10 Must-Have Traits of a Killer Website Design

What does a Killer Website Design website consist of? I’m glad you asked. 

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Is it the visual appeal, the ease of navigation, or perhaps the content? 

The truth is, it’s a combination of these characteristics that play an important role when designing your website. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting, these key traits will help you create a website that not only attracts visitors but keeps them engaged and coming back for more. 

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1. User-Friendly Navigation: When creating a well-designed business website, user-friendly navigation is essential for your business to be easy and accessible for people of all ages. User-friendly navigation means having a straight-to-the-point website that has organized pages and sections. Many of these include menus, sub-menus, call-to-action buttons, and search bars that are easy to use and locate. By having an organized website, it will help viewers find what they’re looking for without stress or confusion. 

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2. Responsive Design and Mobile Compatibility: Think about the last time you visited a website on your phone. Did it load quickly? Was it easy to navigate? Could you access all the features without any issues? If your answer to any of these questions was 'no,' you probably gave up and checked out another website. This is what we want to avoid when creating your website. A well-designed business website needs to be as functional on mobile devices as it is on desktops. This is more of a necessity than a want - especially since almost everyone uses their phones to check out websites. 

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3. Fast Loading Speed: In a world where everything is done quickly and in a short amount of time, you want your website to have a quick loading speed. If a potential customer wants to see what products or services you offer, yet has to refresh the page a couple of times before, then they most likely will give up overall and find a different business to look into. This can cause your business to lose potential customers and foot traffic. 

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4. Clear Call-to-Actions: What is it that you’re trying to get online viewers to do when they check out your website? Is it signing up for a newsletter, creating an appointment, or purchasing a product? Your website needs to make it clear for online viewers as to what their next step should be. By doing so, it gets rid of confusion. It’s vital to create an effective call-to-action because it can increase your conversion rates from viewer to subscriber/buyer. The clearer and more appealing your CTAs are, the more likely users are to follow through.

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5. Effective Use of High-Quality Visuals: Not only is incorporating high-quality visuals effective but it's also a bonus compared to your competitors. When you focus on developing an impactful first impression, storytelling, using brand consistency, and increasing user engagement - they can make a huge difference when it comes to your website’s and business success. (Check out our blog on developing a brand, to see how you can implement this in your website design process.)

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6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): You hear the letters S-E-O all the time on social media, and maybe even read about it in a few other blogs or resources. Yet you may not understand why it truly matters when it comes to building a well-designed website. To put it simply, start with ‘keyword research’. This Identifies the keywords and phrases most relevant to your business and includes them naturally into your website's content, meta descriptions, and headers. Next, you’ll want to focus on using those keywords on your website’s page - like the landing page, or any other pages you have on your website. This way your pages, and main landing page pop up on search engines (like Google) when people search for something that falls in line with your business. By starting with these two simple measures for improving your SEO, you’re already one step ahead of your competitors. (If you want to dive deeper into SEO, check out ‘What is SEO ’ or‘ SEO Best Practices’.)

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7. Browser Consistency: this is probably one that not everyone talks about, because if it looks good on their computer on Google Chrome then it must look good everywhere, right?... Hmm, not really. When designing a business website, it’s easy to get caught up in the aesthetics and accessibility as you create them on your browser. But, the reality is that not everyone uses the same browser as you do. A well-designed business website must provide a seamless user experience across all major browsers - from Chrome and Firefox to Safari and Edge, and even lesser-used options like Opera. 

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8. Compelling Content and Copywriting: This seems like a no-brainer for most of us out here creating a website, but for some, it can be a challenge to fully understand what it means to have compelling content. Or how can you be savvy in your copywriting? To create effective content and upgrade your copywriting, you can go in several different directions to get this done. First, you can utilize AI to help you generate copywriting (if writing isn’t your strong suit) like CreativoAI - it has different options as to how you want your voice to sound, and how you can create copy for blogs, social media, newsletters, etc! Or you can work on both yourself. The main things you need to note when it comes to creating content and copywriting (even if you’re using AI) are that 1) you need to know your audience - what sparks their interest, why they follow you, what their demographics are, etc. 2) Quality over quantity, don’t throw out nonsense just for the sake of meeting a quota - everything on your website needs to be done with love and intention, and 3) create an emotional connection with your audience by sharing customer success stories, case studies, and testimonials (will be discussed more in the next point). But once you have these three main points, you’re already being authentic with your audience and not being a robot (no offense to AI). 

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9. Customer Testimonials and Reviews: This is all about building trust, showing the truth about your business, and building a relationship with your audience. Displaying customer testimonials and reviews can help your website be seen as more authentic, real, and trustworthy. Think about it, if you’re on a website that offers therapy sessions, how do you know they’re legit if they don’t have any success stories or reviews from past clients? Are you going to go out of your way to call them and ask questions to see if they are a reputable business? Probably not. This is why when designing your website, make sure to create an easily accessible visible space for your online visitors to see what others have experienced with you - the good and the ugly. 

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10. Integrated Social Media Links and Contact Information: Speaking in terms of design, you’ll want to make the icons for social media blend in and be on brand with your website so they don’t stick out too much from the rest of your page. You’ll also want to make it visible on all pages of your website to make it convenient for your online viewers to get connected. But adding social media links and contact info to your site isn’t just about design; it’s a way to get online viewers to make the next move. It opens up more ways to connect and engage, helping you build lasting relationships with your audience. Plus, it boosts your site’s user experience and impact.

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By focusing on these ten key traits, you’ll build a website that not only looks great but also provides high-quality performance for your online viewers.

Ready to elevate your website? Visit pmfcreative.com to get started.