You know you need a web presence, but you shouldn’t just rely on a website template and hope it works. You want a website that will serve visitors. A site that will provide a great user experience and make them want to engage with your brand.
Creating a strategic site that will convert means understanding the website components for a successful site. Keep reading to learn the eight website components for a successful site in this post.
Website Components You Need on Your Site
1. An Intuitive CMS
Your content management system (CMS) works behind the scenes to help you organize and maintain your website. You should choose a CMS that is intuitive for you to use. Once you’ve used a CMS, many of them are similar, but small features in their design and functioning can make a big difference for you and your users.
According to W3Techs, WordPress is the CMS of choice on 41.8% of all websites. There is a reason so much of the internet uses WordPress — it is endlessly customizable with thousands of plugins while still being easy to use.
The Essential Guide to WordPress Plugins >>
2. Reliable Hosting
Web hosting services make it possible for people to view your site online. When it comes to web hosting, you get what you pay for. A host can make or break your site. Choose a host that provides fully managed hosting with exceptional customer service — because hosting support is important. Look at reviews from other clients and get recommendations before you choose a host.
Top 10 Questions to Ask a Cloud Hosting Provider >>
3. Strong User Experience
It’s challenging enough to get people to visit your website. If they come to your site and have a poor experience, they won’t stay, and they won’t come back. A successful website is accessible, usable, efficient, and easy to navigate.
When thinking about the user experience on your site, consider:
- Performance. Website performance matters. How well your site performs is everything to your visitors. If your pages load slowly or they find missing links, they’ll leave your site, and they won’t come back. Slow loading times are the most common reason for high bounce rates. Make sure your site is performing its best.
- Screen Variety. Make sure to prepare for your audience’s viewing choices. People visit websites from laptops, desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. Your site should be accessible and look great on any screen size.
- Calls to Action. You want people to visit your site, then do something. What does conversion look like for your brand? For example, do you want visitors to sign up for an email newsletter, schedule a call, or purchase a product? Think about what action you want visitors to take, then be sure to include those specific calls to action on your posts and throughout your pages.
- Intuitiveness. Visitors shouldn’t have to dig through your site to find what they need. Moving around the site should be intuitive, which has a lot to do with navigation menus. Be sure your site’s menus are simple, concise, and use the common words visitors use to find information in your niche.
- Consistency. You create consistency when you use similar elements throughout your website. The theme you choose creates a lot of consistency with heading sizes, fonts, colors, design elements, etc. But consistency in wording and theme application or usage are up to you. Decide how you want your site to look, feel, and read, then maintain those styles throughout its pages and content.
- Purchasing. If you want people to purchase while visiting your site, you have to make it easy to do so. The primary reason people abandon their online shopping cart is that the checkout process is too complicated. Streamline the process and make it as simple as possible for customers to go from selecting a product to completing their payment.
4. SEO Basics
There are millions of websites online. You can’t just launch your website and hope the right people find it. Search engine optimization (SEO) entails using certain words or terms on your site’s pages strategically, so Google recognizes it for those topics. SEO requires you to discover what words your visitors frequently use to find your site through keyword research. From there, it is critical to include those words and their synonyms across your site.
How to Do SEO for Ecommerce Websites: Techniques, Tools, & Best Practices >>
5. Analytics Tools
Once you create your site, you want to see how it’s doing. Analytics tools help you determine things like how many people visit your site, how long they stay, and what pages they view. You also can gather information on what people search for when they find your site and who those people are. Monitoring basic analytical information helps you improve your site based on how people are using it.
6. Expected Pages
There are some certain pages visitors expect to see on your site. If they can’t find those pages, your site feels incomplete to them. They can’t get the essential information they expect. They may even question the validity of your site if those website components aren’t present.
Here are some pages to include on your site:
- Homepage. Of course, you will have a homepage, but what it tells visitors about your site is important too. Your home page should establish your brand visually and through text. It sets the tone for the rest of your site. At the least, you want your homepage to establish what your site is about quickly.
- About Us. The About Us page on your site lets visitors know who is behind the organization. It puts names and faces to the brand and tells the brand’s story. The About Us page also typically includes contact information so visitors can ask further questions or provide feedback. It may come as a surprise, but it is usually one of the most visited pages on a website!
- Products or Services. These pages show customers what products or services you offer and allow them to make a purchase.
- Blog. The blog page allows you to write directly to your visitors, informing them about all types of information and happenings related to your brand and area of expertise. The best blogs are those that help educate visitors and are based on a digital content strategy. Supporting them in their journey will keep them coming back to your site.
- Contact. Your contact page is your customer support page. It helps them reach out to you if they have questions or concerns.
You Don’t Have to Be A Designer to Design Your Store’s Home Page >>
7. Social Media Integration
Your website is your home base. Social media helps get people there. You don’t have to be on every social medium, but you should be active where your audience members typically are. You’ll want to use social media to share information in your niche and to promote your online content. Send people from your social media pages to your website. Encourage people on your website to follow you on social. And continue the conversation with your visitors to strengthen the relationship.
8. Media
Visuals are an essential website component of your site. We are all different types of learners, so think of the media you post as an addendum to your written content. Some people would prefer a video to a blog post and vice versa. Plus, images and videos help draw people in, focus their attention, and build on your content.
No one wants to see a big chunk of text. Choose appealing images for your website, then optimize them before you post. Also, be sure to name your images in a way that reflects your SEO keyword strategy. And do not forget to add alt text to your images. This helps those who use screen readers consume your content as well.
Use StoreBuilder for a Successful Website
There are a lot of website components to consider when launching a new site. Nexcess is here to help with fully managed hosting. And, if you want to get an ecommerce site up and running in minutes, Nexcess’s StoreBuilder is the way to go.
StoreBuilder helps you start and launch a WooCommerce store faster than any other solution in the market.
Getting started is simple. Nexcess’s easy tool helps you build an ecommerce site without coding experience or any technical web knowledge. And you don’t need to spend a lot of time or money with a designer to build a unique site you and your customers will love.
Contact us to learn more about how Nexcess’s StoreBuilder can have your ecommerce site up and selling in no time.
