What makes a good website?

Last updated: May 5, 2023

Do you want to create a website that will captivate your digital audience? The great news is that it's completely possible.

Read on to find out exactly what makes a good website...

When done right, websites have the power to draw in more attention and cement relationships with customers, making them invaluable assets for any business.

But what goes into constructing an effective website?

Read on to find out the 8 best practices of a good website, so you can get started creating an online presence that gets results for your business.

1. Create a solid site structure for easy navigation

A website with simple navigation is not only good for your visitors, but also for Google’s search engine as well.

It creates a better user experience and allows Google to crawl your website and rank your pages on their search engine.

This is essential for making your website visible to new visitors and begin getting organic traffic to your website.

When building your key pages, decide what they will be and where to list them on your website that makes sense for the visitor.

We recommend looking at other successful websites to help you with this.

Navigation Structure Guide

Here’s a basic navigation structure to help you get started:

Top Header Area

Home (Your Website Homepage)
About
About (Website Author)
Blog (Include a list of categories)
Free Training (A landing page with an opt-in form)
Members (A secure area for paid customers)

Bottom Footer Area

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Contact

2. Make your website optimized for mobile

According to an insight by Weblite, having a mobile-friendly website increases conversions as well as provides a better user experience.

As smartphones have become more popular, a high percentage of web browsers will likely view your website from their mobile phones.

Because of this trend, Google has now placed big importance on mobile optimization. They have created a dedicated page in order to test to see if your page is mobile-friendly.

We recommend using a responsive theme that dynamically changes depending on the screen dimensions of where your website is being viewed.

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind:

Keep the design of your page minimal.
Avoid popups wherever possible.
Use graphics and images that look good for every screen dimension.

3. Make your site fast to load

A slow website will not provide a good user experience and will in fact cause your visitors to leave your website.

Since Google’s Web Core Vitals update, it has become one of their ranking factors to determine whether your website is seen in their search results.

It’s important that you follow the recommended requirements to ensure that your website is as quick as possible.

This is for the benefit of Google and your visitors who would like to visit your website and learn more from you.

Here are our recommended tips:

Use a good hosting provider. We recommend SiteGround if you’re getting started, and Kinsta if you’re ready to scale your business.
Optimize your page images to ensure your images load as quickly as possible. We recommend using Tinypng, which is a free web service for reducing your image file sizes.
Run your website through Google Pagespeed Insights & GTMetrix.

4. Make smart use of colour and brand

How your website looks and general design plays a key role in how your brand will be received.

It’s critical that you use colours that complement each other. Using deep or harsh colours can hurt the visitor experience and cause website engagement to drop.

Look at existing websites in your industry and try to model what they’re doing and make it fit your brand.

We recommend simple colours that are easy on the eye. This will allow your visitors to better engage with your website’s content and improve the overall experience.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Use colours that are most commonly seen with your competitors.
Use a colour wheel to pick out good colour combinations.
Keep the style of your page basic and minimal.

5. Include helpful content that is SEO optimized

A good website will include a blog filled with helpful content for visitors to read and engage with.

It is generally not a good idea to write content that you think will appeal to your audience.

It’s important to do some keyword research for finding keywords that your visitors are searching for. This will help you write keyword-targeted articles that best cater to your audience.

It will also help with SEO and allow you to better structure your pages by creating content hubs which will help with site navigation.

Use better site structure for your website

Using a combination of tools and traditional market research will allow you to get a clear insight into your customer and help you write better content.

Here are some tips to get started:

Use Forums and community sites like Quora and Reddit to look at what questions are commonly being asked.
Use keyword analysis tools to help with keyword research. We recommend Mangools if you’re just starting out and on a budget. And Ahrefs and Semrush once your website is more established.

6. Include forms for email capture and list building

The most valuable thing that business owners and entrepreneurs mutually agree on is building and managing an email list.

A good website when set up properly will have new visitors engaging with your content. However, these visitors can leave your site without returning, which can be a lost opportunity.

Getting visitors to opt into your email list by giving away a valuable digital download will allow you to contact them whenever you want and provide them with additional content.

This will build the relationship and allow you to later offer them products and services.

Here are some tips to begin building your list:

Include opportunities to opt-in on your key pages that get the most traffic. (home page, blog posts and about pages)
Give away your best content in the form of a lead magnet as an incentive for visitors to opt into your email list.
Use an email management service to help you manage and communicate with your list. We recommend MailChimp & ConvertKit if you’re just starting out.

7. Have a well-designed home page

When considering what makes a good website, your home page is one of the most important pages to consider.

It will typically describe what your page is about and help the visitor decide whether to continue engaging with your site or leave.

A well-designed homepage will contain a powerful headline that describes the goal of the website and the benefits for the customer.

It will also include links to your most valuable pieces of content and a lead capture area for collecting email addresses.

For ideas on the best homepage designs. We recommend using a preset template or taking inspiration from other websites in your industry.

Here are some key elements to include on your homepage:

A powerful headline, explaining the goal and benefits of your website.
A lead capture area above the fold. (Offer a valuable lead magnet)
Links to your social media pages
Links to your best articles.

8. Make your website secure

In order to build trust with your audience, it’s absolutely essential that your website is secure and guards against spammers and any hacking attempts.

This is especially important when you’re selling products and services.

The good news is, most modern websites will not load without an SSL Certificate, which is a certificate that enables websites to use the HTTPS protocol that offers more secure protection.

Most good web hosting services will automatically install this for you free of charge. However, we also recommend adding another layer of protection to ensure your website is free from vulnerabilities.

We recommend the following:

Use the free Cloudflare service to improve the security and performance of your website.
Use the Wordfence security plugin to protect your website from malware.
Change your passwords regularly and back up your files. Your hosting provider will include this as a part of your service.

What makes a good website: Key takeaways

We've covered the main strategies to help you better understand what makes a good website. Remember these key points:

Create a solid site structure for easy navigation, optimized for mobile, and fast to load.
Use good colours and branding that complement each other for a better user experience.
Include helpful content that is SEO optimized.
Utilize forms for email capture and list building to build relationships with customers.
Design a well-designed home page with powerful headlines, lead capture area, links to social media pages and best articles.
Make website secure by using an SSL Certificate, Cloudflare service, Wordfence security plugin and regular password changes with backups.

Follow the steps in this guide when you're building out your first (or next) website and you're sure to set yourself up with the best chance of success.