You have put your heart and soul into creating the perfect website for your brand and products. You have the content, the images, the whole shebang. But how do you ensure that it’s not just a digital wasteland that disappears into the infinite expanse of the Internet?
Your website needs a strong foundation, a beautiful exterior, and a comfortable interior. The three main elements of websites are appearance, speed, and SEO optimization.
In this article:
Appearance: First Impressions Matter (and Last)
The appearance of your website creates the first impression, and the crazy thing is that your site visitor will instinctively absorb all the information in the first 3-5 seconds without reading a single word! Let’s think about that for a moment!
Does your web design bring out the personality of your company and brand? It may sound cliché, but we all judge a book by its cover. A visually beautiful website immediately grabs attention, making visitors look around and explore the content.
The website design could have an organised layout, be clean and straightforward, and make explicit calls to the visitor. Avoiding too many elements will help prevent overwhelming or scaring away visitors.
Setting up the website to work flawlessly on any device (mobile phones, iPads, etc.) is essential and even mandatory. For example, the statistics of visitors to my website show that 60% favour mobile phones.
So, if you want your website to be successful, it needs to be visually and performance-wise consistent on every device. Excuses are not allowed.
Speed: Time is of the Essence (and Patience is Thin)
Let’s talk about page loading speed – we live in a world of instant gratification, and speed is king of today’s digital landscape. I’ll be honest: I don’t wait for some slow website to load; it’s frustrating and annoying.
All users expect fast and smooth navigation; if they experience delays, they will likely abandon your site in favour of a competitor. Also, a fast-loading site is critical to user experience, overall site performance, and search engine rankings.
You can improve the speed of your website by optimising images and videos and improving the code.
Studies show that a one-second delay in loading time can result in a 7% drop in conversions. In addition, Google's algorithm considers site speed an essential factor in ranking.
SEO Optimisation: Connecting the Dots (and Boosting Your Reach)
SEO is much more than just the right keywords. Over the years, I have learned and experimented with various SEO tactics to improve website user experience, search ranking, and authority.
Optimising the links is necessary for visitors to navigate your page smoothly and efficiently and find what they want. What else is it needed for, you ask?
Links direct visitors through your website’s content:
- Internal linking seamlessly connects all your pages and helps visitors move from one to another to explore and discover your website’s content.
- External linking helps increase credibility and add value to page content. It is best to link your page to reputable sources and websites related to the topic.
Skillfully using relevant keywords and phrases in your content and links will help your site rank higher in search engine results and bring potential customers to the page.
The Holy Trinity at Work
Let’s now briefly review how an ideal website should work:
“Imagine that you have discovered an elegantly designed website with a beautiful selection of products you like. Clicking on the product of interest will instantly load that product’s page.
The page features high-quality product pictures and an informative and engaging product description. Instructional links allow you to purchase products, familiarise yourself with the brand’s history, and more.
This website has attractive visuals, fast loading and optimised SEO. The owner of such a page can be sure that his page will leave a positive impression, and the customer will return to make subsequent purchases.
In Conclusion
Website appearance, speed, and SEO optimisation are critical to success. By focusing on these three main factors, you can create a flawless website. So go forth and build a website that shines!
So, if you are looking for a drop-dead gorgeous website… Let’s talk →
