I’ve noticed that when people design their websites they repeatedly make the same mistakes and overlook basic elements that constitute a successful website.
In all honesty, there are so many components that make for a successful website, so I want to focus on my top 5 repeatedly underrated elements that I see happening too often, but with only a few tweaks can be fixed in no time at all.
I’ll explain why each element is important, show you some examples of the errors I see and tell you how you can fix them with minimal effort.
Let's dive right into my top 5 repeatedly underrated elements of a successful website.
Blog Contents:
Eye-Catching Colours and Images
Effective Written Communication
Easy Navigation
Compatibility Across All Devices
Accessibility
Eye-Catching Colours and Images
This may seem superficial as one of the 5 underrated elements of a successful website, but let’s think about it for a moment.
What is the first thing you see when you land on someone’s website?
Colours, design, layout and images.
I would bet a few pounds that you're not immediately reading the text on the website.
Design and imagery are incredibly important and often underrated because people believe that the content on their website is what matters most.
I don’t want to beat around the bush here, but if I navigate onto a website and it’s cluttered, the colours clash (and not in an intentional and impactful way), I can’t read the text because it doesn’t stand out against the background and the photos are poor quality, then I’m sorry but I’m moving quickly along to the next site.
Take a look at this example:
This is a screenshot of the Daily Mail’s website, a very successful paper in the UK, although it seems their success definitely can’t be credited to their website.
Normally you couldn’t pay me to read this rag, but even less so when I look at the mess that is their website!
Mistakes:
It is extremely cluttered, with too many articles bunched together, the writing is small which makes it difficult to read, there are too many additional info buttons such as sharing to Facebook and number of comments and the sizing of the images and text is misaligned which also adds to the messy aesthetic.
Fixes:
Less is more, re-align the text and image boxes so they appear more cohesive, reduce the amount of text so that each headline stands out rather than getting lost in a sea of words, and have more colour contrasts in different sections so there is a clear journey through the website.
Effective Written Communication
Next on the list of the 5 repeatedly underrated elements of a successful website is the text itself.
Firstly, make sure the font is readable and try not to use more than three different fonts otherwise it starts to look incoherent.
Secondly, use a colour that stands out against the background, for example, if you have a blue background, don’t use red text as it’s extremely difficult to read.
Likewise, don’t use two colours that are very similar as they will just blend into one.
Thirdly, don’t be boring! Easier said than done, right?
What I mean by that is don’t simply provide a timeline of your CV when talking about your background or experience.
Why not tell a story, ask a question, bust a myth or start your timeline from the present day and jump back to the start?
You can implement these techniques to keep your readers interested and to help them navigate through your website more cohesively.
Read these two paragraphs:
Hi, I’m Janie, a virtual assistant specialising in blog writing, website services and podcast management. I studied modern languages and linguistics at university, trained to teach English as a foreign language and most recently completed a well-respected virtual assistant course so I can better help you with your online business needs.
Hey hey, I’m Janie, the digital wing woman you didn’t know you needed, until now!
Have you been playing the comparison game recently?
Believe me, I get it. For too long I did the same, constantly looking at other people and thinking that they have an amazing website or an engaging podcast.
Well, I’ve got your back and together we can seriously boost your online presence with the digital services I’ve learned and honed over the years as a virtual assistant.
I know which virtual assistant I’d like to work with!
Please don’t be afraid to add your personality to your website copy (that’s just a fancy way of saying writing or text) and stop being the cringey chat GPT robot who tries to speak to everybody and winds up talking to nobody.
This is your time to shine and stand out from the crowd. You will not believe how many VA websites I’ve come across that look identical, with the same old minimalist aesthetic that everyone else has…it’s kinda dull!
Oh, and another VERY important thing to remember, it’s not all about you.
ALWAYS keep your ideal client/customer in mind and speak directly to them, telling them exactly why they should part with their hard-earned cash and how your experience, product or service will improve their lives.
Easy Navigation Supports a Successful Website
To build a successful website you must provide an easy to read map so that people can navigate from A to B and back again without getting lost in a sea of unnecessary pages and clutter.
This starts with a clear and concise menu bar linking to exactly what the menu item indicates.
Make sure your menu bar doesn’t disappear as the user moves between pages, if they want to return to the homepage it should be an easy click back to the start.
Don’t forget to add strategic buttons throughout your website that allow the user to easily access a service or to book a call with you.
Whatever your main goal is, lead the user in that direction, there should be a minimal amount of clicks for your ideal client to navigate through to get in touch with you.
Navigation is not just about the physical buttons or menus that a user must click, but the overall cohesive journey through your website.
Consistent branding, messaging, colour palette and fonts all play a role in easy navigation.
Compatibility Across All Devices
This is a big one.
Even some of the most well-known brands/companies make this mistake.
Not optimising your website for all types of devices is one of the top 5 repeatedly underrated elements of a successful website.
When I work on my website I much prefer using my laptop, it’s bigger, I can type more easily and I can see everything so much better.
This is why I can understand how easy it might be to overlook the mobile or tablet version of your website and how it appears on those devices.
Approximately 63% of website traffic comes from mobile users, therefore it is essential that your website is compatible with all types of devices, especially mobile phones.
Web-building sites such as Wix, make it simple to check compatibility between devices, as you can easily toggle between the two and any adjustments you make won’t affect the other format.
There is also a handy preview button to see how your website appears on different devices.
Top Tips:
Adjust the font size so it’s big enough to read on a mobile device.
Reduce image sizes so they don’t take too long to load
Check the alignment so the text and images sit in the correct position
Re-arrange sections so they appear coherently and not in a mismatched order.
Accessibility Is a Must for a Successful Website
Creating an accessible website is another repeatedly underrated element of a successful website. Why? Well quite frankly, if the business owner who is building the site doesn’t have any additional accessibility needs it can be very easily overlooked in the haste to publish.
We must make a conscious effort to understand the needs of others and create a website that is welcoming for all.
I use Wix to build my websites and thankfully they have an accessibility tool that walks me through exactly what I need to do to make sure the website is accessible.
For example, I recently adjusted the colour gradients on my site so that my text is more readable, it only needed a small tweak but that small adjustment could make a big difference.
Another element that is often overlooked is adding alt text to images.
Often, people use alt text to sneakily add keywords to their site to try to improve the SEO, please don’t do that.
Adding alt text to the images on your website is a way to describe to someone with visual impairment what is happening in the image. If you start adding random keywords to that text you will most likely create an uncomfortable user experience.
It’s best practice to add an accessibility statement to your website stating you have made every effort to adhere to suggested guidelines for your country and provide a means of contact and request any feedback.
So there you have it, my 5 repeatedly underrated elements of a successful website.
Do you agree?
I truly believe if you nail these 5 underrated elements you will be well on your way to creating a successful website.
Unfortunately, I know so many people who have started building their website and it remains unfinished because they get overwhelmed, they don’t know how many pages to design or they get stuck with the web copy.
Don’t let that be you! Reach out if you need an objective pair of eyes to look over your site, click here to get my custom website audit today!
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