Which website features do I really need for my business?

So which website builder is the right one?

1. Has a modern, fresh and simple design

The overall design of a website is first and foremost what captures user attention. What happens during the first-ever site visit truly influences the whole user experience. It’s important to note that the decision to stick around and continue browsing your website takes only 0.05 seconds! (Yes, you read that correctly.) Therefore, the first impression certainly counts for a lot, and you need to do everything you can to give potential customers an amazing experience.

There are so many trends when it comes to an effective website design. Here are a few:

• Strong Design with Limited Color Palette - We recommend choosing a simple color scheme for your site. Although businesses usually want to make their logo the center of attention, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to let the logo take a back seat. This approach helps make it easier for users to focus on your message.
  
  
• Making Use of White Space - This strategy makes your site look clean and neat. The majority of site visitors prefer a plain and elegant design, so making use of white space is a great way to capture the attention of your audience.

2. Uses high-quality images

Of late, using high-quality images on business websites has become increasingly important. An image speaks for your site, gives emphasis to your messages, and allows site visitors to know more about your business even prior to reading the text contents. But you may be wondering, what exactly makes for a high-quality image? 

• Sharpness: No one likes websites with blurry and/or skewed images. 

• Relevance: It’s important to ensure that the images you’re displaying are related to your business and your audience. If the image doesn’t portray the content that surrounds it, readers will become confused and your website will be better without it. 

• Speed: Make sure you use the most appropriate file size so the loading time won’t be negatively impacted. 

3. Has an intuitive design and user experience

A website that has an intuitive design is user-friendly. The easier your website is to navigate and find the content you are looking for; the more people like it - it's as simple as that! A good website is built to be straightforward so that when a user accesses it for the first time, they know exactly what to do and where to go.

Getting the right design starts with understanding your target users, so when enhancing the user experience, try to see your site through their eyes. The image below illustrates this well.

4. Has a simple and easy to find call to action

In general, people want things to be made as easy as possible. “Call Us” and “Buy Service” buttons are two of the most important CTAs one can have on their website. Call to action options like these make it clear to potential customers which action to take next.

5. Has links to social media sites

The social media section is a vital part of your website. This is the spot where you place the links to your social media pages - Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Email, etc. Your social media section will serve as proof of legitimacy for your customers.

Adding social media links to your website is a way to increase the awareness of your content. The links expand your brand reach and awareness through the users’ networks and they also help increase the number of people who subscribe and follow you.

6. Has direct links to reviews

All good websites must have a designated section where users can leave reviews about your business and/or read existing feedback from previous customers. Your site should have a dedicated space to ask customers about their experience with your business, whether they were satisfied with the service, and/or if they were happy with the product they bought.

This section is an important way of showing your customers that you want to hear from them and that you value their comments. Needless to say, every business should showcase a significant number of reviews to help build trust with target buyers. 

7. Has a useful company blog

Site visitors want to see updated content and the latest information about your company - whether it’s through a story of a recent customer experience or some background about your business or products.

Publishing blog posts regularly with useful content shows your audience that you are a transparent and trusted resource. This also allows you to share your insights and opinions on certain topics and serves as a forum for you to ask your readers to interact with you by leaving their comments. Also… Google appears to favor fresh and frequently published content!

8. Has an easy way to set up online payments

If you have an eCommerce website, you must offer an easy way for your customers to set up online payments. Regardless of which method that is, it is best to provide instructions and make sure that the payment system is always working. Downtimes may cause customers to leave the site and look for other businesses in the same field. 

9. Has personalization tools

Do you want to make a company announcement? Do you have a product on sale? A personalization tool is a fun feature designed to quickly capture your user’s attention when visiting your site. Typically, these tools (or pop-ups, as they call them), include a call-to-action button whose purpose is to get your visitor to do something - i.e., contact them, buy something, go to another page of your site, etcetera.

A personalization tool can also be used as an age verification gate if required for your business. 

10. Has Search Engine Optimization tools

Strengthening your online presence involves improving your site’s search engine optimization (SEO), which greatly depends on the builder that you choose to use. That said, the right builder should have the following features:

• A place to add title, meta descriptions tags
• Ability to change the webpage url
• Ability to resize, compress & rename images, alt tags
• An easy-to-implement schema markup (code that Google uses). Local Business, FAQs, etc...
• Block search engines so it does not show in the search results
• Ability to add social media image and tracking codes for individual pages
• Inclusion of Google Analytics & search console connection and metrics

11. Is mobile-friendly

A mobile friendly website is essentially when your regular website shrinks down to be small enough to display on a mobile device correctly.

It is easy to navigate without the user needing to zoom in or adjust their settings manually. 

 Hence, if you are planning to build a website for your business, make sure they are mobile-friendly so that anyone and everyone can access it easily and fast.

12. Includes a Contact Form & Email Signup form

If you are running a business, contact forms are one of the best ways to get more leads - which is one of the main reasons why you need to generate a simple and easy-to-use contact form.

Good forms should provide users with feedback as they fill your form out so they can see any mistakes before hitting the submit button. At the very least, you want to make sure users have typed in a valid email address and phone numbers. 

Email signups are also an easy way for you to target the right customers by having them subscribe to your mailing list. 

13. Has testimonials

A mobile-friendly website is one where your regular website properly accommodates to smaller mobile devices such as phones or iPads.

Also, your site should be easy to navigate without the user needing to zoom in or adjust their settings manually. In addition, the text should be easy to read and users able to find what they’re looking for.

Hence if you’re planning to build a website for your business, make sure it’s mobile-friendly so that anyone and everyone can access it quickly and easily.

14. Has multilingual content

A website that offers multilingual content will give your business an edge over your competitors, especially if it’s a global company. You can help customers from other regions or countries understand your message by using multilingual content on your site. It makes the user feel that they can connect with your business, letting them know that when you created the site, they were on your mind. 

15. Uses an AI chatbot

AI Chatbots are a major value-added feature and a great addition to one’s website. From an end-user standpoint, they deliver a tremendous amount of convenience to site visitors. For businesses that offer services and sell products, AI Chatbots like Frase provide real-time assistance to potential customers, which is a great way to reduce bounce rate. 

Conclusion

A website serves as a door to a world of opportunities for your business. Therefore, developing a phenomenal site should be a top priority for your company. As we’ve mentioned, it’s critical to choose a platform capable of designing a mobile-friendly and fast website which delivers a strong online presence.

The Duda platform offers each of these powerful features and is flexible, easy-to-use, and adaptive to all your new projects. Our favorite functionality is the drag-and-drop tool that makes it easy to create a modern, effective, and state-of-the-art website that accomplishes each of our outlined points.

How do you know when a DIY website builder is the right choice for you? Come to our FREE 30 min Workshop and learn more.

Do you have any questions about our suggestions? We'd love to hear from you!