If you want your website to be successful, you need to be strategic about each element. Before you start building, think about what actions you want your visitors to take, and structure each element on the page accordingly.

We’ll discuss which website features will help you deliver an excellent experience for each visitor. You’ll learn how to build a great website that achieves your objectives!

Prepare: Define the page goal

On average, people spend less than one minute on a web page.

You want to grab people’s attention within 54 seconds of them arriving on your website, and then keep them engaged with effective website elements.

The goal will determine what elements a page needs. To give you an idea, here are examples of common web page goals:

• Generate leads (e.g. “book a demo” or contact pages)
• Boost conversions (e.g. sales, product or feature pages)
• Increase awareness (e.g. informative pages or product launch pages)
• Attract visitors (e.g. optimized blog pages)
• The best way to grow your email list is to create pages on your website that are specifically designed to collect email subscribers. For example, you can create a page that gives an overview of your blog, or a lead magnet page that offers a free download in exchange for an email address.
• Higher customer satisfaction (e.g. contact or FAQ page)

Be clear about the goal of the page before structuring it. Then, draft the content.

Write: Draft copy that speaks to people

Most of which are blog posts. The Internet is awash with free tips and tricks for perfecting your web copy. But here’s the thing: There are over 333 million results you’ll find if you Google “how to write effective web copy.” But most of those are blog posts with tips and tricks that may or may not work.

The most important question you can ask yourself to achieve your goal is: “What is the most compelling thing I can tell the reader?”

To increase sign-ups, focus your content on how your product or service will benefit the reader. Explain features and their value, and talk to the reader directly using “you”.

Create a rough draft, then take a break and come back to edit it with fresh eyes. Repeat as necessary. Utilize spellcheck tools like Grammarly to write perfect English, and online editors like Readable or Hemmingway to check your text’s readability and provide suggestions for improvement. Note that perfect English is not the goal! Connection with your readers is much more important – but perfect English may help.

Build: Website elements to structure pages

Good website functionality is more than just following modern web design trends. Things like strategic calls to action, images that tell a story, and well-organized navigation bars are just as important.

Here are 11 key elements to consider when building a new website:

1. Curated navigation menu

The navigation bar is an important element on a website. It is typically located at the top of the page and helps visitors find their way around the site.

How to create an effective navbar:

• Use straightforward titles
• It is better to have fewer menu items so that you can focus on making those items great. Having 5-10 menu items is an ideal range.
• Decide on a vertical or horizontal menu bar
• Keep the navigation menu consistent throughout the website
• Make sure that the items on the menu are easy to see by using a solid background. If the menu is fixed and scrolls along, this will make it easier for users to see the items.
• If you want your navbar to stand out more, you can add shadows to create depth.
• The text someone is currently on is highlighted i.e. visually respond to the cursor hover
• Emphasize important links, like the signup button
• Optional: Use icons

This will give you a bird’s-eye view of your website It can be helpful to draw a tree-like structure when you feel lost in menu items. Write down all the pages and then see how they relate and can best be categorized.

2. Clear call to action

Each landing page should be designed with a clear single CTA (call to action) in mind.

The number and location of CTA elements on a page depends on the page’s goal. A page with a contact form would only need one submit button, while a sales page might have multiple signup or purchase buttons to make it easy for visitors to take the desired action.

Pop-ups can be effective in getting people to take action, such as subscribing to a service, filling out a form, or making a purchase.

If you want to learn how to use pop-ups effectively, read our blog. You’ll find best practices and examples of inspiring pop-ups.

3. Scannable typography

When creating new pages for the web, you should consider how much text you have written and how best to present it. Some people want to read everything, while others want to quickly scan the content. It is your responsibility to give both audiences a great user experience.

How to make web copy a pleasure to read:

• Write short paragraphs and sentences
• Use easy-to-read typography and font sizes
• Structure text with headers
• Distinguish between paragraphs with different font sizes
• Work with lists and tables for diverse content formats
• See which text could also be communicated through images
• Add white space to give text room to breathe

4. Product Visuals and Descriptions Are Equally Important

Users find both visuals and descriptions important when looking at products and services online. This means that companies need to have clever web design in order to make both of these elements stand out on the page.

Most people find websites with both descriptions and images useful.

This means that when people are looking at websites for companies, they want to see both things that look good and information that is useful to them. It is important for businesses to remember that how a website looks is something that can’t be ignored.

What Makes a Website More Attractive?

What you should keep in mind when creating a website is how to find the right balance between informative and visual content.

