20 Must Haves For All Websites

Posted by Ahmad Barirani in Web Development      No comments

Aug
25

Project after project, certain things seem to be coming over and over again. We can say that they are standards and become must haves for all websites. Some of them are little things but they make a big difference and give a professional look to the website.

1. Usable interface: this is different from a good looking design. The aim here is to provide the service in a simple yet optimal way. Every little detail must be thought of when this is done. The goal is to 1) provide much information with little effort from user 2) answer needs with as little functions and clicks as possible.
2. Navigation bars: primary above the fold and repeat in the footer. It is part of a usable interface. It is often useful to go from one section to another or to come back to our initial footsteps.
3. Good visual design: this is about having an appealing look, but also one that fits with the service. For example, the best looking design for a e-commerce would be useless if we’re building a social networking website.
4. Separate CSS from content: this is a big helper if its done at the beginning of the project. Designs need to be updated and it is much easier and cheaper (later) to have separate files for content and design.
5. ‘Contact US’ page: Often overlooked, but a big irritation for the user when it has to look for contact information and not be able to find it.
6. Privacy policy: this is common good behavior and is a big issue for consumers. Every website should let its users know how information is collected about them.
7. Copyright notice: nobody want to innovate for free. If copyright notice is not there, it night indicate that there is little creative effort behind the website.
8. FAQ: this is a great way to answer common questions related to a website and is always very useful. The easiest way to start with the FAQ is note questions and answers from the first people who see the website.
9. Subscribe: don’t be cheap and have RSS feeds, newsletters, etc. You must feed your users with information.
10. ‘About Us’ page: Let people know what the website is there for. Also a good place to present the team behind the service.
11. Digital Assets: Videos, pics, podcasts. All these are trademarks of modern professional websites.
12. Blog: This is great way to provide news and updates to your users. It has to be thought of a parallel service to you main service. The more information you will offer about your service, the more it will be adopted. Also, it is a great way to be in touch with your customers.
13. Feedback script: There are a couple of good scripts for user feedback. It is a great tool and it is highly adopted by new websites.
14. Search: Always good to have this and avoid a lot of headache when it comes to looking around a dynamic website. A lot of great tools are available to ease the job.
15. Meaningful content: this tip might look like a waste of time, but people often forget to provide meaningful text. It is as if we often think of design as being more important that content. Don’t forget that ‘content is king’.
16. Search engine optimized content: This one must be done in concert with previous tip. When content is created, it must be done with the search engine in mind. There is much art to be used here to not alter the literary quality of the content.
17. Sitemap: helps website crawling a lot. This is in line with search engine optimization.
18. Social bookmarking links: social media optimization is now part of every marketing campaign.
19. Cross browser compatibility: Not everyone is using IE anymore. Sometimes, people use older browser like IE 6. Lets get visitors come back by being compatible with their browser of choice.
20. Web analytics: building a site is about incremental improvements. Web analytics help invest your improvement effort in the right direction by showing how people use your website.