How to Build a Fully Functional Website in 2020

Websites are now one of the most essential assets owned by businesses across the world. Having established a home on the web, it’s now possible for companies to sell their products entirely online, skipping the rent and costs of a physical store altogether. With this in mind, this piece takes a look at how a fully-functional website ought to look in 2020 – featuring all the bells and whistles that make a great modern website for business. Read on to learn what you should focus on for your website in 2020 and beyond. By doing so, you can increase the likelihood of your website being one of the best on the web, drawing in consumers from all corners of the globe.

Clean Design

There’s no doubt that the first impression counts on the internet. A web visitor landing on your site and finding a color they don’t like, a design they find anachronistic, or text that they disagree with will quickly move off your site, never to return. Indeed, research suggests that most consumers make up their minds about a website in the first second of their visit. You need to ensure minds are made up to trust your site in that second.

How can you do this? Easy. You make the design as simple as possible. Never dismiss what white space can do to a page. While most people might be concerned about not having enough on a page, a website that consists of too many colors, animations, and fancy designs is only going to distract the users. Plus, you are increasing the potential number of bounce rates because people can’t easily discover what you are offering them or they dislike the ‘in your face’ design. Common ways to keep your website clean and simple include:

• Creating a color scheme, and then only sticking to these few colors throughout! Taking inspiration from your existing business logo or branding can be useful. However, remember these colors should be easy to digest and flow together well and highlight your website, not hinder it. Try to limit the number of bold colors you choose, and instead opt for more neutral tones or pastel shades.
• Have a consistent layout. Don’t feel the need to use a different layout on each page, for instance, or think that it is ok to have varying sidebar sizes. All of this is going to distract your user.
• Keep your fonts simple, not fancy. While certain typography might look fun for your headers, for your bulk text, the chances are it will not. You want a font that is easy to read in order to keep your visitors interested in your brand.

Backend Design

The other side to web design that’ll make your website a high-functioning home on the web for your company is in the backend. If you’re able to code your website right, you’ll be able to expose your infrastructure to the algorithms that rank your website on Google’s search results pages (SERPs). If you do this right, you’ll rank higher, attracting more customers as a result. You can get help with this, and more, from expert teams at website design Coventry, who’ll ensure your backend is pristine and well-designed. They will be able to ensure that any website produced follows the guidelines we set out above for a clean looking website.

Payment Options

When it comes to the sharp end of your website – the part on which you ask for the cash of consumers – you want to make sure that you’re offering a wide array of payment options. Payments can be made with a variety of cards, online wallets, cryptocurrencies, and other websites, and you’ll please your customers by offering all of these checkout options when they come to pay for their cart. Build-in payment options to facilitate trade on your site.

This should be a top priority, as it can be a make or break moment for customers. If you offer different payment options, you are limiting the number of baskets that are left at the checkout, never to be purchased by the customer. You are also more likely to gain a loyal customer, too, which is always a bonus for a company looking to grow.

Multimedia

Getting the right balance between being a clean website and one that is inspiring is crucial. You don’t want to find that while being so concerned with making a ‘clean’ website that you produce one that features only static text and basic design features. This can feel barren, old, and a little uninspiring. Indeed, one of the highest-rated ways to improve your websites in the eyes of consumers is simply to add a video to the homepage, and pictures to your other pages. Multimedia helps consumers to surf through your pages without being forced to read continuously to find exactly what they want in the shortest possible time.

You might find that by utilizing this method, your customers engage better with your content. Better engagement will mean more loyal customers, a better reputation, and an increase in conversions.

Marketing

While the look of your website is an important aspect, if no one can appreciate this or use your services, then this will be your time wasted. Your website is the best place to base your SEO strategy – something that can take weeks to develop, but that pays off over the long-term as you finish higher on those all-important search results pages. By finishing higher on the SERPs, you are increasing your chances of customers finding your website.

When you’re managing your SEO team, ensure that they’re focused on how to draw in more click to your website – which involves content creation, but also labeling and backend fiddling, too. So, for instance, you should be using keywords in your content, titles, meta descriptions, and working on content marketing, as great quality content is one of the ranking factors Google looks for.

Conclusion

Make yourself a high-functioning, impressive website by keeping the five key ingredients listed above in mind, ensuring you’re building a platform that’s future-facing and fantastic.