Most people think of a website as just the interface that you see. However, there is so much more to it than what meets the eye. A website needs to have several qualities that make it great. The most important attributes are its usability, user friendliness, and aesthetics. If you want to know what makes a website really stand out then these 32 qualities will provide some insight on what you should be looking for when evaluating one!
A quick breakdown:
User Friendly: Making sure your site is easy to navigate and understand for all visitors;
SEO-Friendly: Ensuring your site has keywords in order to rank higher with search engines;
Mobile-Friendly: Creating a layout that can be viewed easily on any device;
Fast Loading: Making sure your site loads quickly and doesn't have a ton of extra code/scripts that slow the process down;
W3C Validated: Ensuring your website is free from errors and has a good coding structure.
Easy to Find Information: Providing customers with a clear path to navigate through pages, making sure you answer questions they have about the product.
Good Design: Having an aesthetically pleasing layout, choosing colours/fonts that match your brand identity well.
Content Updating: When it comes to having a blog or updating content regularly, don't neglect it! If you do this, people will forget about you and find other sources for what they need.
Clarity: Having crystal clear goals and intentions as well as messaging should always be made known. Not doing so will cause people to assume things about your site which may not necessarily be true! So make sure your audience knows exactly what it is you are trying to sell them on.
Personalisation: If you can, add some sort of personal touch/voice to your site! This will help visitors feel more connected with you and the brand.
Credibility: Make sure everything that goes onto your website has some sort of credibility behind it; otherwise people won't trust what's being said or shown on the page.
Responsiveness: People want websites that work well no matter what device they're on - desktop, laptop, tablet, phone etc. Your site should be optimised for all devices so users don't have a bad experience accessing your products/services through a mobile device.
Permanent: Yes, having a website that is available 24/7 is great but it should be accessible even when your site is down for some reason. You don't want to lose potential customers because they're unable to get on the page!
Consistency: It's best if you can keep your branding consistent across all of the platforms/channels you use online so people will know what to expect when they come across your Facebook or Twitter account.
Authentic Communication: Having genuine conversations with others who follow you on social media is important. Advertising and selling are fine but real interactions are what will make someone invest in your company--even more than before!
Social Media Presence : Create accounts on popular social networking sites and build a following! This will allow you to connect with your audience/customers as well as potential customers.
Optimised for SEO: If you want people to be able to find your site, make sure it's optimised for search engines! This means having the appropriate keywords, uploading original photos/images, writing good content etc.
Engagement: One of the best ways to keep a user on your website is through engaging with them through comments or shares on social media. It's great if you can respond quickly and efficiently when someone leaves a comment on one of your posts because it shows that you care about their opinion and also makes them more likely to return/become a customer of yours.
Attractive Design: What we've said before about good design definitely applies here. It's best if your site isn't cluttered and looks professional/clean.
Credible Information: Provide accurate information on products, services, and other things that would be useful to customers in order to make the right decision when considering whether or not they'll buy from you.
Good Navigation: Having a site that is easy to navigate will reduce frustration for people trying to find what they're looking for--especially since most website users have a very short attention span!
Clarity of Contact Info: Always provide your viewers with an appropriate way to contact you either through email or phone call. People want to know how they can get in touch with you if they have questions or concerns.
Automated Marketing: If your business has an automated marketing site that provides people with information on upcoming events/holidays/promotions, etc., then this will help keep customers coming back to check up on what's new!
Customised Messages: The best way to connect with people is through personalisation -so make sure you know your audience and how they would want to hear from you so your messages are more effective.
Transparency: When it doubt, just be transparent about things! It's better for potential customers to see right through something than being surprised by it later.
Optimised Design for Mobile Devices: We pointed out the importance of having a mobile-friendly website earlier and we can't stress this enough! Make sure your site is optimised for mobile users so they won't have a bad experience trying to access and navigate through your pages.
Fast Loading Speed: People don't want to wait around for a page to load, especially if it's taking up precious time that could be spent elsewhere! You should aim for a loading speed of 2 seconds or less
Relevant Navigation: Having links organised in a way that makes sense will help with navigation and keep visitors on the page they need to be on--not going all over the place.
