Whether you already have a website or are planning a new one, the are 5 essential areas that you should consider in order to help ensure your website is a success.
1. Use simple page layouts
- Keep your page layouts uncluttered so the message on each page is clear
- Make sure your layouts are consistent through the site
- Maintain the same colours and fonts throughout for a professional appearance
- Stick to fonts which are easy to read online – sans serif is recommended for body text on a screen
2. Make the site easy to navigate
- Ensure all pages are directly accessible from the main navigation bar which should be prominent on all screen sizes on every page
- Make sure your logo is clickable and takes visitors to your home page
- On larger sites include a search at the top of all pages
- Link to related products or services from within the text to guide visitors through your content
3. Include a call to action on each page
- Focus on one topic per page
- Make one clear call to action on a page (though this can be repeated)
- Ensure the call to action is visible without the need to scroll
4. Write for the Web
Visitors are very impatient online and rarely read all content so plan your pages to suit:
- Make use of subheadings, bulleted lists and short paragraphs to make it simple to scan your information
- Stick to one point per paragraph and use bold to highlight important keywords
- Make sure your fonts are large enough to read easily on all screen sizes and the colours used have sufficient contrast
5. Ensure your website is search-engine friendly
- Keep the page styling separate from the html which builds your content
- Use unique page titles for every page
- Write meta descriptions containing keywords – these appear in the search results
- Give all images alt tags which will show if the image is missing and make your page accessible for those using screen readers
- Ensure your design is responsive and mobile friendly – you’d be surprised how many people use mobiles or tablets to view your website!
- Update content regularly – Google loves new content!
