What Makes A Good Website?

Want to know what makes a good website? You’ve come to the right place. Find out the key ways to create, maintain and develop a site to perform well on Google SERPs.

By Shannon Mugford

Oct 15, 2021

With every update on Google’s algorithm, there is always one common theme; website health & quality. In the world of SEO, every expert and their nan preach about the quality of both the content and overall site. If you find that your rankings worsen with each update, the chances are it’s down to your competitors’ websites answering a query that bit better.

Additionally, they’ll have a well-working site with clear imagery, buttons and even resources ready for their visitors to take advantage of. And without a user-friendly website that offers eye-catching graphics and rapid navigation, would an eCommerce website perform? The answer is no.

While there are guidelines for search quality, it should be second nature always to improve your content. How do your customers shop? What is your user intent? Keyword research is an ongoing task that can change from month to month; therefore, staying on top of trending topics from your industry is a must.

Your search terms need to speak directly to search engines. Answer the top questions in blogs and optimise your product pages using specified terms for intent shopping. By continuously developing and advancing your SEO strategy, you will soon identify new opportunities and stay at the forefront of your market.

Enough about SEO; you’re here to learn what makes a good website. If you continue reading, we’re going to give you the key factors that determine the overall success of your site when combined with a fantastic SEO strategy.

1. Technical Strength

Up first, we’re talking technical elements. Technical SEO is like a black hole; the list of factors is never-ending. We have broken links, 404 errors, timed out pages, a mixture of internal and external links, and it goes on. When we think of what makes a good website, we have to look at it from a Google bots perspective.

An easily crawlable site means that search engines know what pages to index and non-index. Without an abundance of errors like previously mentioned, your website will be fast to load, which is the number one priority for all web designers & developers.

We recommend focusing on the basics of technical SEO, to begin with. If you’re just starting with your business, your hosting company needs to be correct. Look for flexibility, support & straightforward admin for you to use on an ongoing basis. Make sure the company is reputable with majority of good reviews. WordPress has always been a fail-safe for our web and graphic design services. With a solid foundation, consistent help, and is known for its fantastic performance. Not to mention, its many plug-ins such as All-In-One SEO & Yoast SEO aid you along the way.

2. Safe & Secure

Next on the what makes a good website checklist, we have trustworthiness and security for your website. Your visitors want to feel safe while purchasing on your website. If downtime is a regular occurrence, you’ll likely see a high bounce rate. Maintenance of your site is key to avoiding this, as well as using up-to-date hosting, running SSL, using strong passwords, and protective software such as Cloudflare.

Your website should have a green lock icon to prove the security of the site. If your website states ‘unsecure’, this could mean you aren’t certified or aren’t keeping on top of updates etc. This will also affect your rankings on Google. Search engines will provide the best result, the best result being a healthy and secure website. They will not show your website if they doubt its authenticity or you use questionable ‘experts’ to validate your site’s content.

Always work on your trustworthiness on both technical and content.

3. Design

What’s the first thing you notice when you click on a website? The design. Visually pleasing websites perform better; it’s as simple as that. What makes a good website design, you ask? The design of your website should help visitors fulfil your goals. You want your values and message to be apparent, meaning your website’s look should be well-thought-out and, of course, on-brand.

However, while making it look beautiful, it still needs to stay straightforward for both visibility and navigation. Accessibility is everything when it comes to a user. Just like on your favourite TV ads, you want your website to be remembered for all of the right reasons. UX should be in mind when designing your website; what colour schemes will complement each other? What type of CTA’s will stand out? Keep in mind; you want to encourage happiness, not frustration.

4. Know Your Customer

Adding on to the last point, your website should be suited to your ideal customer. We don’t want to see company-centred content; we want to see content that supports your visitors in completing conversions. Understand their behaviour, their lifestyles and focus your website around that. Being as unique as possible is vital; speak in their language and always make an impression.

You also want your goals to be evident throughout. What are you trying to achieve when someone lands on your website? A filled out form? A call? A purchase of one of your products? Make this clear, but in a way that doesn’t come across as abrupt or forceful. Advertise your offers clearly and immediately, and always showcase why your customers need your products or services. This will entice your visitors to fulfil your goals.

5. Mobile-Friendliness

Along with site health, your website needs to be fit for mobiles. As of Q3 of 2020, an average of 55.4% of consumers worldwide purchased something online using a mobile device. And the numbers continue to grow. While most websites are being developed for desktops, content and design often lose their authenticity and sleekness due to being reduced.

This shouldn’t be the case. More often than not, your customers will purchase using their phones. So, ensuring that you’re initially designing your website to suit desktops, mobiles and tablets is a must.

What makes a good website, then?

When we think about what makes a good eCommerce website, there are many factors to consider. But, the ultimate question is, what do you think makes a good website? We all visit thousands of websites per year, meaning we have a good idea of what we like and dislike about a site. Apply that to yours because your perception as a user will correlate to your ideal customer.

Our web and graphic design services can help kickstart your business on the world wide web. With several packages available, we can strategically design and create a website to fulfil all of your business’s goals. We also offer ongoing development & maintenance. Get in touch today for a bespoke quote suited entirely to you, no matter the size of your company.

We hope we’ve helped you in identifying what makes a good website. If you own a small business and are looking for further advice for a future of success, stay tuned for more blogs to come. In the meantime, we have recently released a FREE downloadable Q4 Retail Trends Handbook that gives you our industry advice on staying prepared & boosting conversion rates this Black Friday & Christmas.