The Top 3 Must-Haves for Websites These Days

Businesses always want to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. Web design can play an important role in giving you an edge. Your website should be helping, not hindering you, and letting it grow stagnant or not work for you is a mistake. Luckily a web design firm can help you get on the right track and in conjunction with an SEO agency or digital marketing agency, the sky is really the limit for your business! It’s not just about the traffic — you also need to convert that traffic into sales. Indeed, over 80% of marketers cite bettering their overall conversion as a top priority for website optimization programs. Below, we’ll cover what you need in a good website, what other elements can help your business, and how web design firms can help. 

What are the Must-Haves For Websites These Days? 

A clean, accessible design that loads quickly is important — you have about ten seconds to capture or lose consumers’ interest, so you want to give them everything they need to know upfront. Mobile optimization is also crucial — we’ve all gone on those websites that don’t configure right on our phones and it’s a lot of zooming and pinching to make them readable or workable. Most customers will simply go elsewhere and you don’t want that! 

Good SEO is also important. If you have good SEO, your website surfaces towards the top of search engine results, which means more traffic. The more traffic you have, the more potential chances to convert browsers into shoppers. Developing good content and keywords can make a big difference in how broad your exposure is. 

New Website Trends to Know 

Chatbots and live chat are becoming a more prevalent feature on websites. Should the user have a customer service question or have trouble locating a specific item, they can turn to the chatbot or a live chat for immediate assistance. Instead of having to call or e-mail a separate person, they can conduct all their business right on the site, without navigating away. Because it’s less work, more people are likely to stay on the site and keep browsing, as they wait for their answer. 

Short videos are also popular in our age of going viral. From brief tutorials or other quirky animations, they keep the user interested and engaged, and can show off products and services in a straightforward way. Plus, they’re easy to reshare and can give the business more exposure. 

Bullet points and bold typography are also continuing to trend, which makes sense. Bullet points provide information in an accessible and easy to digest manner — and also allow readers to skim quickly. Bold typography is eye-catching and exudes confidence and an aesthetic that consumers are attracted to. 

And of course, linking to social media pages (or even having a sidebar with social media tweets or pictures updating in real time) is always helpful in expanding your reach. 

How Can a Web Design Firm Help Me? 

A web design firm will know what’s trending now — and what’s expected to trend later — and be able to suggest ways for you to incorporate those elements into your website. Even if your website has good bones, it shouldn’t be a “set and it and forget it” type of thing — you want to be regularly updating and refreshing its appearance and content. 

They’ll also have the practical know-how to implement the ideas and elements that you want in your website, so you won’t have to retain someone on staff to handle your website. The firm can take your website from vision to reality easily and without having to hire a new staff member. 

Just like your business, your website should continue to evolve. With the help of a web design firm and some experts in SEO and digital marketing, you can ensure that this is possible and stay on the cutting edge of what’s working.