Are you in the beginning stages of creating your website or, perhaps, in the middle of redesigning? Unsure of what key elements need to be added or updated on your website? Looking to create a website that is both functional and enjoyable for your audience? There are five features every website should be equipped with. When creating or updating your website make sure your site has these five elements. A call to action, a functional homepage, a fresh and up-to-date face-lift, secure, and mobile friendly. I hope you do apply these five great features to your website either new one or old one for better results.
1.Call to Action
The purpose of your site is to get your audience to act on each of your pages. What exactly do I mean by this? A few examples include:
- ‘Contact me’ button
- ‘Subscribe’ button
- ‘Shop’ button
Your ‘call’s to action’ will vary based on your what your website is all about and the audience it is tailored towards. For some good ideas on what ‘call’s to action’ to include in your website look at some of your competitors sites.
2.Homepage
Headline/Title: Your Headlines should clearly tell your audience what your website is all about in a three second glance.
Sub-headline: Short description of what your website is all about.
Navigation: Navigation for your site should be easy and simple for your audience. If your audience can’t find their way around they will find the back button. You can check some inspirational navigation menus here.
Image: Simple, very good image. Audiences are drawn to visually appealing websites.
FAQ(frequently asked questions): Keep track of questions your audience asks you the most and create a list with simple and straightforward answers. Examples of FAQs (depending on you website and audience) include:
- Shipping information
- Return/Exchange policies
- Sizing
- Products used
Social Media Platforms: On your home page include the following links to your social media accounts. This allows your audience to keep track of your updates via their choice of social media. Here are a few examples of social media platforms to include on your homepage:
- Tumblr
- YouTube
- Google+
Business Information: Your ‘business information’, is a crucial piece to include on your homepage. You can either include the information on your homepage or have a link from your homepage that directs your audience to another page.
Here are some examples of what to include for your business information:
About Page
What you include in your ‘About’ page will be tailored to the type of website you have created. Though these pages will be tailored to your individual site here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating this page:
- Be personable.
- Write your ‘About’ page in first person.
- Open with a ‘headliner’ or your ‘mission statement’.
- Your background story. This should include who you are and what you do.
- What your website is about.
- Who your audience is.
Contact Page
A ‘Contact’ page is a great way to offer your audience the ability to get in touch with you. Make sure this information is ‘clickable’ for easy access. Here are a few ideas of what to include on your ‘Contact’ page:
- Name
- Number
- Email address: create an email address for your domain
- Physical address
Not sure you feel comfortable giving out your personal email address? Creating a ‘Contact Form’ on your website is a great way for your readers to get in contact with you without you giving up your personal contact info.
3.Fresh Face-lift
Keep your website up-to-date by staying up on current design trends. This will mean giving your website a ‘fresh face-lift’ throughout the course of its lifetime.
Some current web design trends include:
- Minimalism
- Flat design
- Use of white space
- Full screen background images
- Grid layout
- Ghost buttons
- Parallax scrolling
- Modular scrolling
- Big Fonts
- Vibrant shades of colour & neutral backgrounds
See More- Premium WP themes with flat design
4.Secure
If you have a website that asks for sensitive information it is imperative that you have a secure site with SSL certificates. SSL Certificates encrypt sensitive data between you and your customer, client, reader, etc.
You can order SSL Certificates from a third party or directly through your web hosting provider.
Some other ways to secure your website include:
- Keeping software up to date: Most web hosting companies will take care of this update for you or they will notify you of an update that you need to install.
- Use strong and complex passwords for your site and change them every six months.
- Test your security for your website using ‘penetration testing’
Not sure you need the added measure? You need only read up on the latest hacks at major stores to know that data breaches are a major part of the world we live in.
If you are unsure of your capabilities of creating a secure website, hiring a designer with significant expertise in security is a good option.
5.Mobile Friendly
With over 70% of web viewing and actions taking place over mobile devices it is crucial that your website is formatted correctly for mobile users. By making a mobile friendly format of your website, your audience will be able to easily read and navigate your webpage from their smart devices.
Here are some tips to consider when creating your mobile formatted site:
- Make is simple.
- Add your logo.
- Keep core content the same.
- Make sure it loads quickly.
- Make sure you test your mobile version of your website on a variety of devices and operating systems.
Conclusion
Incorporate these five elements into your web design to achieve a website that’s both functional and enjoyable for your audience. Call to action. Functional homepage. A current and up-to-date fresh look. Secure. Mobile friendly.
What has been your experience with using these five design elements? Please share your experiences in the comment box below.
Contributed by Agency Fusion who specializes in bringing superior expertise in both design and technology. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Agency Fusion has been awarded ‘Best of State’ in web development for seven years in a row.
Informative blog. After reading this blog, and its informative points, I am really very much benefited. Keep sharing.
http://www.brandwebdirect.com
Thank you for your valuable comment Robert 🙂
Design Layout impression refers to the ability of organizing the different components of a website in a way that results in a professional appearance and easy navigation. Nice Post
Yes Chirag. Glad you liked it!
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Great article! It's amazing how many sites have no way to contact the owner or interact at all. Makes for a fairly dull user experience most of the time.
I appreciate your comments Caroline.