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Nearly everyone has a website nowadays and, that is really cool. But, there isn’t really a standard that people should be reaching with their personal sites – unless you are a business.

Essential website features you need

It is one of the first things people want to build once they have their business idea. The idea that you should be online to be seen more is very basic and accepted as the general rule of thumb. But if you don’t know your SEO from your CRM plugins, then you’re going to need a spot of help.

If you haven’t done so already, then the first thing you should look at is buying your URL. There are many companies to choose from, so go with works for your budget. Try not to have any spelling mistakes, because it is easy to do. Check that there aren’t any rude words by accident which also happens a lot.

Once you have your name, then check it is available on all social media platforms and reserve it by registering for an account. If you get stuck, then Name Vine or Panabee can help you out.

Once you have done that, you’ll need to get hosting, and most providers will walk you through how to set up a WordPress website. It’s very common and has a lot of features and wizards so you can build it straight away.

After all of that is out the way it is time to get to the fun stuff.

Logical

Think about the pages that you’re going to need. A shop page, about page, and contact page are the basics. Make it as simple as possible to navigate around. This will help the user find what they are looking for with ease.

Before you launch anything, do a few mockups. Think about where you want things to go and how you’d like it to look. Remember that unless you are using something like Elementor, or working with a designer, you are going to be pretty tied into the theme that you choose.

A theme is just how the website is laid out and looks. WordPress and Jetpack have so many to choose from you’ll be spoiled for choice. I also recommend one of Bluchic’s professional themes.

Essential Information

Think about what you want to know when you go to a website. Prices, location, and shipping information. You need to have a firm grasp on what you need and why you need it. Sites can get clunky and slow if you stack up the things you just don’t need. Keep your font clean and neat, and at a readable size.

Try to include a space to share reviews and feedback. People make choices about purchases a lot based on other people’s experiences.

If you serve food, put your menu up, if you have perfumes go into detail about the notes that people can smell. Think about being as customer-focused as possible. Clear images that have the option to zoom or expand. Simple share buttons so people can share your products.

Contact Us

This page has the space to be exciting, and dynamic, but in the end, it really should have the same few things. Have you ever been to a website and spent an age looking around for how to get in touch. It is so frustrating! Not only might you lose customers, but it just shows a lack of thought and business smarts.

Don’t make the mistake of putting your details on an image. It makes it more difficult for people to get in touch with you. They should be presented in such a way that you can click your email address, and their ‘new email’ function opens. Equally with your phone number. Most mobile phones now have the ‘click to call’ popup as soon as they press a possible phone number, so make yours easy to get to.

Set up an email address with your domain and website, so that all mail pertaining to your website hits that inbox and doesn’t get lost.

A neat option is a chat service, which you can use at set times in the day.

People like a range of content options so give it to them.

Security

You should put effort into keeping your customers safe. Use an SSL to encrypt the communication between you and the client, This includes things like bank or credit card details, social security numbers, and addresses.

You might like to take a look at Verisign, GeoTrust, and TrustE are all great options to look into. But, if you don’t mind renewing every 3 months Let’s Encrypt is great too.

Looking clean and easy to use is just the start of what it takes to have a great website. So do your homework, and you’ll come up roses.

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Looking clean and easy to use is just the start of what it takes to have a great website. Make sure your website has these essential features.

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