Ten Things Your Website Should Have in 2020
If you own or manage a website or are planning to develop a new website, there are ten things that your website should have in 2020. The website is the fastest and (often) least expensive way to build and boost credibility. If you already have a website, take a look at it from outside eyes and take note whether it adequately reflects your products and services, your value-added, your knowledge, opinion, perspective, etc. If it doesn’t reflect these things, then it’s time to review and possibly redesign your website.
Implement these tips and tricks to generate more leads from your online presence and your website in 2020.
1. Responsive/Mobile-Design
There is no excuse for a website that is not responsive. The average American spends 5.4 hours a day on their phone and picks the thing up nearly 60 times a day! If they happen to look at your website, it must be responsive and fit to the screen.
2. Fast Page Speed
If it takes ages for the website content to load, visitors might leave your site for a better website. Google also now takes page speed into consideration as a ranking factor.
3. Clear Calls to Action
Be sure that the goal of your website is obvious to your users. If you sell products, encourage users to browse and check out. If you offer services, ensure users can browse your offerings and contact you when they are ready to engage.
4. Backlinks
One often-overlooked search engine ranking factor is the number and quality of other sites linking back to you. This is usually overlooked because either people don’t understand its importance, or they don’t have time to do anything about it. While both are valid reasons, consider this. While Google takes into consideration everything on your own site when determining where to rank you, it also considers what other sites think about you. One of the best ways for them to determine that is if lots of high-quality sites have linked to your site. It can take time to identify sites that might link to yours and to contact each of them individually, but the payoff can be huge.
5. Reviews
Word-of-mouth is a timeless technique for driving customers to your business. And one of the best ways to do that is by getting reviews online. Having a large number of positive reviews signals to potential customers that your business/products/services are good. This social proof can convince someone who’s on the fence to take a chance on you. Depending on the nature of your organization, you might seek reviews on Google My Business, Facebook, and/or Yelp. Other niche sites could also work, but don’t spread yourself too thin! It’s better to aim for a high number of positive reviews rather than a scattergun approach of a few reviews all over the place. Be sure to display any particularly good testimonials on your website and make it easy for people to read all your reviews by linking to the site(s) (e.g. Google My Business) where you have the most reviews.
6. Security
One of the most important components of internet presence is creating a trusted environment where potential customers or clients feel confident about making purchases or providing you with personal information. SSL certificates create a foundation of trust by establishing a secure connection. To assure visitors their connection is secure, browsers provide special visual cues – anything from a green padlock to a branded URL bar. Websites with an SSL certificate have https:// instead of http:// before their domain name.
7. Privacy Policy
Remember all the GDPR hubbub last year? Well, that’s not going away anytime soon and it’s not just for Europe anymore. California is already adopting similar privacy and data protection regulations, and other states will surely follow soon. It’s important to keep up with the trends and make sure your site is compliant. A good starting point is to get a privacy policy on your website. It should use clear language and outline all the ways in which you use and store your customers’ information. It should be linked from the bottom of each page of your site so that no matter what page a user lands on, they can access the information.
8. No Flash
Adobe Flash is finally going away this year and will no longer be supported so you want to replace any Flash animations on your site with something more up to date. If you were previously using a Flash intro to load your site, consider removing it. Use a visitor’s time wisely.
9. Email Signup
People may complain about spam, but spam only refers to emails you don’t want in your inbox. Think about the emails you do like to receive: a weekly deals email from your favorite store, a daily email with the latest news, a community newsletter updating you on events in your area. As long as the content is right for you, you’ll look forward to getting those emails. Which means your website’s audience is likely looking forward to emails from you. Make it easy for them to sign up on your website (you’ll only want to email people that you have explicit permission to contact), let them know what they can expect to receive from you and how often, then deliver on that promise by providing quality, timely content via email.
10. 508 Compliance
508 Compliance is shorthand for a law (Rehabilitation Act of 1973) that requires Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 doesn’t only apply to federal agencies. It also impacts any company that does business with a federal agency. This includes private contractors, the financial industry, healthcare, many legal organizations, and others. Web designers and developers play a critical role in ensuring websites and digital tools are accessible, and conform to the Revised 508 Standards and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA.
