Nearly anyone can put together a website these days – but is it a quality website? We come across many Coffs Harbour businesses who attempted to design their own website or a relative’s son who knows a bit about “computers” gave it a go. Others paid considerable amounts to “techies” and ended up with a website that they are not 100% happy with.
As you might imagine, creating a successful online presence is a whole different story. It takes years, sometimes decades of experience & continuous learning to keep up with the ever-evolving world of media, design & technology.
To ensure your website becomes a valuable asset for your business, take a look at the most important key elements that implicate a quality website.
1. Design Aspects of a Quality Website
Effective branding & a well-applied theme increase your impact as a distinguishable, unique & recognisable Coffs Coast company.
Your website should be user-friendly, visually pleasant & making use of design principles such as balance, proximity, contrast, consistency, as well as proportion & harmony.
2. Communication Aspects
The arrangement of your content should be logical, easy to navigate & either arranged in a linear or hierarchical order.
Proven to be a very effective approach to communicating your message is the art of storytelling which reaches the user with a beginning, a central main element and an ending.
Media richness, such as the incorporation of images, animations, video & audio, enhances the user’s experience & increases the quality and impact of your communication & content presentation.
3. Technical Aspects
Your web site should be compatible with all browsers, screen sizes & operating systems (also read: What is Responsive Design and Why Does My Site Need it?).
Your web site should perform at its best even if visitors have a slow internet connection, are visually impaired or have switched off features like images, plug-ins or java script or use various devices such as desktop/laptop, tablets or mobile phones.
Timeless & universal technologies should be used.
Your web site should be search engine optimized to be competitive with other Coffs Harbour businesses.
It is good practice to stick to quality coding and industry standards.
4. Legal Aspects
A legally sound website should:
- Comply with Australian & international laws.
- Include terms & conditions as well as a privacy policy.
- Respect as well as enforce copyright and intellectual property laws.
5. Functional Aspects
The mere existence of a website has very little benefit. To be valuable for your business a website should actively DO something for you, and it needs to have a purpose.
Here is a list of a few features & functions a website can accomplish:
- The ability to increase presence of your business in the market through search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!) & online directories (Yellow Pages Online, Start Local, True Local, Hotbot)
- The acquisition of new stakeholders (customers, clients, partners, sponsors, donors; etc.)
- The ability to create leads
- Showcase/sell products & services
- The ability to communicate your business message/purpose
- The ability to contribute to a good reputation
- Ability to be identified recognised & distinguished through branding & your business identity
- Reduction of workload & streamlining of workflow (minimise repetitive tasks, FAQ’s, provide forms/media/information)
- Ability to provide information value and/or educate
- Ability to communicate through your website (collect feedback/messages, provide news/updates/announcements)
If you feel that your website could be performing better in one or more of these key areas, get in touch with us for a chat or meeting.
