So, you are interested in building a successful online business. The first thing you’ll need? A website. And it’s not just any website. You need to make sure that the design is excellent and appealing to the average user. There are so many factors affecting how successful your site might be. To help you get started on the right foot, here are five tips for building successful websites.
Have a Plan
Don’t just browse around and settle down on a random design which you see. You’ll need a concrete idea on how your site should look, and then work on a wireframe or mockup application or at least draw down on paper the overall design of the site.
Have a Coherent Theme
Nothing is more confusing to any user than visiting a site which has a different design for each page. To avoid this, your content may be different, but try to stick to a coherent plan for the header, navigation, footer, and sidebar.
Pay Attention to Load Time
If your site is loading slowly, even though it has a great design, it will not get a lot of users. In fact, many websites bloat up just because they add too many elements to the pages to create an appealing design. However, due to poor coding practices, they end up with a site which takes a whole minute to load, and that drives users away.
Pay Attention to SEO
SEO is just as important to your success as a great graphical design. SEO stands for search engine optimisation, and you need it to rank highly in search engines’ search result pages. Without a proper SEO plan, you need to think of other ways to attract people to your site. The fastest way is paid PPC traffic, which will cost you money, and depending on your niche, the cost can be extremely high.
Work on Your Content
These days, to continue to rank well in the eyes of Google, you need regularly updated content. A single-page site or a site which only has articles written five years ago will have a lesser chance to rank higher than a site with content regularly updated every week. That’s why even the most prominent companies have a blog besides their corporate website. You can integrate the blog to the current site. There’s no need to get another domain for it. Having a blog with fresh, exciting content gives your users a reason to come back regularly. This way, you don’t just boost your SEO score but are building a long-term fanbase as well.
No matter what niche you are in, above are five essential tips to help you get started on the right foot.