Steve Vest is the senior user experience designer at Small Footprint, a software development company in Winston-Salem, N.C. He finds that these simple features make websites more inviting to customers:

• White space: unmarked design space on a web page that remains blank or white when published
• Large images: combined with whitespace, large images naturally break a page up into skimmable parts
• Mobile Considerations: making sure that your website features are just as helpful to mobile users as they are for people browsing on desktops (eg. Add a menu bar for easy navigation on mobile versions of a site)

White Space & Large Images Create Natural Design Layouts

Leaning on Vest’s advice, utilizing unused or vacant space can help businesses display both explicit and figurative language efficiently.

According to Vest, white space is used in order to help the user focus on what is important, and images are kept large so that the layout can be easily scanned.

Companies should use this approach for both the mobile and desktop versions of their websites.

Mobile Features Enhance a Website Experience

Vest said that on a mobile phone, they try to use a single image in one column, and on larger screens, they may use three or four rows and columns. They don’t want to overload the user’s senses.

The majority of users are now browsing on mobile devices, so it has become important for businesses to develop websites that are responsive to mobile devices and don’t overload the user.

For example, 24 Hour Fitness has a minimalistic homepage on mobile with one image and a menu bar in the top right corner for easy navigation. There is also a large form where users can easily access the content they want on mobile, such as the location of the nearest gym.

24 Hour Fitness has a streamlined contact form that only requires users to enter their zip code. This allows users to easily find the facility closest to them.

5. Social Media is an Extension of a Company’s Website

It is important for companies to have links to their social media accounts on their websites so that people who are browsing the site can follow them.

When they are looking for more information about a company on its website more than two-thirds of people think that it is useful to have links to social media accounts on a company’s website.

Almost 40% of website users (37%) think social media profile links are extremely useful. Only a small minority (13%) think they are not useful at all.

Social media account links are ranked lower than descriptions and visuals among users’ favorite website features, but higher than “About Us” pages and company blogs.

Company social media profiles offer the same information that is found on an “About Us” page, but on a more accessible medium.

Social Media Conveniently Drives Engagement

Social media may be a more convenient way for busy small businesses to appeal to their audience than other website features that demand more time.

Users find it easier to learn about companies and their products through social media, and companies will only use social media platforms that will help them increase their business. The industries chosen and the conversion rates will determine a company’s social media presence.

Businesses should take advantage of social media platforms to connect with their users in a more informal setting. The content on a company’s social media page should be just as current and useful as what can be found on their main website.

The icons for social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram on a company’s website show visitors that the company is legitimate and active on those platforms.

Companies should focus on social media to connect with potential customers since people spend a lot of time there. It is best to have a presence on the platforms that best meet the needs of the business.

6. Company Blogs Are Still Valuable

While product descriptions and visualizations are more popular among website visitors, businesses should still invest in creating blog content.

Roughly half of all website users believe that company blogs are useful, while the other half does not find them to be valuable.

Website Features in Action: Medium’s Blog Content

Companies can host their blogs on external platforms like Medium to reach a wider audience. In 2017, Medium had 60 million monthly readers, so businesses use the platform to associate their brand with high-quality content.

If a company hosts its blog content on Medium, it will miss out on important SEO benefits. Company blogs hosted on a company’s website help SEO by targeting long-tail keywords and providing opportunities for both external and internal linking. Backlinks improve a site’s ranking in Google search engine results.

To create successful blog content that will improve your SEO ranking, make sure your posts are thoughtful and well researched. If you can provide specific, actionable takeaways for your business audience, it will help improve your company’s brand authority and keep your website looking current.

There are mixed feelings about the usefulness of company blogs, but high-quality content is still an important tool for companies to use to boost search engine rankings and establish brand authority.

Honorable Mention: Call to Action and User-Friendly Buyer Journey

A call to action is a message that encourages prospects to take a specific, desired action. Typically, a call to action is displayed on a landing page and invites its audience to do something.

Subscribe and learn more buttons help increase customer engagement on websites. These buttons tell customers what they will be doing if they click on them, and encourage them to take action.

The marketing agency BellaVix uses action-driven copy and a CTA to encourage prospects to use their marketplace management services.

Honorable Mention: Testimonials and Case Studies

Because technology is so widespread and the internet makes information so accessible, buyers want to research as much as possible before making a purchase.

Testimonials are effective on a business’ website because they provide potential customers with an unbiased opinion of someone who has actually worked with the company.

The stories should be located in a place that is easy for potential customers to find.

Meanwhile…

A case study involves providing a clear, industry-specific example of how your company helped a previous client solve a problem or overcome a challenge. They can be worked into your website in a manner similar to that of testimonials.

When creating a case study, you and your team should make an effort to sound impartial and not like you are trying to sell something.

Any company looking to expand its horizons should focus its energy on the process it followed during the engagement and the tangible results delivered for the client. This is because any relevant statistics that illustrate the company’s impact will be essential.

A satisfied customer’s testimonial can be used to strengthen your credibility by incorporating it into a more detailed case study.