7 Essential Website Features and Functions
Research suggests that people have begun to spend more and more time on the internet. An average adult spends 6 hours and 42 minutes, on average, on the internet, daily. That’s massive. Since most of us spend our time on the internet surfing through websites, 30 per cent of our time is spent online in a year. Now, here the role of websites is quite substantial since there are several aspects that web owners implement in order to make a website appealing.
Contemporary times have shown that websites, online storefronts and digitization in general, can help businesses grow in a way that traditional strategies for growth cannot. Thus, a website owner, while catering to the needs of the customers has to allow the website to evolve and adapt to the newer trends.
So, if you’re a website or online store owner or a web developer, it is imperative that you know what makes a website appealing.
Let us check out some of the most essential website features and functions that you as a web owner or developer ought to know.
- Easy navigation
Navigability is an issue a lot of web owners struggle with. While a lot of businesses may claim to know about this, an easily navigable website is hard to find. Navigation needs to be easily understood by the customers. So, when the users click somewhere, they must know what exactly to expect. The purpose of navigation is to allow the users to find what they are looking for, by eliminating guesswork on their part. Here are some ways to achieve easy navigability on a website.
- Hamburger Menu: Having three horizontal lines or dots, stacked vertically in the corner of a website is a well-recognized way to hide your expandable menu.
- Vertical sidebar: With increasing mobile-friendly designs, a popular alternative to the horizontal navbar is to have fixed navigation, running vertically across the side of the screen.
There are several other features that can add up to easy navigability and a web owner or developer must research well before making the website live.
- Call to action (CTA)
One of the most successful website features is the CTA. A website must have a clear and strong call to action. These are pieces of content meant to induce the user to do something. So, for this purpose, a web owner must determine whether he wants the users to sign up for their newsletter, buy a product or read a blog. Once there’s clarity on these subjects, placing calls to action on a website becomes easier. While doing so, one must also remember that a website must reduce the burden of choice for consumers.
- Mobile-friendliness
This is yet another significant feature of a thriving website. People accessing websites on the internet mostly do so on their mobile phones. So, a website must be able to adapt to different types of screens and display seamlessly on smaller ones. Mobile-friendly websites aren’t just convenient for the users but also expand your reach. Professional web development services will guarantee that your website adjusts to all devices no matter what platform, or content management system you want to use.
- Dark mode
The dark mode is one of the most striking features of a website, which has several benefits. This feature, wherein you can swap the color palettes from the typical white background to accommodate a black background, hit the mainstream in 2020. Not only is this feature interesting, but offers a lot of benefits such as:
- Higher contrast for certain colors and visuals to improve focus
- Reduced strain in the eyes
- Lower energy consumption
Apart from these benefits, a dark mode can be a great function for creating a visually appealing website.
- Web Accessibility
An accessible website is one which can be easily accessed not just by the general crowd but by people with disabilities as well. Web owners who intend to make the website accessible must abide by the accessibility norms and standards set by the authorities. An accessible website is a great way to increase and grow the traffic, users and the business ultimately. This feature gives equal access to people with disabilities. Now creating an accessible website is easy, you can simply hire web accessibility consultants who can help you create a navigable website, accessible to a wider population.
- SEO and analytics
Most of us know that SEO is meant to increase user activity on a website. It will help drive traffic to the website and convert leads. Search Engine Optimization is one of the most popular ways to rank your website on the top-most page of a search engine. So, if a web owner wishes to be found easily, from a business perspective, SEO marketing strategies can help significantly.
- Content management
Content management is yet another significant website feature to have on a website. A content management system helps in the arrangement and overall management and handling of the content available on the website. One must make sure that the content management system is built on the site from the beginning. The CMS also allows you to make edits to the content. It is, therefore, a must-have feature for a thriving website.
Conclusion
Hence, before creating a website, one must thoroughly research, and carefully decide the features to incorporate into the website from a business perspective. Effective research on your part will also help you avoid common mistakes and give you insights into some of the most innovative and intuitive designs.
