5 Do’s for a Successful Website

Having a website is no less than having a brick and mortar store. In fact it is more than that as people all over the world can visit your store without having to physically bring themselves. This makes it all the more vital to have a great website which communicates the right messages and easy to find and understand information to your target audience. Right mixture of various elements is important for this. Mentioned below are some of the main aspects that have to be very carefully handled to make your website a great success:

1) Focus on web accessibility and usability: Create your website in such a way that your site users can find what they're looking for quickly and easily. Even users who have difficulty seeing, hearing and making precise movements can use them with ease. Some of the main features of web usability and accessibility are:

- Easy, intuitive and consistent navigation throughout the website. If your visitors cannot find the information that they are looking for in 3 clicks, then they are gone.

- Create the design keeping in mind specific user goals and needs.

- Pages should download quickly.

- Information should be easy to retrieve.

- Address at least the major accessibility issues such as provide text equivalent to non text elements, ensure script allows accessibility, use frame titles, synchronize all multimedia elements etc.,

- Perform usability tests to see which areas of your website are doing good and which ones are causing all the traffic to leave. Once you have the analysis, work on the weak areas.

In short, web usability and accessibility can be sub-divided into the following:

• Ease with which visitors find their way around the site during their first visit.

• How quickly do users recall how to use the site when they return after a period of time.

• What kind of errors do visitors make and the ease with which they adjust.

• How are the visitors moving towards the goals of your website which can be lead generation forms, purchases, subscriptions etc.,

For this use a web development company which creates websites focusing on web usability as a standard practice.

2) Focus on SEO friendly framework: Create website structure and framework which is easy for search engine crawlers to index. There are structural issues which act as roadblocks in proper indexing of the website. Search engines are a good source of getting website traffic and exposure to a website and therefore it is worth making your website structure by keeping search engine friendly parameters in mind. At least the basic parameters such be addressed like Frames, too much of flash should be avoided, text should not be used in pictures etc.,

Getting your website developed by a web development company which is also into SEO can help.

3) Create focused content: Content is very important not only from web users perspective, but also from search engines point of view. Create content keeping your end users in perspective. The content should be relevant, focused and engaging. Additional content can be used to help your users in the form of helpful Articles, blog posts on your blogs etc.. The content should be created in such a way that other websites in your industry and linkeratis (using their blogs, social media sites etc.,) want to link to it.

For this get help from expert copywriters who can create focused content for your website or optimize already existing content.



4) Have helpful features: Use features on your website which will help your target audience. Forums, blogs, videos, quiz, feedback, rating, news tickers, RSS feeds etc., wherever applicable if used in the right way enhances the user experience, increases the stickiness of the website and helps in link baiting (people linking to your site without you exchanging a link or asking them for a link).

You can consider using various experimental marketing strategies to understand which work best for your target audience.

5) Get in front of your target audience: Be prominent on websites, directories, online business journals etc., where your target audience is. In such places, use various advertising models such as banner ads, text ads, affiliate marketing etc., to get noticed.

If you do not have the skills, resources and time to create a website keeping the above basic parameters in mind, it is a good idea to a hire a professional web development company which is also as much involved in online marketing.