A simple search on an SEO tool like Ahrefs or Hubspot will reveal that although there are literally hundreds and thousands of websites out there, a majority of them fail to perform well. So, when you build new website, there are some things to consider.
Here, you need to understand two of the basic tenets of building a website. First comes the search engine. Google is the new master that will judge your website and if it doesn’t like it, then be prepared to get virtually zero searches engine-based organic traffic to your site. Secondly, comes the user itself. The user is not isolated from the search engine’s review metrics. In fact, most of Google’s site ranking algorithms are based on providing the users with a stellar experience.
The website you have will literally serve no purpose if you are not priming it to meet the demands of Google and the user itself.
And while the important things to focus on here are really not that hard to understand, but surprisingly, a wide majority of sites ignore them and suffer highly.
So whether you are opting for custom web development services or getting the website built in-house, make sure that your final brief for the project highlights these important website development areas:
Website Speed:
A lot of people know the fact that slow websites are a horrendous experience for users, but what’s exactly the benchmark that defines a “Slow Website”?
To answer the question on just how fast a website should load, Google’s recommended page load time is less than 2 seconds. While Google itself aims for less than half a second in loading time, it has lowered the requirements for websites to less than 2 seconds.
Meeting this mark is incredibly important, especially if you are building an eCommerce site or a content-heavy site. However, most website developers miss this mark by some distance and if you run a speed test on Google’s speed test tool for mobile websites for most websites, you will know that they are well over this required limit.
Make sure that your web developers know that this is one of the most critical areas you are priming for and you cannot let any slip-ups slide in here. Take even more care when getting a website through custom web development services; unlike us at Cydomedia, most such service providers don’t focus on speed at all.
Optimize The Site For Mobile:
You ask your web developers to get develop a website for your business. You receive the website, you view it on desktop and it looks great. Everything’s in order like the CTAs, images, etc. But wait! Did you check the site on mobile as well?
Firstly, you need to know why this is important. Google’s search engine now crawls over websites like a mobile user, something which it calls the “mobile-first” strategy, and its pretty obvious why it does that. A majority of web traffic now originates from mobiles, and if the website doesn’t look good to a mobile user, it’s not in line with Google’s standards.
When you get website development services, make it majorly clear in the brief that you want a mobile-optimized design. This is possible by developing elements on the web pages for both desktop and mobile. Another way, which is more popular, is to “Amp” the pages.
AMP stands for “Accelerated Mobile Page”, and it’s the framework through which you can make your website load faster and look great on mobiles and other smaller screens. So don’t miss out on this incredibly important feature when your website is under development.
Easy Navigation & A Clean Layout:
Ever heard of Hick’s law? This is a very common web design principle that simply implies that users will long time to make decisions when presented with more options. This is quite simple to understand, but having viewed tons of websites that come to us for revamps, we don’t really think that a lot of people understand this clearly.
When we at Cydomedia offer website development services, we ensure that the user has a stellar experience on the website. We do this to facilitate the user in taking prompt decisions on the website by offering easier navigability by incorporating design elements like search bars, drop-down menus, carousels, and more.
The user can find it overwhelming if a website has too much clutter and doesn’t offer an identifiable way to get to the place, the user is trying to reach. The result? An increase in bounce rates, which inadvertently also affects your search engine rankings.
So when you opt for website development services, be aware that easy navigability is one of your top priorities; ensure the web development team is clear on it.
Apart from this, you should also look for building a clean layout on the website. This means that the website shouldn’t be a hodge-podge of content, pictures, and CTAs. Many studies have revealed that users like the “F” format in content placement since it allows them to skim through the content more easily and locate what they are trying to find much faster.
There should be regular breaks in the web design, infused through the user of aligned images along with strategically placed negative spaces. This makes the webpage more readable and easy on the eyes, thereby allowing the user to stay engaged on what the website has to offer.
Wrapping Up:
While these are really important web development tips that could help you get your online presence consolidated right from the start; there are other, equally important areas that you will need to focus on. Only then you can truly get your website to become a top-performing entity.
Important aspects like content optimization through keyword targeting, integration of landing pages, etc. Tjese are all key to powering real-time conversions and leads on your website.
A website might seem like something that’s easy to build. At Cydomedia we’ve been offering custom website development services for over four years now; we can say it with authority at our command that it’s anything but that.
Modern-day website development services should be incredibly comprehensive; if you are looking for exactly such a stellar experience then feel free to contact us right away.
