If you’re looking to create a website for your business, you’re inevitably going to want to know what makes a good website design. Looking into this question is the first stage in creating a website that is great for both your users and search engines.
While a website should be designed with the user in mind as a primary objective, it’s still important to remember that these users won’t find your website unless it is found and indexed by search engines. Search engines crawl web pages and index them in relation to relevant search terms. These can be then ranked and served to the user when making a search.
So, if search engines can’t access the site, determine its relevance, and serve it in search results, your business essentially doesn’t exist online.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the more important factors of a good website design. Whether you plan to build your own website or choose to use a web design service, these design factors are equally important to know.
Basic Purpose of a Website
A good website design is not only visually appealing but also functional. It must keep your visitors interested and keep their attention throughout the pages, focusing on providing accurate, useful and informative information.
In addition, a website today should be easy to navigate and should present an attractive and professional layout that is fully responsive for mobile devices.
Use Images and Videos Correctly
Great use of multimedia is an excellent way to engage users. Relevant images and videos are great additions, although it’s important to keep the volume of these to a sensible limit. Web pages loaded with visual content can suffer from increased loading times, which can be frustrating for users.
People are very visual creatures and therefore, having great graphics is crucial if used in the correct way. A website can influence a user with a first impression that can make or break the customer journey. It’s been proven that people make a subconscious judgement of a website in just a fraction of a second. Therefore, a well thought out design and fast loading are essential.
Keep it Responsive
Good web design also caters to different types of users. It should be responsive and display correctly on all types of mobile devices, including phones and tablets. A website should also perform well on various browsers and operating systems. It’s always good practice to test a website on the commonly used browsers before launch.
Content is King
You may have heard the term ‘content is king’, and it’s true. Users want to find the information they need in as little time as possible. So, great content is essential, along with well-designed navigation.
The thing about the search intent of the user; what they want to find when they type in your keywords or phrase. Then it’s about developing quality content that will answer the searcher’s question or direct them to a place or website that is relevant and useful.
Demonstrate E-A-T
So, you have a great looking website, it loads fast and has all the required well-written content to satisfy your user’s queries.
But, does it satisfy Google’s E-A-T? What is this? E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
While this may sound easier said than done, it’s something to keep in the back of your mind when writing content and designing your website. Does your website demonstrate that your business is an expert in your industry or niche? If not, why not?
Write with authority and use well-known facts in your content. Don’t be afraid to link out to other sources to help and educate your user further. If someone else has a more comprehensive article on a certain section of your content, link to it.
Trustworthiness can be assessed in a few ways, but again, think about what you would need to know as a customer to fully trust your business. Do you have a comprehensive ‘about’ section, with customer testimonials? It’s also worth linking to relevant reviews and other feedback on the web, including social media accounts and review platforms.
The best test of all for a new website is to ask friends and family to use your website and be as critical as possible. It’s hard to fully experience your website from a user’s point of view. This can provide valuable feedback and help to fill and gaps in content, and perfect the visual design.