Aside from bearing your digital identity, your website connects you with your audience. It is how you draw them in.
You probably already know the basic features your website should have, such as the home, about, products and services, and contact pages. But to have an effective website, it’s not just about the facade and the right landing pages, but also how it works and what’s going on behind the scenes.
To make sure that your website is built well and meets your objectives, these are the essential components that your website must have.
Built for Your Target Audience
Don’t just build the website you want, build it according to what your audience needs. First off, you need to define your target audience. What do they want and need to see on your website? How can you effectively lead them to your website and convert them to become a customer? Ensure that your website is responsive and has a great user experience.
Clear Call to Actions (CTAs)
Are you telling your visitors what you want them to do? There are different actions that your visitors can do on your website, such as reading your latest blog, signing up to your mailing list, finding out more about a product or service, sending you a message through the contact form, or making a purchase. Determine the goal of your website as a whole, as well as the goal of each page. Make sure that the CTAs are visible and placed strategically, but does not interrupt the rest of the content.
Complete Contact Information
Naturally, the many ways that your visitors can get in touch are always indicated on the contact page. However, your phone number and email address must also be visible all the time. Make it easy for people to contact you and not have to scroll or look for them on another page. Place your contact information on your home page, ideally on the top right corner. When they click on your email address, it should automatically open their email message composer. Similarly, your contact numbers must also be click-to-call. Additionally, integrate your social media pages by having the icons present on your website.
Tracking Codes and Pixels
Install analytics tools as well as tracking codes and pixels. These include Google Analytics, Facebook tracking pixel, and LinkedIn Insights tag. These will help your website track the number of unique visits your website is receiving. Without Google Analytics, you won’t be able to monitor how many visitors are going to your website, where these visits are coming from, and the actions they take on your website.
SEO Plugins
To make sure that your website is optimised according to the latest SEO standards, install an SEO plugin, such as Yoast. It is currently the #1 WordPress SEO plugin and offers tools that will help you with SEO best practices, such as XML sitemaps, breadcrumbs, title tags, and meta descriptions. It also analyses your content, helping you write SEO-friendly text.
SSL Certificate
Keep your website secure – not only to protect your website from threats, but also to protect your visitors and gain their trust. Installing an SSL certificate is especially important for e-commerce websites and websites that involve transactions, data transfer, and log-ins. But generally, it is always a best practice for any website to install SSL certificates to ensure secure sessions.
Quick Tips
Now we’re down to the little details. But no matter how little they are, mistakes can still have the power to raise serious issues.
Check your spelling and grammar – A website with erroneous content will not gain credibility among its audience
Ensure copyright is updated to the current year – This is so visitors know that the content is not out of date
Don’t overuse stock images– Using stock images on all your content feels too generic and not personalised
Have consistent branding – This goes for both the consistency in the design as well as in the tone used in the content
Ensure easy navigation – Remember, your visitors’ experience should be your priority and navigating across your site should be seamless.
