5 elements for a successful new website

Having a successful website is essential for any business in today’s digital world. A website can be the face of your brand, and its design and content should reflect your company’s values and mission.

To ensure you have a winning website that stands out from the competition, there are five essential elements to consider: quality content, great visuals, responsive layout, search engine optimization (SEO), and good security.

Let’s take a quick look at each.

Quality content

Quality content is your website’s secret sauce. Without engaging, strategic content that engages viewers, your web design won’t make any impact whatsoever. Investing in quality web content is critical if you want to create an effective site that attracts visitors and keeps them coming back for more!

Many web design agencies are also experts in quality web content. But if the company you’re using isn’t, you may need to write the content yourself.

If writing isn’t your thing and your web design agency doesn’t offer content as a service, look for a company or individual that specializes in web content.

To get the most out of your web design, let an expert take care of it with your feedback and guidance.

Great visuals

Your website is not complete without good photos and possibly videos. Quality pictures and videos make a good impact, bad or good. They have the power to grab someone’s attention in the blink of an eye and truly make your website stand out from the competition.

Imagine the difference between a webpage full of random stock photos versus one with clear, well-composed visuals that represent what you’re trying to communicate, especially if they’re actually pictures of you and your team. Quality photos and videos make all the difference when it comes to web design.

And don’t grab images from a Google image search. That’s illegal, and you can get in major trouble for doing that. Legitimate web design agencies will always use custom photos or stock photos they have the legal right to use.

Responsive layout

Also referred to as being mobile-friendly, having a website that is responsive to various devices and platforms is an absolute must these days.

Having a website that’s designed to adjust to the user’s device—whether it be desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile—will keep your audience engaged regardless of the platform they use.

After all, if your website looks weird on a phone or if buttons are too small to press, you’re going to lose your potential customer!

An outdated web design means you’re missing out on potential customers. So make sure to stay up to date on responsive layout technologies because great web design is responsive design!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you care about the way your web presence looks on Google, then SEO as part of your web design is important. SEO is all about going that extra mile to impact where and how you show up in Google’s results.

A new website can be a good start, but if you’re serious, additional investment will help knock your web presence up to the next level. Those hoping to stay on top of search engines should keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process and will take an ongoing investment to stay competitive.

Having a great web design isn’t just important when you go live with a new site. Keeping current with web design and SEO best practices is key for anyone who wants to rank well in Google searches.

Good security

Web design is important. But security should also be a priority with a new website. As we’ve seen, even major international security companies have been hacked.

If you don’t want to end up like them, you—or your webmaster, web designer, or marketing agency—need to make sure you have a plan for when disaster strikes.

Setting your website up as HTTPS—with SSL—is the bare minimum. Don’t take any chances with your web security: Establish a plan now, and do what you can to keep the hackers at bay.

Don’t be intimidated by this list; an experienced web designer or marketing agency can help with all of these elements in order for you to have success online. If you find yourself struggling with any aspect of creating a new website, don’t hesitate to hire an expert who will make sure your site is up-to-date, secure, and optimized for search engines—all while helping it look its best!