We\u2019ve all visited websites that are, in a word, useless. Information that\u2019s hard to find (if it\u2019s even accurate), no clear navigational structure, and plain bad design\u2014it\u2019s a miracle that some of these are still up and running.<\/p>\n
But just because your competitors may have truly terrible websites doesn\u2019t mean you should settle for less too. Take advantage of their shortcomings and learn from their mistakes to give your customers an enjoyable and usable site experience.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re breaking down 11 things every website should have and six things you should eliminate ASAP.<\/p>\n
Imagine you go to check out a local business you\u2019ve heard has a good reputation. But their site is referring to company events from 2012, cultural references on the page are from a previous decade, and they haven\u2019t noted that their phone number has changed.<\/p>\n
Not only is that frustrating to navigate, you probably wouldn\u2019t have a great impression of the business.<\/p>\n
If a business can\u2019t get their own basic facts\u2014like their contact information\u2014correct, what else are they getting wrong?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t fall into this trap. Do a regular audit of every page on your website to make sure what visitors see is an accurate reflection of your business as it is today<\/i>.<\/p>\n2. Content that Provides Value<\/h3>\n
There\u2019s power in content\u2014or, rather, in good content.<\/p>\n
Filling your site with pages and pages of poorly written content that doesn\u2019t offer anything to visitors is, frankly, a waste of your time. Instead, think about what visitors will really want to see on your site and then make sure you have that.<\/p>\n
When you want to expand your content\u2014perhaps with guides or blog posts<\/a>\u2014think about what things would be helpful to a person outside of your organization. Then provide that help on a regular basis. That helps build authority with Google and shows customers that you care.<\/p>\n When you take the time to truly provide value to customers, they\u2019re more likely to trust you, keep coming back, and even send friends and family your way.<\/p>\n When someone comes to your website, will they know what to do? If you can\u2019t say \u201cyes\u201d right away, then it\u2019s probably safe to say that visitors won\u2019t know where to go next.<\/p>\n Your calls to action should be:<\/p>\n We live in a hyper-produced world. Too many businesses speak in generic jargon without ever showing their customers anything deeper.<\/p>\n Now, more and more customers just appreciate authenticity. Instead of being just another business talking at<\/i> your customers, give them an opportunity to know the people behind the brand.<\/p>\n Add in pictures and staff bios. Tell the history of your company. Explain who you are and why you do what you do.<\/p>\n When you let customers take a peek behind the scenes to understand your story and why you\u2019re in the business you\u2019re in, you can start building connections that are much more powerful than any mention of \u201cachieving synergy.\u201d<\/p>\n When there are a million and one options for every product or service under the sun, users need to know why they should choose you.<\/p>\n One major factor in customers\u2019 decision-making process is finding out what past clients or customers have said about you.<\/p>\n Speak to your current and former customers to see what they liked about working with you. Then put that information on your website! (We promise, it\u2019s okay to brag sometimes.)<\/p>\n Testimonials will show visitors that you\u2019re not only a real business, you\u2019re also pretty good at what you do.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re active on social media, you already know the power of having an engaged following. But what happens if one of those platforms disappears one day? (Hey, it happened to MySpace.)<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to own your followers\u2014that is, have a way to speak to them directly without a middleman, like Facebook or Instagram. The best way to do that is with a regular email newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n But you can\u2019t have a newsletter without people to send it to! Create a clear place for visitors to sign up for your newsletter.<\/p>\n Get them with a subtle pop up or slide in when they come to your homepage or implement a fill form on popular pages to entice people to sign up.<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty common for websites to have a contact form\u2014we have one<\/a> and we think it\u2019s pretty nifty.<\/p>\n But if that\u2019s the only way site visitors can contact you, you\u2019re doing it wrong.<\/p>\n Sometimes, people don\u2019t want to wait 24-48 business hours for a response, so give them a phone number where they can reach you directly. (And, please, make sure the phone number is in service.)<\/p>\n Side note: Make sure your contact page is easy to find too! We recommend including it in your top nav and your footer.