Regardless of what type of website you have or are planning, there are several things you need to make sure are in place. Call them what you will; site core features, fundamentals, or web essentials, there are specific elements you need to have in place to get web success. Take a look at the following:
Sitemap: If your site doesn’t have a sitemap, it really should. Almost any type of website will benefit from a sitemap.
Fix broken links: it would surprise you to learn how many sites contain links that don’t work. Nothing turns a user off faster than link functions that don’t go anywhere. Fixing broken links is a quick and easy way to improve user experience to your website.
Multi-browser Compatibility: Different users use different internet browsers. You need to make sure your website functions are displayed the same regardless of what browser your website visitors are using.
Site Search Function: A site search not only helps users find the information they are looking for on your site, but it also tells the website owner what information users are looking for on the site, and more importantly, what they looking for and aren’t finding on the site. It may take some time to get the search function working properly, but it is worth the time and effort.
Lastly, but certainly not least is Web Analytics: One of the first things you really want to establish is getting a good analytics solution in place. You need to have the analytics going to have a baseline starting point from which to measure any improvements or failures your site is experiencing. Although there are a lot of analytic tools available, most sites won’t require anything beyond the analytic tools offered by Google.
Getting web success doesn’t happen on accident. It is the result of careful planning and hard work, and making sure the web essentials are in place.