Why a Pretty Design Alone Doesn’t Make a Good Website

Have you ever visited a website that looked stunning but was frustrating to navigate? Or a website that was slow to load, insecure, or just didn’t work? A pretty design might catch your eye, but there’s so much more to building a successful website than just looks.

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1. A good website is user-friendly.

The user experience (UX) is the most important factor in creating a successful website. A website that is difficult to navigate or doesn’t provide the information that visitors are looking for is likely to drive them away. To make your website user-friendly, you should:

Have a good navigation structure: A clear and intuitive navigation structure will help visitors quickly find the information they are looking for.
Provide relevant information: Visitors should be able to find important information like pricing and contact information easily. You can also consider including a FAQ section to answer common questions.
Have clear a call-to-action (CTA): Each page of your site should have a clear message and a specific CTA to guide visitors towards the next step.
Ensure error-free content: Make sure all of the content on your site is proofread and free of errors. Typos and grammar mistakes can make your site look unprofessional.
Check for broken links: Broken links can be frustrating for visitors and can harm your SEO. Use a good broken link checker to ensure all of your links are working.
Make the site mobile-friendly: With more and more people accessing the web on their mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly site is crucial.
Consider accessibility: Your website should be accessible to those with disabilities. This includes adding alt-text to images, providing captions for videos, and ensuring your site is compatible with screen readers.
Localize your content: If you have a global audience, consider localizing your content to make it more relevan

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2. A good website is search engine-friendly.

A website that is not optimized for search engines is like a billboard in the middle of a desert; it may be beautiful, but nobody will see it. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website to make sure it is found by its intended audience. To make your website search engine-friendly, you should:

Add descriptive meta tags: Meta tags are snippets of code that describe the content of a web page. By including relevant meta tags, search engines can better understand what your page is about and display it in relevant search results.
Optimize page titles: A page title should accurately describe the content of the page while also including keywords that people may use to find your site.
Use header tags: H1 tags should be used for the main title of the page, while H2 and H3 tags should be used for subheadings. This helps search engines better understand the structure of your content.
Add image alt text: Adding alt text to images helps search engines understand what the image is about.
Use SEO-friendly URLs: URLs should be short, descriptive, and include relevant keywords.
Create an XML sitemap: An XML sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on your site. This helps search engines find and crawl your content.

It’s worth noting that SEO is an ongoing process, and you should regularly update and optimize your site to stay ahead of the competition.

3. A good website is fast.

In today’s fast-paced world, website visitors don’t have the patience to wait for a website that takes too long to load. In fact, research shows that 53% of mobile users will abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. A slow-loading website can negatively impact user experience, increase bounce rates, and harm your search engine rankings. To improve your website’s speed, you should:

Choose the right web host: Your web host plays a crucial role in the speed and performance of your website. Ensure you choose a reliable web host with fast servers and good uptime.
Disable unnecessary plug-ins: If you are using a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Joomla, be sure to disable any unnecessary plug-ins as they can slow down your site.
Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: By removing any unnecessary characters from your code, you can reduce the file size and improve the load time of your site.
Reduce image sizes: Large images can significantly slow down your site, so make sure to compress and optimize your images without compromising on quality.
Use a CDN: A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help improve your site’s speed by delivering content from a server closest to the user, reducing the distance data needs to travel.

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4. A good website is secure.

Security is paramount when it comes to building a website. Not only does it protect your users’ sensitive information, but it also safeguards your reputation and credibility.

Here are some essential security measures to implement:

Use HTTPS: HTTPS is a protocol used to encrypt data transmitted between the user’s browser and the website’s server, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept and steal sensitive information. In 2023, using HTTPS should be a standard practice.
Use strong passwords: Weak passwords are a common entry point for hackers. Ensure that all user accounts on your site have strong passwords that are difficult to guess or brute force. Consider using a password manager to generate and store complex passwords.
Follow server security best practices: Regularly update your server’s software and operating system to fix vulnerabilities, and keep your firewall up-to-date. Limit the use of unnecessary plugins and features to reduce the attack surface of your site.

5. A good website is always available.

A website that is always available and performs well is crucial to maintaining a positive user experience. It’s frustrating for users to encounter errors or experience slow page load times, and it can harm your website’s reputation and affect your search engine rankings.

Here are some strategies to ensure that your website is always available:

Use an uptime monitoring service: An uptime monitoring service can help you detect and fix issues as soon as they arise, minimizing downtime and maximizing uptime. These services will notify you when your website goes down and provide details about the cause of the issue.
Backup your website regularly: Backing up your data regularly ensures that you have a copy of your site in case of a security breach or hardware failure. It’s important to test your backup strategy to ensure that you can restore your site quickly in the event of an emergency.
Use load balancing: Load balancing can help distribute traffic across multiple servers, preventing a single server from becoming overwhelmed and causing downtime.

6. A good website follows the law.

A good website should also comply with legal requirements. Failure to comply can result in costly fines, legal actions, and damage to your site’s reputation.

Privacy policy: Adding a privacy policy to your website is a legal requirement under GDPR and CCPA. This policy outlines how your site collects, uses, and processes personal data, and how users can control their data. The policy should be easily accessible from every page of your website.
Cookie consent message: If your website uses cookies, you may need to add a cookie consent message to your website to comply with privacy regulations. The message should inform users that your website uses cookies and provide an option to opt-out.
Content attribution: If your website contains photos or graphics created by others, you may need to attribute the content to the original creator. This can be done by including a credit or link to the original source.

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Conclusion

A pretty design is important, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. You also need to prioritize in making the website user-friendly, optimizing for search engines, ensuring fast loading times, keeping it secure, ensuring its uptime, and following legal requirements.

By focusing on these crucial elements, you’ll not only improve the user experience but also increase traffic and engagement, leading to achieving your website’s goals. So, next time you’re designing or revamping your website, keep these tips in mind to create a website that truly stands out.