Website Tips to Help You Build a Better Website

It's already 2019 and new website trends are coming out, but the foundation of building a high-performance website is still a must to follow. So in this article, I will be spilling out website tips to help you build a better website. And shout out to Good Web Design; I got the idea of giving website tips from them. Follow them on Twitter at @goodwebdesign. I learned a lot from them.

So much for that intro; let’s now start spilling website tips.

1 - Keep Your Domain Name Short

Long domain names are hard to remember, hard to spell over the phone, and tricky to fit onto business cards! Make your domain short but not too short, preferably with no more than 18 characters. And also, most importantly, include your main keyword in your domain name. If you’re running a construction company, you may include the keyword "construction" in your domain name; it helps a lot in Search Engine Optimization.

2 - You Get What You Pay for

Sure, you could get a free WordPress theme or use some cookie-cutter website-building service, but the trade-off is that you have to accept certain limitations that free website builders put in place. Website builders tended to be rather basic, with enough functionality to just get the job done; it might work, but you wouldn’t get the efficiency and beauty that a professional would provide.

3 - Make It Responsive

More and more people tend to browse the internet on mobile devices, and making your website "responsive" is a great marketing strategy you should start with. Make sure your website displays correctly on any screen; test it on desktop, tablet, and mobile to see differences, and if necessary, change it so that it works differently for different devices.

4 - Keep your website consistent

Consistency is a golden rule in design. It means making everything match, from the Heading sizes, font choices, coloring, button styles, spacing, design elements, photo choices, etc. Everything should be themed to make your design consistent across all of the pages of your site. Consistency is the key; it is the biggest factor that separates a negative experience from a positive one.

5 - Website Logos Should Link to the Homepage

This recommendation is a long-standing web convention. Over time, through trial and error, many people have learned that clicking on a site’s logo leads them back to the homepage. Following this standard on your site reduces confusion.

6 - Reduce the Number of Form Fields

The shorter the form, the higher the conversion rate will be. You don’t have to ask everything during their registration (ex. Gender, address, or birthday); ask only the important ones (like email address, number, full name, etc.). You can just remind them to complete their details later after the registration.

Remember to keep the form short by limiting the data you collect to those that are absolutely essential.

7 - Generate Plain English URLs

It should come as no surprise that the easier a URL is to read for humans, the better it is for search engines.

Make sure to make your URL readable like this: yoursite.com/use-plain-english-URLs-in-WordPress

Not like this: yoursite.com/wpsamp/?p=123

8 - Use White Space

Designers adore it. White space is an important element of design; it makes your content more legible while also enabling your user to focus on the elements surrounding the text.

9 - Always Add an Alt Text to Your Images

Google can’t see what your images look like, but they look at alt tags to see what the image is about, so ALT TEXT is a must on every image used. Adding alt tags to your images can also positively impact your website’s search engine rankings. If you have an e-commerce website, make sure to add an alt tag to your product photos.

10 - Use Proper Grammar

Proper grammar and spelling are crucial for online marketing. Though Google already said that spelling and grammar are not a search engine ranking factor, a handful of spelling and grammar mistakes can still somehow affect your website's performance, and they will kill your credibility. If necessary, get yourself a copywriter or ask someone else to proofread your content before publishing.

11 - Make Your Footer a Mini Sitemap

If you have a large site, you should make your footer a mini-sitemap of its own. Putting too many links in your header can make it look messy. Reserve the header only for the most important content links and some of the links in the footer section. When users can’t find what they’re looking for in the header, they’re going to look in the footer.

12 - Make Sure Your Website Loads as Fast as Possible

Page load time can greatly affect your user experience and your site’s ability to convert visitors into buyers or leads.

A one-second delay in page load time yields

• 11% fewer page views
• 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
• 7% loss in conversions

Now that you’ve learned some of the fundamentals of building a high-performance website, it’s time to apply them to your website. If you need professional help building a high-performance website, Go4Global is just around the corner. You may contact us via phone at +1 (747) 283-4767, email us at go4globaldesign@gmail.com, or use our contact form at https://go4globaldesign.com/contact-us.

Stay tuned for more essential website tips.