Written by Canon Wing

I teach entrepreneurs and organizations the proven action steps to stand out within their market, improve the perceived value of their business, and better connect with their audience through naming, branding, storytelling, and communication platforms.

March 31, 2022

What Should A Website Include? Top 5 Must Haves

Picture this: we’re on our favorite social media platform. An ad for a nice shirt or a nifty gadget or cool car accessory catches our eye and we decide to click on it. The website we go to either instantly puts us off for some reason and we return to the Funny or Die videos or whatever we were enjoying earlier.… Or we find ourselves going down that virtual rabbit hole, and before we know it we’ve bought something or several somethings we didn’t even know we wanted! If you’re in the business of selling, no points for guessing which type of website you want. 

Your website is the one thing that gives people the first impression of your business, your brand, and your product. It promotes all three 24/7, even when you and your employees are asleep. 

Did you know that almost half of all consumers make snap decisions about website credibility based on aesthetics? Or that first impressions are up to 94% design related?

And here’s another sobering statistic – 91% of small business websites are not mobile optimized. Is your website one of those 91%? In the interests of your business and profitability, here’s how you can become one among the top 9%.

Give them a mobile friendly experience.

This is absolutely vital in the current scenario when more and more people are looking to read, consume news, buy, and get information on the go from their smartphones. People want speed and convenience and a user friendly experience, and increasingly they want this experience on portable, handheld devices. If they don’t find this in one place they simply go someplace else. They will not bother to pinch and zoom to try to make sense of a website in bits and parts. If they don’t find what they need or don’t like what they see, they will leave.

Not only do you need a website that looks good on the mobile, but you also need it to be easy to navigate. You also need to offer your visitors a seamless user experience. This means that if they are browsing a mobile website, they should be able to pick up where they left off on the desktop site as well. So there should be cart consistency for shoppers, for instance — they value that. It is expected that more and more people are going to be shopping from their phones in times to come. So, no website can afford not to be mobile friendly.

Important features websites need, which are often missing.

Being mobile friendly is just one aspect of a great, sticky website that encourages visitors to linger and to do what you want them to do on your website: shop, read, browse, click through, whatever. Your website also has to look good, with an updated feel, a great design aesthetic, and quality images. It shouldn’t look dated. You don’t get to make a good first impression more than once, so you have to get it right the first time. Good design includes easy navigation, an intuitive, logical structure, quick loading times, and minimal downtime. If someone is looking for a product, they want the search box to show up what they need along with similar alternatives. You want to do what you can to keep them there – if that is your aim.

The third aspect of a truly good website that actually works for your business is compelling, optimized content. Google rates unique and search engine optimized content high. So if you pay attention to these aspects of your website, you have a much better chance of coming up on the first search page of Google. Everyone knows no one goes to page 2 on Google!

There are other aspects of a great website such as cohesive branding and consistency, easy shareability, social proof, top notch security, and user analytics. Know more about what this means and elevate your brand and business with the help of a website that really works for you. Check out this podcast or YouTube video to know more about the must-have elements of a website.