Having a website for your business today is essential. However, it’s now not just enough to have a website and show that you have a web presence with your contact number on, you need a lot more than that for a successful business. You need to have an awesome website, one that makes you stand out from the crowd and one that not only complements your business but sells it. So what makes a website awesome?

Make a good first impression

This is the first rule because it’s the first thing that matters. Studies have shown that people only take 5-8 seconds to decide if they're going to stay on a website or not. So that doesn't give you long to make a good impression. To have an awesome website, you need to make it captivating, make people want to stay and tell them how you can help them! But at the same time, you really don’t want to overwhelm or confuse visitors to your site as this might cause them to leave, so you need to find the balance.

Make your text readable

You're likely to have some text on your site to describe your business and your products and services. For your website to be awesome, you need your text to be formatted properly so that visitors can read and digest the information easily. Make sure you have easy to read typography and fonts, short and sweet texts, bullet points and lists and make sure there is a decent amount of spacing between paragraphs and sentences. It's also important to include proper headings and use a call to action and make sure that your message gets across effectively. You can check you have this right by doing click testing which can really help to make better, more informed design decisions when developing a new page.

Optimize your site

Today, more and more people are viewing websites via their mobile phones; they look at things on the go. So, you need to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile use; otherwise, you will alienate a large number of people, and this is no good for business.

Make sure its responsive

Not only does your site need to be optimized for smartphones and other mobile devices, but it also needs to be as responsive as it would be if it were to be viewed and used on a laptop or PC at home. Make sure it's just as quick and effective so that anyone can access your website whenever they need to.

Make it sophisticated yet simple

The more sophisticated the design of your website is, the more smooth and sleek it will be to your potential customers. Having a simple design makes things easier for the viewer and will make a larger impact. There are loads of designs and layouts you can look at to inspire you, and if you have a look at different websites yourself, you will see which ones look messy and which ones you find simple and easy to navigate around. Which ones make you interested in finding out more? Which ones make you want to buy? Do your research so that you know what works, what you like, and what makes you want more.

Choose ads wisely

One of the best ways to make money from your website is through ad revenue, however, if you have a website full of adverts and with ads popping up everywhere, then it is not only bad for SEO purposes, but it is also quite annoying for visitors to your site, and they won't stay there very long. The more adverts you have in inconvenient places on your site, the less likely people will be to return to your website in the future. You should also be careful only to choose advertisers who are relevant or complement your site.

Invest in imagery

Many people overlook how important imagery is on their websites. It's really important to have high-resolution imagery, and as much as you might want to use your own original images instead of stock photography, you need to be very confident in your photography skills to do that as you can't just expect to snap a photo on your phone and have it look good on your site. However, when it comes to stock photography, you also don't want to have the same images that everyone else has on their sites. So, it's important to be creative, think about what works for you and your business and choose accordingly and invest in your imagery if you want the best results.

Include a call to action

As we know, users have short attention spans, and they don't want your website to be hard work. So, with this in mind, if you want your website to be awesome, then you need to tell your customers what to do and where to click. If they don't know where to go or how you can help them, then they will probably just leave the site and go elsewhere. Make sure that it's clearly stated on the site what action you want the user to take. Include a call to action such as “Buy now”, “Request information”, “Add to Cart” as these will increase the conversions on your site. Make sure that you don't overdo it though as this will also annoy your visitors, but at the same time make sure that you have 'call to actions' throughout the site and not just on the main page. 

 If you make sure that you do these key things, then you'll be on your way to having an awesome website, one that will set you apart from the competition and show your business in the best light possible. Remember, your website these days is just like your shop window, so that first impression has to be good.