<\/em><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have a responsive website, you\u2019re missing out on customers and their business. Over half of website visits are through mobile devices, like phones or tablets. If your website was built to only be viewed on a large desktop monitor, visitors are going to get annoyed and bounce.<\/p>\n Be sure to test your website on your own phone and perform Google\u2019s mobile-friendly test<\/a> to ensure that everything is a-okay on the mobile front.<\/p>\n Did you know that site speed is just one of the many factors Google takes into account for search rankings?<\/p>\n If your site is running like you\u2019re back on AOL dial-up, it\u2019s time to upgrade your loading times<\/a>. People want what they want when they want it (and that\u2019s now), so make sure that every page of yours loads quickly\u2014otherwise, you\u2019ll be bleeding users who won\u2019t wait the extra second for your site to load.<\/p>\n Work with your team (or ours!) to get your site up to…well…speed.<\/p>\n Your homepage should make it obvious what you do. Your content should be fresh and valuable. And your navigation should be easy to follow.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t make your visitors poke around in sub-menu after sub-menu looking for the information they need. Lay out your site navigation in a logical way that presents the most important information first.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot that goes into SEO, both on the page and off. If you aren\u2019t a technical SEO expert, don\u2019t worry\u2014most people aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n You need to get your technical SEO in order, but if you\u2019re poking around with this without experience, you might end up doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n Lucky for you, we have quite a few <\/i>technical SEO experts<\/i><\/a> here at Digital Strike who would be more than happy to show you exactly what you need to change.<\/i><\/p>\n So now you know everything your site is missing. What about the things on your site that just aren\u2019t working? Here\u2019s what to get rid of…<\/p>\n Remember back when background music and auto-playing videos were the hot, new thing? We do, too. (For the record, that was about 15 years ago.)<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s safe to assume that people are listening to their own music and doing their own thing. They want to get what they need out of your website without being bothered.<\/p>\n Ditch the autoplay content. Not only can it scare the living daylights out of someone who accidentally has their volume up too high, it can slow your site down too.<\/p>\n We know not everyone can afford beautiful custom imagery, but anything is better than the cheesy, generic photos of smiling actors in front of white backgrounds.<\/p>\n If you have a relatively decent camera on your phone, take some photos of your business and your staff to show some personality. Something authentic is better than something fake<\/p>\n Yes, we already mentioned this one, but it\u2019s so important we had to say it twice. If your contact information is wrong, fix it. Now.<\/i><\/p>\n An out-of-service phone numbers, old address, or misspelled email address can stop a customer in their tracks, and they probably won\u2019t go searching for the correct information to get in touch. They\u2019ll just move onto a competitor.<\/p>\n Not everything has to be in your top nav (and, in fact, it shouldn\u2019t be). But when you want to link to minor pages, make sure you\u2019ve got the links right.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing more frustrating on a site than wanting<\/i> to read something but being unable to.<\/p>\n Go through your site on a regular basis and check every single link. If all your links work\u2014great, you\u2019ve just gotten the chance to use your site like a potential customer might. If they don\u2019t, it\u2019s time to do some editing.<\/p>\n A long time ago (in a galaxy not-so-far away), people made pages and pages of useless, uninteresting content for their sites. From poorly designed location pages<\/a> to repetitive explanations of services, these pages somehow<\/i> helped in their search rankings.<\/p>\n Like we said, that was a long time ago. For several years now, Google has looked down upon duplicate (or duplicate-ish<\/i>) content. Get rid of the pages that basically say the same thing as others that perform better, and redirect them properly<\/a> to a well-crafted page that adds value.<\/p>\n Remember how more than half of website visits are on mobile? When you write, write with mobile in mind. A phone is a tiny screen compared to a desktop, and people have short attention spans.<\/p>\n Use header tags, keep your paragraphs short, and use line breaks liberally. This will help break up the content into readable chunks and will be far more visually appealing.<\/p>\n3. Meaningful Calls to Action<\/h3>\n
\n
4. A Person-Focused About Page<\/h3>\n
5. Social Proof<\/h3>\n
6. Email Sign-Up<\/h3>\n
7. Clear Contact Info<\/h3>\n
8. Mobile-Friendly Design<\/h3>\n
9. Fast Load Times<\/h3>\n
10. Clear Navigation<\/h3>\n
11. Technical SEO<\/h3>\n
What to Remove from Your Website<\/h2>\n
1. Autoplay Content<\/h3>\n
2. Bad Stock Photography<\/h3>\n
3. Incorrect Contact Information<\/h3>\n
4. Broken Links<\/h3>\n
5. Duplicate Content<\/h3>\n
6. Long Paragraphs<\/h3>\n
\n