WHAT MAKES A GOOD WEBSITE?

You have probably visited thousands of websites, but do you know what makes a good website?

This is very little to do with the tech aspect and everything to do with the user experience and the business goal. What was the website developed to do, and is it excelling?

This article will look at the factors that make up a great website and how you can get one to help your business generate qualified leads.

 

Clear and compelling value proposition

The first and most important feature of a lead-generating website is a clear and compelling value proposition. This is a statement that clearly communicates what the company does and why someone should choose them over their competitors. A strong value proposition should be prominently displayed on the homepage and should be clear, concise, and easy to understand.

 

Web performance

Your website visitors have less than 3 seconds to wait for your web pages to load. For mobile users, 3 seconds is even a longer time to wait.

Ensure that your web pages load fast because your site visitors have little patience.
If your competitors’ website loads faster, you will lose many prospective clients to your competitors.

You can use plenty of free online tools to check your website speed. Some include Google site speed test, GT Metrix Pingdom, etc. These tools will show you how fast or slow your website is on mobile and desktop devices, and they will even offer you some recommendations to speed up your site. 

 

Of course, web speed optimization is not easy; otherwise, every website in the world could be loading very fast.
That said. It doesn’t mean that it is impossible.

So, here are some simple things you can do to ensure your website performs better.

• Minimize the sizes of your web images
• Avoid unnecessary images
• Do not directly host your videos on the website; use video hosting platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, etc.
• Choose a good web host provider, e.g., Siteground. If you have a minimum budget, there are other good web hosting providers in Kenya, such as Host Pinnacle.
• The above are just a few things you can do. There are many other technical factors to consider. You should contact your web developer for the technical stuff.

 

 

A f should be secured.

Today most people are concerned about their online safety.

Make sure that your site is secured and has an SSL certificate.

This is even more critical when you accept payments on your website through options like credit cards or PayPal.

An insecure website means that other people can see what your website visitors are doing. So, it will be visible to other people whenever they enter their payment information. You know what might happen next…

 

 

Responsiveness

Website responsiveness means it can be fully accessed on mobile and tablet devices, and the users will have a good experience using desktop devices.

So, make sure that your website is mobile-responsive.

Most of your site visitors use their smartphones to access your site. They do expect a good experience regardless of their screen sizes.

Google penalizes websites with poor user experience, which will hurt your SEO efforts. This means that you will hardly rank high on Google searches.

73% of users judge businesses based on their websites experience – By Inside design

 

Modern design

Your website should have a modern design. Even if it’s been there for over 15 years, redesign it to the modern style.

This is because user behaviors keep changing now and then.

Fifteen years ago, most users accessed websites using desktops and laptops and were more patient. Today, most of them will access your website using mobile, and they are very impatient.

A good design will keep your customers staying longer on your website, which is good for SEO.

An outdated website makes your brand look like you are out of business. If you can’t take care of your website, how can your customers trust you with their companies? 

 

 

Good Website Structure

A good website structure has a considerable impact both on your users’ experience and on search engines such as Google.

It should be easy for your target customers to navigate from one section to another.

For instance, if you have an e-commerce site, use categories to group related product pages so that users and search engines can easily understand and access the various products.

The site structure is a bit technical; therefore, I would advise that you take it up with a web designer if you have one already. If you don’t, then lucky for both of us. You’ve got a match; I’m your web developer.

 

 

 

Call To Action (CTA)

Call to action is buttons or text sets that tell your site visitors what they should do next.
Common examples of CTAs include;

For E-commerce web

• Buy Now
• Proceed to check out
• Add to cart
• Add to Wishlist

 

For B2B Websites

• Book now
• Subscribe now
• Book a free trial
• Contact sales

 

For Blogs

• Sign up for our newsletter
• Read more articles
• Share on social media

They should be placed in prominent positions on your site to make more sense and grab your customers’ attention.

Without CTAs, your customers will be confused and won’t know what to do next to buy your products or book services.

A compelling CTA should have a different color from the rest of the texts, have bright colors to attract attention, and be actionable. 

 

 

 

Website copy

Your website copy is simply the content on your website, i.e., the words, photos, and videos.

It should sound conversational as if your sales executive is speaking to a client. Of course, it won’t sound 100% as a human would, but your copy should address your prospect’s pain points and objectives and encourage them to take the desired action, e.g., book a demo, book a consultation, etc.

To write an excellent copy, you must understand your audience’s pain points, address the solutions to them in a very simple language that they will understand without googling some terms, and be as specific as possible. 

Once someone gets into your website, in the first 7 seconds, they should understand what you offer, how you will help them, and what they need to do to get your solution.

If copywriting is not your strength, I would encourage you to consult a professional.

 

 

It should be SEO-optimized.

Optimizing your website for SEO means making it visible and available to search engines like Google for relevant searches in your business.

For example, if you have an accounting firm, you will want your website to be among the first three on the list when someone in your locality searches for accounting services.

That’s what SEO will do for you, put you at the top.

Keep in mind that SEO takes a long time to show results, typically between 6-8 months of consistent optimization.

I am an SEO, but my website is not yet ranking for the services I’m offering.

WHY????

This is because it’s still new, barely three months old, and I’m in a very competitive field unless a miracle happens.
If you think my SEO work is WACK! You’re mistaken, my friend.

Here is a website I did some SEO on, and in the 5th month, it was already ranking on top for some of the relevant keywords. (core banking system for SACCOs, Microsoft dynamics for SACCOs, mobile banking system for SACCOs)

 

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So, that being said, here are the simple things you can do for basic SEO;
• Improve your website speed
• Use keywords in your content
• Provide regular fresh content on your website
• Try to get another website to link to your website
• Make sure your website is mobile responsive
• Create your Google My Business account and keep it active

 

 

Social Proof

Social proof is a powerful way to build trust and credibility with potential leads. Social proof can come in the form of customer testimonials, case studies, or trust badges that demonstrate the company’s expertise and track record of success. Social proof should be prominently displayed on the website and should be updated regularly to keep it fresh and relevant.

 

 Contact forms

Contact forms are a crucial element of any lead-generating website. They allow visitors to provide their contact information and express interest in the company’s products or services. Contact forms should be user-friendly and easy to complete, with fields for name, email, phone number, and message. It’s important to strike a balance between asking for enough information to qualify the lead, while also not overwhelming the visitor with too many questions.

 

 

Have a Blog section

This is one area that is very important for your website.

The blog section is where you will publish your updates, press releases, and educational materials.

This page will earn you the most traffic (sometimes second after the homepage) and will be critical for your SEO efforts.

If you are in the B2B sector, like me, you must have a blog section.

Some may argue that nowadays, no one reads blogs; if that’s the case, how come we still have websites like The Business Daily, Mpasho, or Medium?

People do read blogs a lot. You have to make it exciting and promote it on your social media pages, emails even WhatsApp.

Right now, you are reading my blog, and you are not alone.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Your website is your 24/7 salesperson. If you don’t equip it with the right features and functionalities is like sending your sales rep to the file without product knowledge, customer needs, or the right tools for the job.

On the other hand, your website is the first impression your target customers will interact with before engaging your sales team. They will judge your organization based on the looks and experience they got from your website. 

As a B2B business owner or marketing professional, you must understand this and always ensure that your website is in good condition.