What makes a good website? Well, there are plenty of factors to consider. Everything from design to user experience counts, along with the various optimisations needed to help search engines find it. And there’s much more besides, believe us.
Luckily, we’re here to help. The team at Cognition Agency have put together this article, highlighting 5 key website best practices you should follow for success within the digital marketplace.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, over two-fifths (43%) of digital marketers increased their content budgets during 2021, and a further two thirds expect to see theirs rise again in 2022. As such, the need to create high-quality, insightful content that audiences can engage with should be on the radar of every serious web professional.
When it comes to website best practices, things to consider regarding content creation include:
Content is one of the most pivotal website optimisation best practices, as ramping up its production will greatly increase the likelihood of you reaching your target audience with information they’re actually looking for. Therefore you stand a much higher chance of achieving both lead generation and conversion.
Design is another important website best practice. Your site will need to be eye-catching and engage viewers. To achieve this, clear and memorable branding must exist everywhere on-site. Elements like colours and contrasts will not only help make your aesthetics more consistent, but also affect users on a psychological level. Likewise, a well-laid-out design that's structured to ensure visitors have clear pathways will help streamline the entire user journey and keep visitors coming back for more.
Testing different looks and feels for your website can help indicate which formats and types of content work best against different design features. Also, don’t forget to include CTAs – these are the callouts that help convert viewers into leads. CTAs will need to fit into your website alongside any other existing visual assets and content you have.
If you think you’ll need some extra support improving your website’s design quality, check out our digital marketing services.
When thinking about website best practices, you must take UX into account. UX stands for “User Experience'', which affects users from the moment they arrive on your site to when they click off – hopefully not before converting though. Whether you’re looking to improve your website’s navigation or simply decrease bounce rates, having a strong UX in place will help.
Some UX elements to bear in mind on your website are:
Improving UX will help streamline your website, possibly even setting it apart from those of your competitors within the digital marketplace. Once your UX is on the right track, you can rest easy knowing that one of the most important website best practices is taken care of.
SEO, which stands for “Search Engine Optimisation”, is the bread and butter of organic digital marketing. Not only can it help your website gain more visibility online, but it also increases the likelihood of you ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERPs). For any website, an effective SEO strategy can work wonders.
Inserting targeted keywords organically across on-site content is one of the simplest and most effective SEO best practices out there. Likewise, boosting organic content output while simultaneously focusing on what users are actually searching for is a surefire way to increase your overall web traffic.
Other proven SEO techniques to help make websites more visible include:
Collecting, analysing and reporting on overall performance are essential as far as website best practices are concerned. The results you obtain will help inform future digital marketing strategies, so knowing how best to retrieve them is invaluable.
Creating a “Measurement Framework'' is an excellent way of analysing your website. This type of framework takes the following key elements into consideration:
If you feel like your business or brand could use some extra support in making sure that any or all of the above website best practices are met, please contact Cognition Agency for helpful expertise on your way to digital excellence.