No Distractions: A lot of websites today try to distract their viewers from what they're supposed to be looking at by having blinking ads, animated start-up screens, and other unnecessary things that will make the page load slower.
Reliable Server: If you're website keeps having technical issues like it won't load or is too slow to access, then this can be very frustrating for your visitors! It's best to operate on a reliable server so the site runs smoothly the majority of time.
Easy Sharing: Make it easy for viewers to share your website/contents through social media (with appropriate hashtags), emailing others about what they just saw/read, etc. This will help gain more views because chances are people will show others what they were looking at when they find it useful/interesting enough.
Unlimited Scrolling: This helps keep readers engaged because it doesn't force them to stop reading on a certain page. The more they can see, the better as long as there's no major issues with it.
Qualities: A bit more depth
User Friendly
User friendly is a website quality that can help increase its usability, and it has a lot to do with how the site is designed and the content of it. Websites that are more user-friendly tend to be easier to navigate and understand - they don't have too many menus or buttons on the homepage. If your visitor doesn't know where to go on your website, then they probably won't visit it again.
SEO-Friendly
SEO-friendly is a website quality that can help increase its usability and user friendliness. Websites that are more SEO-friendly are generally focused on optimising the content, design, and marketing of their site for search engines. If you want to make sure your site is ranking well in search engine results, then it's important to have Keywords throughout your site, especially in the Title tags, Meta Tags, Headings, and Body text.
Mobile-Friendly
Creating a layout that can be viewed easily on any device is essential if you want your website to rank well in search engines and not cause frustration for visitors. Nobody wants to spend time waiting for a site to load or squinting at details, but this is all too common on sites that weren't designed with mobile traffic in mind.
The first step to creating an optimised layout for mobile traffic is to use a responsive design, which allows the website's content and features to reflow as the width of the browser changes. The site will look equally good whether it's viewed on a desktop computer screen or something smaller like a tablet. There are several different approaches to responsive web design – some involve simply adding media queries so links and images
Fast Loading
Making sure your site loads quickly and doesn't have a ton of extra code/scripts that slow the process down
When you think about all the elements that go into making a quality website, it can be difficult to narrow them down. One of the qualities that makes for a great website is its page speed. For example, if you're trying to navigate a page and it takes significantly longer than you expect because there's a lot going on in the background, then it will take up more time and end up being much less usable. This means that the load times between any single click should be instantaneous or extremely quick.
The shorter load time also means that your pages will be more user-friendly as well as aesthetically pleasing. If it takes a long time for your pages to load, then you're going to end up having a lot of people leave before they get the chance to see what's on the page. This means you have to work even harder in order try and pull them back so that they can look at what you have to say.
W3C Validated
The W3C validates that your website meets their coding standards. The W3C is not only the standard body for web development but they are committed to improving the quality of web pages and websites across the internet.
A website needs to be free from errors and have a good coding structure in order to pass validation. This is because any bugs on a website can affect the user's experience and trust in your brand.
Easy to Find Information
Easy to find information can mean the difference between a website that is difficult to navigate and one that provides customers with a clear path, making sure they answer questions they have about the product. Content should be easy to find on your site. Try to make it as visual as possible.
Great Design
A website should be designed in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and matches the brand identity. The design of the site should also be user-friendly and easily navigable. It doesn't matter how great a site is if it's not easy to use or doesn't provide an aesthetically pleasing design!
Interactivity
A website needs to be interactive and engaging. There needs to be a balance of images, videos, and text. The images should not solely consist of pictures of products or logos, so that it gives the site a more entertaining feel to keep visitors interested in scrolling down the page. It is important for users to interact with the content through the use of various features such as comments and tools like Facebook share and Twitter tweet. Providing lots of interactivity helps build relationships between you and your customers!
High quality photos and video
Photos: Photos should not look like they were taken on an old camera phone by your uncle at his cousin's wedding; they need to be professional looking! They can include snapshots from your office or a video tour of your office, for example. If you have little or no photos on your site then that's probably a sign that there is something wrong with the design and visuals.
