What Makes a GREAT Website?

So, what does make a website a GREAT website?  We actually get these questions quite a bit and believe it or not, it’s not that difficult.

By now, if you have read, “You Have 4 Seconds... Go!” you know that you have 3 – 4 seconds to make that first impression when a potential customer visits your website.

So, what is it that makes a visitor stay?  A great website! Is it flashy graphics? Is it being funny?  Those all may be nice to have if appropriate, but we’re going to talk more about the fundamentals of what makes a website a great website.

Most of this stuff is just common sense, which unfortunately, seems to be a rarity on the internet these days. What we have found is either companies understand the website or they don’t.

Content – original content is one of the most important traits of any great website

You want to provide credible and original content in as many forms as possible without boring your audience.  Content is King!

Make sure that you’re providing valuable and timely information to your users.  Your website should be updated regularly!

Share things that you have learned or heard that is relevant to your audience.  You could start a newsletter for example and feedback and sharing of ideas.

Be more personal and custom tailor your website to your visitors.  A good example of this is C|NET. C|NET started with two in-house proprietary content delivery systems: Prism and Dream (2).  Prism, or Presentation of Real-time Interactive Service Material, was the site management and page generation engine behind the pages of C|NET.  C|NET has since developed a more sophisticated page-delivery system, Story Server, which powers C|NET and the newer spinoff sites of shareware.com, search.com, and news.com.  Story Server, marketed by Vignette, is a database-driven, template-based Web site publishing system, which we (JESEDIA) have developed something similar ourselves.  Content and content management are imperative. Period… You must have a Content Management System these days to be effective and provide value.

These systems are much more efficient and consistent for users. They give users a more targeted experience, like using Microsoft Word. Our Content Management System (CMS) stores content and graphic elements in a Microsoft SQL database. We also have a MySQL version as well. As visitors request a page the content is "called" on the fly into your website.

Be Responsive

If it’s information you want to convey to your customers, use graphics sparingly.  Although we have our own proprietary caching mechanism in our CMS, we still recommend this.  Optimize your graphics for faster download speeds. Optimize your HTML.  Optimize everything!

Make Your Site Easy to Read

Make your pages easy to read. It’s quite simple. Black text on a white background (as this page is set up) is the easiest to read. We've seen some websites that use backgrounds the same shade as the text (dark text on a dark background and vice versa). Are you kidding me? That’s the equivalent of website camouflage. If you use a background, stick with the lighter shades and let the text stay black or close to black.

Interactivity

After content, the second most important thing a website should have is interactivity. The Internet is an interactive hypermedia communications medium that your website should reflect.  A website that involves your potential customers and has a sense of fun or adventure will get more hits, and if need be, can charge more for ad space.

Another advantage of interactivity is self-generating content.  By allowing your visitors to interact with your site they actually create content for you. Surveys, polls, blogs, comments, and forums allow visitors to share information with others and can help shape your site to better serve their needs. Our Content Management System offers all of these features.

Poor Organization = Poor Website Design (and vice-versa)

Statistics have shown time and time again (the importance of making a good first impression). For example: Sun Microsystems found that users equate poor organization with poor site design in their extensive usability study of their home page. They also found that users don't want to scroll.  However, the hits on Discovery Channel Online increased by 40% after they went from a nonscrolling design to a scrolling design. It depends on your application and your audience.  Designing pages so important content is "above the ankle" is a good idea. Some sites take this maximum to the extreme and cram everything into a fragmented mess. When possible, size your pages important content to fit into the typical user's screen resolution. We know all about this and that’s why we’re here.

Another part of having a well-organized site is providing multiple ways of easy navigation. Supply both text and graphics for buttons. And always - I mean ALWAYS - maintain a consistent look and feel throughout your site.

Other things like, using graphical metaphors for your interface makes the user feel more comfortable navigating your site. Metaphors, like using a monitor and tower as a gateway to “My Computer.” Sound familiar? These can elevate a merely good site to a great site. And just because my example was a Windows example, it still applies on the Internet. The User Interface (UI) or Graphical User Interface (GUI), as you may have heard it called, is what communicates this.

”...Build it and they will come.”

In conclusion, if you do not already have a website – get one. If you need your website redesigned – do it! Even if you don’t use JESEDIA, find a company that you trust and get your business online immediately! We cannot stress this enough!

While the majority of Internet users in the U.S. say they see too many ads, they wouldn’t mind having those ads better targeted to their needs. And 91 percent of those overexposed to advertising would prefer using a search engine rather than being served ads. This is according to a new survey conducted by Nielsen/Netratings. Interestingly enough, in that study, 65 percent said print yellow pages were a “resource,” while half said they use online yellow pages. Did you catch that… online yellow pages? Online!

The truth is, more than 85 percent of Internet users today use the Internet first and foremost to find whatever it is that they are looking for. The Internet and Your website (remember, if you don’t have one – get one) IS their first impression.

And do you want to know what is so crazy about all of this. They’re looking for YOU! How can they find you?

If you're interested in having JESEDIA help you with a new website or even a website redesign, then take action now!

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