think about what your target audience is seeking and how your website can provide them with what they need. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• Why do I want people to visit my website?

• What do I want people to do when they visit my website?

• Who is my target audience?

• What is my target audience looking to achieve by visiting my website?

By taking the time to think through these questions, your website’s purpose will become clear. Maybe the website will be used to inform visitors about your business, increase product sales, or gain new clientele. With a clear purpose in mind, you can formulate a call-to-action – the next step that you want to promote visitors to take. Use this call-to-action to map out your website and guide users toward the end goal. Make sure your call to action appears loud and clear, repeat it on multiple pages, and include buttons that the user can click to easily get there.

Create an Easy-to-Navigate Menu

Is your website easy to navigate? Sometimes we become blinded to our own website because we know exactly how to find the page or information we want. A great strategy to overcome your website blinders is to ask for an opinion from an outside source. Have a friend or trusted customer visit your website and give some honest feedback on how easily they were able to find what they needed. Were they able to find what they were looking for, or were they left wandering through your website?

Another great tip is a rule of thumb called The Rule of 3. According to the Rule of 3, it should take the end user no more than 3 clicks to find the page they are looking for. Test out your website to see if it abides by this rule. If it doesn’t, it may be time to consider restructuring your site or main navigation.

In our professional opinion – less is more. When it comes to navigation menus, we suggest keeping it clean by listing 3-5 main options and using dropdowns to group additional related content. If you have a very large website with lots of content, consider switching to a mega-menu. A mega menu is an expandable dropdown menu that displays navigation content in multiple columns or rows, making it easy to organize large amounts of information.

Use Branding Consistency & Professional Imagery

When it comes to website design, visual elements can be a “make-or-break” for first impressions. You’ll want to make sure it portrays the correct tone, vibe, or personality. Successful websites abide by brand guidelines and use fonts and colors in a consistent manner to create a cohesive look and feel; in comparison, websites that don’t often feel busy, messy, or overwhelming, and experience lower performance. If you already have a set of pre-established brand guidelines – that’s great, and we suggest you stick to those. If you don’t here are a few suggestions to consider when designing your website:

• Use no more than 3-4 different font styles.

• Pair complimentary fonts.

• Pair complimentary colors.

• Understand color psychology – choose colors that align with the tone you are trying to convey.

• Use color across pages and among elements. For example, make all buttons or all headings the same color. 

Not only do fonts and colors matter, but so do images! It’s important to use high-quality, professional-looking imagery whenever possible. Specifically, make sure photographs have good lighting and don’t appear blurry or pixelated. Custom photos of your actual facility, products, or services make the most impact and give your visitors an idea of what they can expect if they decide to take the next step. While it’s okay to use stock imagery as necessary – make sure to choose wisely because stock images can sometimes feel cold, sterile, fake, or impersonal. Additionally, keep in mind that commonly used and easily recognizable stock images may detract your audience. If your budget allows, the best solution would be to hire a professional photographer to take photos you can use across all marketing materials – including your website.

Stay Updated and Relevant

When was the last time you updated your website? You should be regularly reviewing your website and making sure all the content is relevant and still up to date. Having outdated content on your website is frustrating for visitors and will most likely cause them to quickly leave your website in preference for a more up-to-date source. Additionally, did you know that search engines, such as Google and Yahoo rank websites based on content relevancy? It’s the job of the search engine to pair the best-suited website listings to answer users’ queries. To do this, they need to regularly crawl (scan) websites across the globe and make changes or additions to their database. Not updating your website or publishing any new content indicates to the search engine that your website might be outdated, and in turn, lower your rank. The next time you review your website, we suggest you consider the following:

• Has your website been updated to accurately reflect any recent changes to your business, organization, or industry?

• Have you noticed a shift in demand for certain products or services? If so, update your website to optimally respond to this shift.

• Blogging is a great way to establish expertise, showcase professional knowledge, and stay relevant.

Do a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Audit

You should also regularly perform a technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) audit to make sure your website is meeting best practices. There are a variety of online SEO auditing tools that can be used to review your website and suggest changes to help improve search engine ranking. Some popular ones that can be used on any website include Semrush and Ubersuggest. Additionally, many website-building programs, such as WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace include their own internal SEO auditing tools or have suggested 3rd party plugins. A good technical SEO audit will cover the following information (and more).

• Page Word Count: At least 500 words per page. Statics show that the average word count for webpages that rank on the first page is 2,200 words.

• Heading Usage: Page content should be structured using proper headings, subheadings, and paragraph styles.

• Page Titles & Descriptions: Each page on the website should have its own keyword-rich title and description. These appear in search engine result listings.

• URL Slugs: URLs should be readable and include keywords. They shouldn’t include random spaces, numbers, or special characters.

• Broken Links: Internal and external links connect to their sources. URL changes or page deletions across the web can cause links to break.

• Image Size & Alternative Text: Image size should be under 250kb. All images should be tagged with alternative text (descriptions that assist search engines and screen readers).

•  Loading Speed: Pages should load in 3 seconds or less. Fast sites get rewarded over slow ones.

•  Mobile-Friendliness: The site should be mobile-friendly. The site should either utilize responsive design practices or have a separate version developed specifically for mobile use.

As you embark on the journey of enhancing your website, remember that it's not just about aesthetics; it's about functionality, user experience, and relevance. By implementing the tips outlined here– you're not just building a better website; you're creating a digital destination that resonates with your audience and drives your business or organization forward. With dedication and attention to detail, your website will stand out in the crowded online space, leaving a lasting impression on visitors and fostering long-term success!

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