{"id":1117,"date":"2021-01-05T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2022-07-14T23:45:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T03:45:19","slug":"what-a-successful-website-really-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/what-a-successful-website-really-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Successful Website Really Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Setting up your first website is a huge undertaking, even (especially) when it&#8217;s a simple site for a tiny nonprofit or solopreneur. Even a small site has to do a lot of heavy lifting\u2014synthesize your brand, deliver your message, convert visitors to clients or donors. This may be foreign territory to you, and you probably have a lot of questions about what makes for a successful and engaging website. And if you&#8217;re talking to potential developers or doing any research on the web, you may get caught up in hype around shiny new &#8220;must have&#8221; features, like <a href=\"https:\/\/dribbble.com\/tags\/neuromorphic\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">neuromorphic<\/a> design or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creativebloq.com\/web-design\/parallax-scrolling-1131762\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">parallax animation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before your anxiety turns into a full-blown panic attack, take a deep breath and a big step back. Forget about bells and whistles; instead of thinking &#8220;What features does my site need?&#8221; consider &#8220;What are my business goals?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Who is your primary audience?<\/li><li>What value does your organization offer them?<\/li><li>How are they coming to your site?<\/li><li>How does your site promote your value proposition?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Large or small, simple or complex, a website needs to be polished and professional: no amount of trendy widgets will compensate for basic mistakes like typos in your headlines, broken links, or navigation that takes you nowhere (and yes, I&#8217;ve seen all of these issues and more in too many new sites!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s what you really need for a polished and professional site:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Usability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/seekbrevity.com\/semantic-markup-important-web-design\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Semantic markup<\/a> improves SEO and makes it easier for people with disabilities (roughly 1 billion people worldwide) to access your content.<\/li><li>A clear and consistent navigation structure helps visitors explore and engage.<\/li><li>A robust search function helps users with specific goals quickly find what they need.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>All copy should be accurate and up-to-date\u2014from your staff directory to the copyright date in your footer.<\/li><li>Less is more.<\/li><li>Include a clear call to action.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Follow principles of <a href=\"https:\/\/freshsparks.com\/why-responsive-design-is-important\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">responsive design<\/a> (or select a template that uses responsive design) to make sure your site plays nicely on different devices and browsers.<\/li><li>Keep it simple.<\/li><li>Use consistent and readable fonts, and keep the number of fonts to a minimum (usually two or three max).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Images<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Select images that align with your brand and add meaning to your content.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jimdo.com\/blog\/optimize-website-images-for-better-design-seo\/#Summary_Optimizing_a_website_image_for_quality_and_SEO\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Optimize images<\/a> so they display correctly (i.e., not pixelated or stretched) and load quickly.<\/li><li>Include <a href=\"https:\/\/9clouds.com\/blog\/the-importance-of-alt-attributes-aka-alt-text\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">alt text<\/a> for all images.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Test! Test!! Test!!!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Proofread every section of every page, and then have someone else do the same.<\/li><li>View your site on as many different devices and browsers as you can, and complete any forms or other interactive elements your visitors might experience.<\/li><li>Ask staff\/family\/friends\/colleagues to test and provide feedback as well.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Your first site doesn&#8217;t need a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestocktonflyer.co.uk\/about.php\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bells and whistles<\/a> to be effective. It can&#8217;t be successful, however, without the basics. Focus on building a polished and professional site, and THEN consider whether features like chatbots or animations are worth your time and expense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Setting up your first website is a huge undertaking, even (especially) when it&#8217;s a simple site for a tiny nonprofit or solopreneur. Even a small &#8230; <a title=\"What a Successful Website Really Needs\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/what-a-successful-website-really-needs\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about What a Successful Website Really Needs\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5868,"featured_media":1656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/files\/2021\/01\/Stockton_Flyer_skewed-sm.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gayleboyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}