The Perfect Website
Posted by System | Wednesday, July 01, 2009
What makes the perfect website is mostly a personal choice as all websites are a personal journey.
In theory though a website must do a number of basic things to ensure it could be anywhere near useful before the dizzying heights of perfection could be considered.
The potential of any website could also be highlighted by its purpose, such as an e-commerce or information website, but generally a few things need to be givens for any successful online presence.
Look and Feel
The visual style of a website is in effect the first thing we all see. Regardless of our landing page we will expect to feel comfortable and informed, quickly and easily.
Navigation should be clear and obvious, as without it visitors will be unlikely to stay onboard. Your message, what you do, why, how and when should be readily available to all.
All images should be of the highest quality available, especially if you are selling something online as good images sell products. Video content can be a useful tool for this aim when used correctly.
Content
It is not just what you say but also how you say it. It is important to think about your message as your 'viewer' must understand what you have to tell them as they may not yet know what you know.
Content should be informative yet interesting. Do not write for yourself as you will already know what you do. Ensure that you write quality content that can be understood and will make people want to read the website to learn and engage.
Ability to Sell
A website does not need to engage in online sales to sell online. All online content has a value to someone. Whether this is products for sale, information, advice or intellectual property it will have a customer.
So, with this in mind, does your website sell itself well enough? Can users who are researching your 'product' get all of the information that they need to make an informed decision before purchase. If not, why not?
If you sell online, do all products have good quality images for viewing with descriptive additional information and technical specification where relevant?
If this is not evident and you are not selling enough online it may be time to review your process.
Understandability
You may know exactly what you mean but that does not mean everybody will. If you know it as a widget but all of your potential customers know it as a gizmo then it should be referred to as a gizmo. Do not just review your website yourself; get those who do not know much, or anything, about your offering to do this.
You must ensure there is a balance between informative and understandable. If your potential customers do not 'get' what you are offering they will simply and easily 'get' it somewhere else.
The Small Print
There is always small print but do not hide this away. Trading terms and conditions are important so ensure that they are available to everyone who needs to see them.
Alongside the legal implications of terms and conditions you should be happy to display these as they are conditions of sale or engagement. Simple things such as prices can often be missing from e-commerce websites (Nobody buys something if they do not know how much it is).
Postage charges should be shown as early as possible. With sales No is always No regardless of when it is said, so why hide information. Be competitive and be clear. If there are conditions to your offer or service then be informative regarding these as it will lead to better customer relations for your business.