The secret to good web design

At My Digital Hero, we pride ourselves on knowing a thing or two about good web design. But we're not ones to hog our expertise – we'd rather share the secret with whoever is interested.

When we talk about "good website design", we mean any website for any kind of enterprise. The principles are the same, whether you're selling shoes or superyachts.

We want websites that are responsive, beautiful, organic, bespoke and easy to manage. But how do you turn these buzzwords into reality?

Well, there are three things that we think are simply indispensable.

1. Research

A good website is built on research. Research into what? Well, primarily into what you want to achieve.

Your website is your shop window, sure. But it's also a place where a curious browser can become a customer at the click of a button. It's a crucial arrow in your digital quiver.

That means your website needs to be responsive to what people are looking for. It needs to be findable. It needs to engage with your customers' needs, wants and pain points – and demonstrate that your brand will answer them all.

A vital way of achieving this is to research keywords that your customers are searching for. This isn't because keywords are some magical incantation that summons customers to your website – it's because keyword research and customer research are two sides of the same coin.

A website built on keyword research pleases Google – but it pleases customers too because it helps them to answer their questions about the service or product you're providing. 

By researching and deploying those crucial keywords, you're responding to your customers' needs by explaining how your business can meet them.

So before you start building your website, you need to have a firm grasp on what your kind of customer is looking for. Once you're armed with this knowledge, you can pack your site to the gunwales with appealing, keyword-rich content.

2. Content

Scepticism about SEO content is entirely understandable. After all, it takes time, money and a way with words. You'd be forgiven for thinking it's so much fluff clogging up your online presence.

In fact, bespoke content rooted in research is a surefire way to get people to your site.

Some browsers who end up on your site will have done so as a result of your expert marketing – those Google Ads, marketing emails and social media posts that you've sweated over.

But if you have content related to your customers' needs, wants and pain points then you can let them in through the back door.

Cards on the table: you might be reading this blog post precisely because of this phenomenon. And we'd be lying if we said we didn't want you to take a look around when you've finished reading. 

In the digital realm, keywords are king. By creating content that features keywords searched for by your customers, you can ensure a steady stream of visitors to your site.

But wait – isn't this just a deceptive way of increasing website traffic?

Well yes – if the content you're providing has no value. But if it genuinely responds to the needs of customers and answers their questions, you'd be missing out if you didn't take up the opportunity.

What's more, you can't fob off search engines with empty articles hamfistedly stuffed with keywords. First and foremost, good content is copy that people want to read.

It's also content that's rooted in keywords. Writing content before doing your keyword research is a case of putting the cart before the horse. If you can't answer the question "what do my customers want?" then they're unlikely to linger on your website. And answering that question is closely related to knowing which keywords they're searching for.

So when you come to create your website, you need content that's relevant to your customers' needs and delicately peppered with SEO-friendly keywords. Only that way will the new traffic to your site lead to those much-sought-after conversions.

Finally, you need copy that presents your brand in the best possible light – professional, knowledgeable, helpful and approachable. And it needs to be written in a tone that's right for you.

As with that all-important keyword research, content needs to please humans as well as search engines.

3. A build that's fit for humans!

If you spend a lot of your working day online, you'll doubtless have strong opinions on what makes a good website. And we guarantee that one word will be common to them all – user-friendliness.

Yes, it seems obvious, but we still see so many websites that aren't fit for human use. Slow, bloated, hard to navigate… sometimes websites can seem like an afterthought, when they're really an essential part of a brand's identity.

If a customer comes to your website looking for a specific product or piece of information, they want it fast. You're not only in competition with other businesses – you're in competition with their websites.

As well as user-friendliness, your website needs to be powered by content – and it's this research-driven content that in turn drives your website design. Build your website around content and your message will come across that bit clearer – improving not only search engine rankings but the whole customer journey.

So once you've equipped yourself with research-rich content, you need a website that looks great and is easy to use.

Not only that, you need a website that uses cutting-edge design and is regularly maintained.

So don't drive away users with a subpar website. Give them something up-to-date, beautiful to look at and easy to use. That way, you'll see those visitors turn into customers.

So there you have it. The secret is this – good website design pleases humans as much as it pleases Google. You can't have the one without the other – but if you have both, your conversion rate will increase and your business will thrive.

My Digital Hero is a small-but-plucky team of digital do-gooders. If you're looking for a website that's bespoke, beautiful and easy to manage, let's talk.