What is a good website?
Most people and businesses know they need to have a website, but few can tell you what a good website does. In this post we’ll break down our definition of a good website and make it easy for you to see if your website is good.
What does “good” mean?
Good is a subjective term but it needs to be defined. At Drive Digital, we always start from a common definition that helps anchor the design process. We have seen many projects and websites get slowed down or increase in cost because definitions of success – like good – aren’t defined in the beginning. This checklist represents a key slice of our definition of good websites.
It meets a specific purpose.
Websites perform best when they are made for a specific purpose. As a tool for communication & business, when websites aren’t living to that purpose, then they aren’t good. Fortunately, this is fixable. By defining a singular purpose, a website can be turned from bad to good to great.
It communicates to its customer well.
Good websites use plain language, short and simple sentences, and clear writing as a way to simply communicate value and what customers need to do to work with a brand. We also look at how the website includes people with disabilities, as they are too often a forgotten audience when a website is made.
It has simple branding.
Good websites have simple branding to make the website an extension of their real-world brand. Good sites can use their brand to effectively expedite customer and business needs. The best ones can also do it well or better when accessing the site from a mobile device.
It represents everything you do.
A good website makes it easy for your audience & customer to see everything you do. Your website is your home base, and it should bring together everything you do: pieces of your social, your value proposition, your social, how you make business easy, your voice, and an invitation for new customers to join you. This is what I call your “total value” – if your customer can’t see your total value, your website isn’t good.
It takes care of the invisible side of digital.
Good websites take care of the invisible work of digital: site search, Google search, site navigation, and meeting legal compliance. The better ones do this in a way that makes them feel fast and fluid to your audience & customer.
It is easy to maintain and update.
This is something missed by nearly every company out there. A good website will allow you to quickly add new functions, change to market conditions, and bring new employees up to speed. This step saves a lot of time, money, and headache, and if you don’t consider this when you make your website, you’re going to pay for it in lost opportunity and time in meeting customer needs.
Its cost & ROI is easy to calculate.
A website is a tool for you, and if you’re not looking at its cost and what you’re getting out of the website, then you’re not using it to its maximum potential. While it’s almost an unspoken rule that everyone needs a website, you should also ask & understand what value your website is giving you and your customer.