Your business website should not only serve to inform potential customers and clients, but also to represent your company as a whole. Just like the building you work in, your website should be something that you’re proud to showcase. With the right tools, your site could be a real marketing beacon for your company.

1.   Pleasing design

While looks aren’t everything, if you want to come across as a forward-thinking company, it’s best to have a website design that reflects that. Slick graphics and elegant, easy to read fonts will help to create a custom look that befits your company’s reputation. As well as looking eye-catching, it should flow nicely and be easy to use. You don’t want to overcompensate and accidentally create a confusing, clunky website.

2.   Great content

What use is a beautifully-designed website if the content is poorly-written? One of the first things you should do is hire a copywriter to create any large bodies of text and proofread them before applying it to any landing pages. If you are planning to build a feature or blog section, the content should be equally well-written and engaging. It won’t speak volumes for your site if your content is generic and full of spelling mistakes.

3.   Smooth-running

As mentioned before, Google now punishes websites for using unreliable links and excessive use of keywords. As well as dodgy link building, Google will also fish out sites that are entirely bombarded with pop-up ads, which inevitably cause it to be slow-running. Search-engine giants aside, a slow-running website is off-putting for any visitor, so it should be avoided at any cost.

4.   Adequate online safety

To set up an expensive and lovingly-made new business website, and then have it be the victim of a cyberattack would be heart-breaking for any website owner. In order to ensure that your site is secure, including any sensitive data that it has access to, you will need to have adequate cybersecurity measures in place. Use specialist IT services such as Torix will help to analyse any weak areas and implement cybersecurity where it’s required.

5.   SEO

Nowadays, in order to rank highly according to Google’s algorithms, your website will absolutely have to be search engine optimised. Not only is it a good idea to make sure you are link-building with reputable websites and using accurate keywords, but it’s also a good idea to ensure that every corner of your site is searchable. It means making sure that your permalinks use easy-to-search words, your images are optimised for search and that you update your site frequently.

6.   A simple URL

It might seem obvious to some, but for many, what makes for an easy-to-find, easy to type-in website is a catchy and simple website address. Clever can be memorable, but if it’s a single sentence mashed into one word, visitors may struggle to remember the exact address.

The critical thing to remember about a successful business website is that the key to success is hidden in the details. While you should make sure that your pages and graphics run smoothly, you should also make sure that it runs securely and that it is SEO-friendly.