20 Elements Every Website Should Have - Curtis Tucker

Everyone needs to get a website online! It doesn’t matter which platform you use or how fancy your website is for the first six months. Just get it online. After a few months you should begin to learn a little more about websites and then you can start to make an informed decision as to which platform to use.

Getting your website online early gives you time to learn. By the time you decide on your business idea or side gig you’ll have enough knowledge to start adding great content.

Once your website is online and you’re ready to start using it to attract visitors you’ll want to make sure it is ready for Google and the other search engines. This is a list of elements that just about every website should have.

There are other elements that could have been included but some of those are just content and fluff. Go over your website and make sure you have these 20 essential elements.

These will make it easier on your visitors and will help you with the basics for getting ranked in search engines. If you don’t understand a few of these I will most likely cover them in detail later down the line. In the mean time just search online for additional information for any element you do not understand.

20 Most Essential Website Elements

1. Logo and Name. Your branding elements on every page of the website. Usually found in the header. Be sure the logo image loads quickly and has your company name in the Alt Tag and description. Usually a .JPG or .PNG.

2. Homepage. This should be your introduction page with welcoming information. Add a short story about what you do.

3. Call To Action. If you need the visitors to perform an action let them know! Have them subscribe, download, ask questions, click links, provide information, search, etc.

4. About Page. This describes who you are and tells your story in depth. Might include a photo. If you have some great history add it here. This page could include bios of other employees.

5. Blog. Blogs keep your website fresh and updated. Provide information, entertainment and updates. Some website have the blog as the homepage while others just have a link in the menu to the blog.

6. Contact Page. Include an email form, map, phone number and address. Make sure everything you add here works! Test it. When someone contacts you answer them quickly. You could add your hours here also.

7. Contact Info. Add a phone number or email on every page possibly in the footer. You never know what page a visitor will enter your page on so be sure whichever page it is you have quick contact info.

8. Privacy Policy. It’s boring but you need this on your website. Explain how personal info and data (e.g. advertising, cookies, emails etc) collected will be used, and whether or not it will be shared with third parties. Place a link in the footer.

9. Sitemap. A sitemap page should include links to all of your web pages and blog posts. A sitemap link could be located in the footer of every page. There are XML and HTML site maps. WordPress has sitemap plugins.

10. Search Box. You need to allow visitors to easily search your website for information. You can use a search feature from the website itself or use code from Google for a Google search. Try to add this in the sidebar of every page.

11. Social Media Icons. Be sure to link to all of your social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. These small icons can be in the footer or sidebar. WordPress has widgets that help with these icons.

12. Responsive Theme/Template. Be sure your WordPress or other website is responsive. That means your website will display correctly depending on if a visitor is on a computer, pad or phone.

13. Meta Tags. Make sure you fill in the hidden meta tags in your header. You’ll need a website title and description. Without these tags search engines will not know how to correctly rank you.

14. SEO. Search Engine Optimization. This will be an entire blog post/episode in itself. Just be sure you know how and where to add keywords, headline text, images, and content. WordPress has great SEO plugins.

15. Email Signup. Everyone needs to build an email list! Ask visitors to sign up with a simple form or link. An email list is something you own and keep. It’s your secure connection to your best fans or customers. Try Mail Chimp.

16. Navigation Menu. This may seem obvious but be sure to link to your most important pages at the top of the page. Do not overdue the links in the main menu, maybe limit to 5-7. Add navigation menu to every page.

17. Google Analytics. Get bazillions amounts of information on your visitors by letting Google track them. Learn who your visitors are, where they came from, where they are going, what they are searching for and more. A must have.

18. SSL Certificates. An SSL certificate is needed for websites accepting payments and collecting user data. They help keep the website secure. Google has now come out and said websites with SSL will rank higher because they are trusted.

19. Copyright Notice. Original content on your website is automatically protected under copyright law. Include a copyright notice on your website. It can support your legal rights and may deter infringements from happening.

20. Images. A website would be very boring without photographs and illustrations. Break up long blocks of text with images. Be sure images are optimized so they load quickly. Homepage sliders with great images are very popular.

That’s 20 elements every website needs. Do you think I missed one? Leave your ideas and thoughts in the comments. Don’t forget… start now!

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