Video: Videos should be taken in high definition and provide excellent quality, which will make visitors feel like they are at your office. For example, if you run a daycare centre, take videos of kids smiling and laughing and parents enjoying their days with their children here at the center; this will surely build trust between customers and increase sales!
Strong call to action (CTA)
The most important thing on any website is the CTA button (call to action). This can help increase conversions by around 80% . The CTA needs to be prominent and clear. For example, if you're selling a product, make the CTA "Buy Now" or "Add to cart." The button needs to stand out from the page so that it's clearly visible. The language of this CTA should be strong and not wishy-washy, such as something like "submit," because visitors will respond better to a more direct approach.
Content Updating
When it comes to having a blog or updating content regularly, don't neglect it! If you do this, people will forget about you and find other sources for what they need.
Clarity
Having crystal clear goals on your website and intentions as well as messaging should always be made known. For example, an app or website like Airbnb, their goal is to "provide quality homes for people around the world to feel right at home". Their mission is to create a "a trusted community marketplace; access our global network of hosts; provide travellers with a unique travel experience; and give local neighbourhoods a boost".
Personalisation
Adding a personal touch to your website is one way to make it stand out. This can be done by putting up pictures of you and your team, or introducing yourself in the introduction. The NewWebsite website was created with affection - I have added Our Story and photos of our team members. You can also choose a colour scheme that reflects your personality and interests.
Credibility
One of the most important qualities that a website has is its credibility. Make sure everything you put on your site has some sort of credibility behind it; otherwise people won't trust what's being said or shown on the page. so users don't have a bad experience accessing your products/services through a mobile device. You can add credibility by adding Google and Trustpilot reviews, photos of your work and more.
Permanent
Yes, having a website that is available 24/7 is great but it should be accessible even when your site is down for some reason. You can use an uptime monitoring service to check how often your site is experiencing downtime on the Internet. This will let you know how well your site stacks up against other large sites so you'll have more idea of what people are expecting.
Consistency
Consistency is very important. It's best if you can keep your branding consistent across all of the platforms/channels you use online.
If you're not sure what your brand is, try to figure it out. You can do this by looking through your old work or asking people who know about your work what your brand is. Once you've identified your brand, make sure that it's clear throughout all of your work. This will show people who are looking at your website that you're an expert in this area and that they should trust everything on the website!
Do you like our black/grey/green theme with the triangles? Noticed it's on our social media channels? It's also wrapped on the company car!
Authentic Communication
Authentic communication is a term used in the context of marketing and branding. It consists of two important components: sincere conversation with followers on social media, and providing value in a way that is authentic to the brand or company. Authentic communication matters because it helps create relationships with the customers. Customers want to know that they are valued, and by engaging in authentic communication, your company can establish a rapport with them.
Social Media Presence
The first step in creating a social media presence is to create accounts on all of the most popular sites. The next step is to provide interesting and valuable content that your followers will like and comment on. It's also important to reply to comments, especially those complaints or criticisms.
Keep in mind that one of the most important aspects of social media is to provide a constant flow of fresh, new content. We offer a Social Media Management service, if you're interested?
Optimised for SEO
Optimising your site for search engines is key to attracting large amounts of traffic. This means making sure you include keywords and other relevant information that would make people want to find you. If your site also has a good layout and design this will increase the chances of it being found by more people.
Fast webpage speeds
Having a fast webpage speed is important in order to keep your audience's attention and their return visits. As well as looking at the loading time of each page in itself, also look at how many images you have on each page; if they're too large or too small this can slow down your site.
Users won't wait longer than 5 seconds for any content that interests them. If they see an ad instead, they're likely to leave and find it somewhere else (sources: gomez.com)
Engagement
Engagement with users is one of the most important things for a website to maintain. Users want engagement, so when people are on your site you need to engage with them! One way that websites can be engaging is by commenting or sharing their social media accounts
Attractive Design
Good user experience and design is a huge factor. Is the site easy to navigate and does it make sense? Does it seem like everything was meant to frustrate you? These are all bad qualities for a website. Users want to be happy with the way their experience goes and if they aren't, then you've wasted their attention. Non-intrusive ads will help keep your websites looking professional and clean.
