7 Important Features Every Website Must Have

7 Important Features Every Website Must Have To Be Effective

Every business doesn’t just need a website but must possess these 7 important features to stand out. Yes most modern websites have the following features if not more

  • They are slick, visually appealing.
  • Mobile friendly and responsive.
  • Search engine optimized and much more.

Yet something doesn’t seem to click. Users land on the site and still can’t find their way around the site and not about to tell what the website is all about, the organization behind it or what they do. We think that every website needs these 7 features listed below.

 

7 Important Features Every Website Must Have

 

1)  Your Home Page Must/And Should Tell What Your Website is All About.

The home page is often the first port of call for most website users and most do not go beyond this point, while others go to the other points of interest on your site from here.

That makes it imperative for you to capture your user’s attention as soon as they land on your site home page. Your website homepage should contain the following element

 

A screaming headline:

Normally this should be done with the page <h1> tag and should simply tell what your website is all about. Eg for an event management company, the screaming headline could be “Your event deserved a special treat” “Extraordinary events delivered” “Make it an event of a lifetime” etc. The sole purpose of a screaming headline is to capture the attention of your site visitors within seconds and tell them what your site unique proposition is.

 

A subheading that drives home the point + A CALL TO ACTION:

Following on the heels of a screaming headline is a sub-header text to drive home the point of the header text ( this can be a normal text or done with a header tag <h2> ) the point is simply to drive home the headline and something that will make your site users take action as shown on the image below.

 

 

Your Contact Details Within Sight:

Normally aside from the usual places where you see contact details on a website, you can have one just within sight of your site visitors, in case they are in a hurry to place a call or drop a message through a form.

This is normally just above the navigational bar, your visitors can easily give you a ring without having to scroll all the way down to the footer section of your site.

 

A quick message/Lead generation form:

Another important feature to have on your home page header section is a quick message or lead capturing form. Here you just want your site visitors to quickly send you a message while they are still at the very top part of your website.

The form above can serve another purpose, which is to serve as the lead generation tool. Here your intention is not just to hear from your site visitors, but also to collect important lead from them ( their phone numbers and email address ) in exchange for a value you’re offering through one of your expert resource materials in form of a pdf file.

 

Tell’s who you are, what you do and what differentiates you from your competitors:

Before they head to the “About us page”, from your site home page, they should tell what your business is all about without guessing, the unique proposition you offer and what differentiates you from your competitors. All of the above should be clearly stated.

 

Read Also – Why Every Nigerian Business Needs A Website

 

What Differentiate your business from others

 

A Clear and inviting Call To Action ( CTA ):

Here you want your site visitors to take action, you need something compelling to enable them to take action which is what a Call to Action does.

This can be achieved through a combination of action words, strong visuals and a compelling short video illustration eg

  •  Contact us to plan your next event
  • Sign up for free consultation today
  • Let’s build that website for you today
  • Sign Up today and 25% discount from regular fee” etc.

Your CTA should be compelling enough for your site visitors to take action and it should lead them to a page which further supports the message your CTA button/link covens.

 

List of your products/services:

Every website does have a services/products page, which often is one of the prominent navigational bar menu items and often comes with sub-menus. but nothing stops you from adding a brief intro to your business services on your site home page which you will then link to the main services page.

 

 

2) Tell What Your Business is About With Your “About Us Page”:

Your site About us page is not optional, it’s an important part of your website that should ultimately tell the story of your business. This part is a bit difficult for one-man businesses especially those who work from their home addresses with no formal business structure.

But then it is your responsibility to tell your story in such a way that will inspire confidence in the hearts of your would-be clients.

It’s easier if you have built a great team around your business and also have good feedbacks from your existing clients. So your about us page should.

  • Tell the story of your business
  • Share your  business Vision, Mission and Core Values
  • Show your partners and testimonials from satisfied clients.
  • Including your team members and more.

 

 

Read Also – 5 Things to do to make your website more visible to your target audience.

 

3) Have Call to Action (CTA) On Every Webpage Of  Your site:

We have already listed CTA as one of the features that should be on your site home page, it doesn’t stop there because your site visitors can land on any page of your site outside your home page.

So, the CTA should be prominent on all your site pages including your posts and should maintain the same look and feel throughout your site.

 

Call To Action - 7 Important Features Every Website Must Have To Be Effective

 

 

4) Your Website Should Have A Logical Flow And Consistent Look And Feel About It:

Yes, they should be a consistent look and feel about your site for the seek of usability and user experience of your site users.

So, from your site

  • Logo
  • Usage of colour, font and header styles
  • Navigation flow
  • Ordering of content structure
  • CTA and Contact information.

In all of the above, a consistent structure, look and feel and design flow should be maintained so that your users don’t get confused as they move across the site and start wondering if they are on the same website or not.

 

Even on the placement of internal links, users should be lead to related items that may be useful for what they are looking for and your external links should open on a different tab (using target _blank ) so that they don’t ultimately lead your users away from the site.

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5) Your Site Contact Information Should Be Within Reach:

Earlier we have highlighted why your business contact details should and must be within reach. One of the places this should be is the top part of your site, above your site navigational bar or at the right corner of your navigational bar. This could be your business hot-line or your email address.

Aside from this, most website do have their contact details at the footer part of their site. This should be consistent across your site and should list

  • Your site pages
  • Contact details ( phone, emails and the rest )
  • Social media account
  • And your site map.

 

Read Also – Why Every Nigerian Business Needs SEO

 

6) It Must And Should Have A Blog:

Every website needs a blog for many obvious reasons.

Blogging shows your expertise on your business subject:

How else can you prove to the world that you know what your business is all about? The number one way to do that is through your blog. Eg with this blog I’m showing my knowledge and in-depth understanding of my field, building my authority and telling my would-be clients that their jobs will be in safe hands.

 

Blogging Increases your chances to rank higher and attract more traffic to your site:

As you publish more optimized posts around your niche, you continually increase the chances of your site to rank higher on new keywords and its related ones which will ultimately bring new traffic plus new audience to your site.

 

Blogging Enables you to break new grounds:

 Your site blog will enable you to break new grounds, attract a new audience to your site, retain old ones and as you share your contents across the board, your business will be discovered by more and more people in your niche.

 

Your Website Must Have A Blog

 

 

Read Also 9 Questions To Ask Your Webdesigner After Handing Over Your Site 

 

SEO For Your Website and Blog

7) Newsletter Signup’s

How will you keep a tab of your site visitors, especially those interested in your business offerings? How will you let them know about your new offers and the solutions that can solve their business problems? How will you move them from just mere visitors to paying clients?

That’s where your newsletter signup and your site opt-in forms come in. Ultimately your site newsletters signup form enables you to

  • Build relationships and connect propelling to your customers.
  • increases your business audience
  • And ultimately drives sales.

Your newsletters enable you to relate with your customers on a different level and you’re able to talk to them personally in a language they can understand, build a relationship with them and ultimately drive sales to your business with ease.

 

Newsletter Signup

 

BONUS: Other Important features every website must have, includes but not limited to

  • Frequently Asked Questions on relevant pages ( especially products/services pages )
  • Live Chat Feature and
  • Privacy policy and terms of services pages.
  • Sitemap ( HTML )

Aside from the above 7 Top Features, they’re other features that every website should consider some of which are based on the niche your website serves and your business overall goals.

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