There is more to building a successful website than whether it looks good. Of course good web design is important, but equally important – if not more so – is content, and the way in which that content is displayed on the site. Even when a website looks glossy and professional, if it’s not easy for users to navigate it probably won’t do very well. Working in SEO you quickly come to realise how common these simple mistakes are, and the potentially damaging effect that they can have on an otherwise perfectly sound website. If you suspect your site could perform better here are some things you could look in to.

Use good copy - All the information on a good website needs to be clear, concise and to the point as it is all that potential customers have to go on. Customers won’t want to make a purchase if they’re not entirely sure of the product, whatever type of business you do. To convince potential customers that you are the right person to buy from, don’t underestimate the power of a short piece of well-written copy on each page of your site.

Reassess your layout and navigation system – When it comes to the layout of a website, less is definitely more. Getting lost is annoying enough anyway, but online consumers will simply turn elsewhere if they are unable to find what they are looking for quickly. A confusing website won’t do well, even if the essential content is good. There could be any number of ways to organise your site, for example a holidays site could choose to display their different deals by destination, type or star rating. But having lots of menus with the same links can be very confusing for users. Using the homepage simply to search or select a destination would be a far less confusing way of arranging all this information, provided the other information is displayed clearly on each entry. Taking this simple step will make the site easier to navigate for users and search engines too.