Your website is designed to be the face of your business online, which means that it is extremely important that it is designed well and visitors are left with a good impression of your brand and your business. However, in some instances websites contain mistakes which can become problematic for your visitors. To help you avoid some of the most commonly made mistakes, I have included some key elements that every website should include in their design.
Social Media – In this day and age it is hard to imagine a business that doesn’t have some type of social media link on their website; but it does happen. It is important that you include the social media icons in an easy to locate area on your site. This is an extremely important element for all businesses, but especially for small businesses trying to get established.
Images – At one point or another we’ve have all used stock images, while this may meet your immediate needs, these types of images shouldn’t make up the majority of your image library. To help keep your website fresh and interesting for visitors, it is recommended that you use original images or creative illustrations. Visitors tend to spend more time on a website that contains images that are appealing to the eye and invoke some type of emotion.
Security – With so much focus being placed on security lately, it is important for the success of your website to feature a secure checkout. Customers are now more than ever that their information can be obtained by hackers; even some of the largest retailers have recently experienced the damage that hackers can do to their reputation. To maintain your positive reputation among users of your site, it is imperative that you make security one of your top priorities.
FAQ’s – Many website owners may believe that there is no need to include this area on their website, but some visitors to your site may not feel the same way. Not everyone has the same level of experience when it comes to internet use; for this reason every website should include a FAQ’s section. This will help answer any questions that visitors may have about how your website operates and other questions that commonly arise among website visitors. You should also ensure that this section is easy to locate and not buried in the footer.