We like nice looking things, we can’t help it – it’s human nature to associate attractive things with other positive attributes. (whether this is good or bad is beside the point) – we are attracted to the attractive.
If you’re served up a beautiful looking meal at a restaurant, you’ll assume it’s also going to taste great.
If you walk by a coffee shop with a nicely branded shop front, you’ll assume they serve good coffee.
You get my point.
This is even more relevant and important in the digital realm, your website has thousands of competitors who will offer exactly what you’re offering and are just a click away. If these websites look and navigate better than yours, you’ve lost.
Your website is your company’s face, your potential client’s first impression of your business lies here. Skimping out on a website will never end well, there’s lots of great freelancers out there but there’s also lots of inexperienced freelancers who are looking for a quick buck. So take the step and spend what is needed – this is one thing that just can’t be saved on.
Your website should:
1) Look Amazing
The design of your website is possibly the most important aspect, no matter how well the site navigates and converts – if it has an out dated and cramped design it’ll get you nowhere. The first step is making your website attractive, this is such a simple step which if followed, will gain you traffic and lead to new business. Make sure to always check out the agency or freelancer’s prior work before engaging with them, do they have an impressive portfolio with projects that you find attractive? Have they had enough experience to take on your project?
2) Be Clutter Free
Part of making your website look attractive is to avoid too much ‘stuff’, a modern, slick and clean site will make your business stand out in the digital realm, it will also naturally make for a more user friendly experience.
3) Look Great On All Screens
If your website isn’t responsive in this day and age then you really have already lost. Your site has to look great on both mobile and desktop and ideally be optimised for mobile – we spend a lot more time looking at websites on our phones than desktops these days.
4) Be User Friendly
People make decisions quickly these days, your site needs to be easy and smooth to navigate through – the user needs to be able to seamlessly move from page to page and clearly understand where to find what infomation. Avoid long blocks of text which take time to read through, break things down into simple bullet points or sentences.
5) Use Images/Videos
Images and videos are very popular in websites today; they allow the user to instantly connect with a theme/topic without having to read through text. This allows for an emotional connection that text doesn’t – however using images and videos within websites needs to be carefully considered. The chosen images/videos have to be appropriate for the business and relate to the subject matter – they also must be of a high quality and have a thought out composition. Using poor quality images can ruin a well designed website – so take caution. If you’re looking for modern high quality stock images Stocksy is a great place to start.
6) Contain a Blog
Having a website with an active blog is one of the key elements to good SEO these days, maintaining this maybe tricky but it’s so worth it. Including links to your business’s social media platforms is also essential, google needs to know that you’re active and sharing on your blog and social media platforms – so keep it up!