What makes a good website?

We're often asked what makes a good website? The short answer is an effective one. The long answer is effective means different things to different people. What might be an effective website for a jewellery business is different to an effective website for a civil construction company.

When deciding what's good and effective for your business, consider the following:
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• Target audience. Who are you trying to impress?
• Desired action. When someone visits your website, what do you want them to do? 
• Sales or credibility? Are you trying to sell products to your website visitors or trying to show them you are an expert in your field?
• How will your website be viewed? Have a look at your google analytics and see whether your website is viewed more from a desktop or from a phone.
• Your position in the market. Do you want to look like a cheaper alternative to your competitors? Or do you want to look like the most experienced? Or something else?
• Updating your website. Who has the access and skills to update your site? Do you need an external agency every time or do you have someone on staff that can do this?
• Your digital footprint. Your website is only one part of your online digital footprint. How does it compare to your Google My Business listing and your social media accounts?
• Consistency. Are website visitors getting the same impression from your website, as they do from your capability statement and tender submissions? Or are you accidentally creating confusion?
• Google juice. What search terms are you wanting to rank well with? Even if you build your business with tendering and word of mouth, there are some search terms you still want to rank well with. Consider also what local area you want to rank well in. For example a jewellery store in Brisbane, might want to rank well when someone searches for 'engagement ring' from anywhere in Australia. Whereas, a civil construction company might want to rank well when someone in Toowoomba searches 'bridge construction'. 
• Quality or quantity? When attracting new visitors to your website, will they like what they see? Are you looking for lots and lots of new customers or just a few really high value prospective clients to be impressed?

Keep these in mind when assessing the effectiveness of your current website, planning a new website or starting a new business. The more clear you are about your objectives, the more likely you'll hit the mark.