A good website consists of two things: content and functionality. It looks great, but save it for last.
Focus on these two areas and create a site that people will want to visit, return to, and tell their friends about. If the site provides the type of content people need, and makes that content easy to find and interact with, people will overlook even the ugliest design. Case in point: Hackernews.com — a site with 5 million monthly users (source) looks like this:
This article covers the essentials of building a successful website, focusing on creating valuable content and ensuring strong functionality (including checklists). You’ll also learn how to avoid common pitfalls and learn which tools can help you get started.
Website content includes all information and media provided to visitors, such as text, images, videos, products and their descriptions.
No matter how good the design is, bad content will drive away visitors. Conversely, high-quality content can make up for design flaws.
just watch some Popular websites. They prioritize simple, clean layouts to highlight their content, like Canva and Seeking Alpha.
I think you’d be surprised at how effortless Slack’s website looks – the company recently sold for $27.7B (source).
But you won’t just rely on any Content – You need high-quality content. High-quality content can mean different things to different people, but in general, you can’t go wrong if you follow these simple rules:
- Relevant to your audience. Content should be customized based on what your audience cares about, making them more likely to find it useful and engaging. One way to find related topics is to keyword research.
- Use simple language and be well organized. Make your content easy to understand and avoid using complicated jargon or technical terms unless absolutely necessary.
- unique: Content should offer something new or present information in a fresh way. Unique content can help you stand out from the competition and be more likely to reach more people through recommendations and distribution search engine optimization.
- valuable to your business. Last but not least, if your website is business-oriented, the content on your website should help you run that business. It should show how your product/service can help solve a related problem or help earn more using other products/services Monetization method.
I want to pause on that last point and emphasize that content is more than just giving people something to read or watch. This is also a great way to introduce your product or service.
At Ahrefs we use Product-led content strategy. We create content that uses our products to solve problems, targeting topics with search potential to drive consistent, relevant traffic.
For example, our SEO Friendly Sites guide, ranked #1 in the U.S., attracts users interested in practical tips and introduces them to our products.
People find us on Google and click to get the content instead of admiring the look of the blog. If you want to see how product-led content works, check out this video:
Website functionality refers to how smoothly a website operates, ensuring that users can easily navigate, interact, and achieve their goals. This includes fast page loading, responsive forms, and intuitive navigation.
If visitors can’t easily find what they’re looking for, or if the site is slow and frustrating to use, they won’t stick around and enjoy the content. This is why a website’s bounce rate (i.e. when a user exits the site quickly after opening it) increases so quickly Page load delay per second.
Features are also important for search engines. The technical aspects of a website affect its relative visibility Keywords. When ranking pages, Google considers loading speed, mobile friendliness, and the use of HTTPS protocol.
Similar free tools Ahrefs Webmaster Tools Easily ensure your website is technically sound. Through automated periodic website audits, the tool identifies issues on your website and provides recommendations for fixes. You’ll also get an overall health score to make it easier to track your progress.
This simple checklist breaks down the core elements of a great website. You can use it yourself or show it to the person responsible for your website.
| content strategy | Plan what types of information and articles you will publish on your website. Use our guide. |
| Analysis tools | Use tools to track how visitors use your site and how your site performs on Google so you know what’s working and what’s not. |
| SEO error free | Make sure there are no technical errors that prevent search engines from finding and indexing your site. You can use it for free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools(AWT). |
| Good Core Network Vital (CWV) | Make sure your website loads quickly and responds well to user interactions. Test directly in AWT or Google Search Console. |
| Accessibility | Design your website so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can easily use it. Use tools like Accessibility Inspector or WAVE Web Accessibility Assessment |
| Suitable for mobile devices | Make sure your website works well on smartphones and tablets, not just computers. You can test directly in AWT (Usability and Performance section in all issue reports). |
| Use HTTPS | Secure your website to protect user information. you can get a Free certificate here. |
| Using on-page SEO best practices | Optimize each page with relevant keywords, the right title, and meta description to help search engines understand and rank your content. Use our guide. |
| Consistent layout | Use the same colors and fonts throughout your website to create a cohesive and professional look. |
| up to date | Keep your content current and relevant. |
| User tested | Show the website to a few people and ask them to use it as normal. Encourage them to be honest about things they find confusing or difficult. |
Building a website is an exciting process, but it’s easy to fall into common pitfalls. Let me share some of the problems I’ve seen over the years and provide some advice on how to overcome them.
- Design by committee. Too many conflicting ideas can result in a design that is confusing and lacks focus. Try to limit decision-makers and focus on a clear vision. Prioritize decisions based on what’s best for users.
- It’s too hard to sell. Overly aggressive sales tactics can alienate potential customers. Build trust by providing useful information rather than pushing aggressive sales tactics (artificial intelligence tools can help with this).
- The language is not clear. Vague or complex wording can confuse users and obscure your message. Tools like the Hemingway app, Grammarly, or ChatGPT can help.
- Bad SEO Practices. Fortunately, SEO Good Practices is easy to follow and Over-optimization Very easy to avoid.
- Not keeping the website up to date. Failure to regularly update content and functionality can make your website appear neglected and disjointed. Even something as simple as setting a monthly reminder to check your website can do the trick.
- Not testing and iterating. Start by trying different methods on your site to see which one gets the best results. Focus on what your visitors like and respond to the most. Once you find what works, focus on doing more of those things. This is how you go from a “good” website to a “great” website.
As exciting as it is, building and managing a website can quickly become overwhelming. But the right tools can make the process smoother and more efficient. Here are some basic tools to get you started (all free to use).
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. A free tool to analyze your website’s performance on Google. Use Ahrefs to check for SEO issues, track keyword rankings and see who is linking to your site.
- Vickers. A website builder that allows you to create and design websites without coding. Choose from customizable templates and drag-and-drop elements to build your website quickly and easily. If you need more control over your design and are not afraid of coding, you can use one of the web design frameworks such as Base or semantic user interface.
- Google Search Console. Free tools from Google to help you monitor and maintain your site’s appearance in Google search results.
- Google Analytics. Free tool for tracking and reporting website traffic. Set up Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with your site, which pages are the most popular, where your traffic comes from, and more. Use this data to make informed decisions about how to improve your website (friend is a good choice).
- hub point. A platform that provides marketing, sales and customer service tools as well as a content management system (CMS). Create and manage content, capture leads, and track customer interactions with HubSpot.
- microsoft clarity. Free tool for analyzing user behavior on websites. Set up Microsoft Clarity to view heat maps and session logs to understand how visitors interact with your site.
- Chat GPT. An artificial intelligence language model that assists with every website building and management task. Use ChatGPT to brainstorm content ideas and generate text and code for your website.
final thoughts
Don’t get me wrong. That’s not to say that the visuals of your website aren’t important at all. as Artist Max Kolomatsky Demonstrated on This Instagram videodesign can greatly enhance a company’s awareness.
The visual design of a website, while important, is not worth losing sleep over. If you start with a good enough design (such as a custom template) and focus on delivering real value through content and functionality, your website will succeed faster and last longer.
It’s also easy to “overdo” visual design. When trying to make a website look attractive, too many elements, colors, or effects are often added, which can overwhelm visitors and slow down the website. A website is one of those things that needs to be usable, and there’s no better advice than Dieter Rams’s “Good design is as little design as possible.”
Have questions or comments? find me LinkedIn.
