7 characteristics of an effective website

Probably each of us is able to name at least one website that in some way appealed to him. At the same time, once in a while we happen to hit an “Internet nightmare” – a site that we want to leave as soon as we enter it. But what really makes certain sites attractive to us and others repel us? What does it mean for a website to be effective, and what are the characteristics of an effective website?

What does it mean for a website to be effective?

The answer to this question is not one-size-fits-all – in the broadest terms, an effective website will address the needs of your business. What are these needs? Well, the answer to that question you know yourself. Why? Because you – as the business owner – are the one who best understands your business, knows what you do and knows who you are targeting. A website should simultaneously act as your business card and your sales representative. Perhaps your brand is being confused with other players in the market? Not satisfied that your company’s turnover is not increasing? Are you worried about the increasing number of abandoned shopping carts in your e-commerce store? Or do you want to reach more customers? By identifying your needs, you will be able to understand what to do to make your website effective.

7 characteristics of an effective website

Having experience with hundreds of websites, we have identified 7 key features that make up its quality. To talk about an effective website, it must be:

• Targeted: the entire functionality of the site, as well as its content, should be closely tailored to the target audience and must correspond to the niche you are addressing;
• Transparent: an illegible font, a wall of text, an unsightly layout or a pretentious design will not encourage you to continue staying on the site;
• Responsive: clumsy scrolling, excessive tab loading times or errors that pop up will exhaust your patience at some point;
• Contentful: zero water spilling, only specific information and valuable content for the user – this will significantly affect the effectiveness of the site;
• Compatible: your website should function properly both in the desktop version and from the browser position on mobile devices;
• Communicative: there should be at least two avenues of contact with your company, so that if a user has any questions, he or she can draw on the information;
• Secure: users who do not feel confident that their information is secure will not finalize a purchase for fear of losing money or leaking data.

What to do when a website is ineffective?

It is very common to find that a website shows reduced effectiveness – it does not generate traffic, does not attract attention, does not contribute to the completion of sales. If you are sure that these are not marketing issues, it is worth leaning into the technical aspect of your website. There is no fixed prescription, no one-size-fits-all way to restore the site’s efficiency and make it begin to achieve its stated goals. The solution in such a situation is to have a professional audit and take dedicated corrective action. As IT specialists, 4b Systems will not only determine the causes of the site’s ineffectiveness, but also propose solutions to help eliminate the diagnosed problems. Contact us for detailed information on optimizing your website performance.