Aesthetic Appeal
Aesthetic appeal also comes into play heavily when evaluating a website. Our brains are naturally wired to categorise things that are pleasing to our senses as good. This means your website needs displays that are visually appealing and pleasing. You'll want to avoid any visuals or sounds that are annoying or unpleasant, which will make your site not only look bad but also less functional overall.
Credible Information
Credible information is a website's most important attribute. A credible site has accurate information on its products or services. For example, a company might have a tile cleaning service, but the site should include the price and availability of this service.
Good Navigation
Good Navigation is important for any site to be successful. Navigation should be easy, intuitive, and without errors. You don't want your visitors to have to look around for what they're looking for, because they will lose patience quickly if the navigation is difficult. Good navigation also prevents people from getting frustrated with your site. People want to know how they can get in touch with you if they have questions or concerns.
Automated Marketing
One of the benefits of automated marketing is that it can be used to target interested customers and provide them with updates about upcoming events and business promotions. Another benefit is that it's automated!
Customised Messages
Message customisation has the power to create a personal connection that can transcend both time and space. It creates an emotional experience that is engaging, informative and memorable. The most successful brands use this technique to engage with their customers.
It humanises you as a business or individual, it creates a deep level of understanding, and it builds trust which is more important now than ever before.
Transparency
Transparency is key when it comes to running a business. It is important to be transparent about your intentions and expectations. If you always keep your customers in the loop, they will be less likely to be angry or surprised when something unexpected happens.
One way that we try to maintain transparency is by checking in with our clients and updating them on any changes that may happen within the company. I also like to ask for feedback from people who visit our website and have used our services. Their opinions and thoughts can help to identify any places where we could make improvements.
Optimised Design
The only way to make your website stand out is if it is optimised for mobile devices. If you want to make sure that your website is accessible for this group of users, then you should use the following techniques:
Simplicity
Make sure that the site is not cluttered, and the navigation is easy to use.
Put important text at the top of each page
Since many people will be looking at your site with their phone in their hands, this means that they are more likely to look at the top of your page before scrolling down.
Keep font sizes legible
Keep font sizes large enough so that users can read them without having to zoom in or squint.
Keep the number of ads to a minimum
Users don't like it when they see popups or lots of advertisements on pages, so do everything you can to make sure that your site is clutter free.
Fast Loading Speed
Having a fast loading speed is important for any website. One of the most popular reasons why people visit websites is to learn about a certain product or service. If the page takes too long to load, then they will become frustrated and move on to a different site that loads faster.
It's also a good idea to have a fast loading speed so that mobile devices don't have trouble loading everything. Mobile phones have slow internet speeds compared to desktop computers due to their limited processing power.
Relevant Navigation
One of the best ways to keep a visitor on your site is to make them feel like they are in control when they are navigating. That means using hyperlinks and headings in a way that makes sense and linking pages together in a logical manner. This will make the process easier for people who want to explore or want to find what they need—they won't feel like you're giving them too many options, but also not making it too easy for them either.
No Distractions
Website designers will often try to distract viewers from what they're supposed to be looking at with blinking ads, animated start-up screens, and constant notifications.
Reliable Server
If you're website keeps having technical issues like it won't load or is too slow to access, then this can be very frustrating for your visitors! It's important to have a reliable server and web hosting company, so you don't risk losing any customer.
Thankfully, our servers are backed up and monitored constantly. If our servers go down for whatever reason, It'll automagically come back up again a few moments later.
Easy Sharing
One of the qualities that is necessary for any website, is the availability of easy sharing. This means making it easy for viewers to share your website or content through social media (with appropriate hashtags), emailing others about what they just saw/read, etc.
Unlimited Scrolling
Unlimited Scrolling means that readers don't have to stop reading on a specific page. This is especially good for articles and other content because readers can still read about a topic even if they don't see it on the first page. Skimmers may also find this helpful, since they can keep scrolling through a site's content without having to move back and forth from one page to another. Unlimited Scrolling makes it possible for readers to explore more of your website at their own pace, as opposed to being limited by how many pages your website has.
If you'd like us to create your professional website that implements the above qualities, please contact and we'd be happy to do so!