Although it’s pretty common to hear that the most important things a site should have are good web design and usability, there is much more to consider. 

Many businesses are focused on generating traffic to their sites, investing in marketing campaigns, sending cold emails, etc., but this is technically useless if people come to your site and leave without buying anything. 

Worse, they don’t sign up for your service or even subscribe to your email list. Users who don’t spend enough time on your site increase bounce rates, eventually hurting your SEO rankings. 

Here are the essential elements your site needs to have to avoid shooing away your visitors: 

First off, you need to have a clear value proposition. Your value proposition will tell your prospective customers why they should do business with you instead of your competitors. 

Ensure you engage and capture your audience’s attention at the first couple of seconds they land on your site. If they see your unique selling proposition and like it, they’ll be inclined to explore your site more.

So, this includes not just aesthetics but your site navigation and structure as well. In the same way, 75% of site visitors base the credibility and trust of a site on a good design. So, creating an excellent first impression is vital for everything else on your site to work. 

You must consider how to structure your navigation menu and its categories best. Usually, it should contain some of the most common questions new customers might ask:

Usually, clean navigation uses logical sequencing and titles. This lets your customers quickly identify the parts of your site they want to visit.

A call to action (CTA) is usually a button, link, or image visitors need to click to become paying customers. For ecommerce sites, it is usually the add to cart or checkout button. Meanwhile, for service sites, it’s usually the sign-up for the service. 

Usually, this model is different for start-ups in the early stages and blogs, wherein the CTA is a subscription on the mailing list. Your CTA should be identified clearly and in other parts of your site. 

Using different colors in your CTAs also helps. For instance, you can use a green color that creates an excellent contrast with the blue on your site. 

Make sure that you showcase your social proof on your homepage to boost your brand’s trustworthiness. 

Your site must also have a page that will tell visitors how you can connect with them. Your site pages should have the name of your business and your email and phone numbers prominently listed there. 

On the other hand, your Contact Us page is usually different because it strictly focuses on how people can connect with you. You can add an email form they could fill out, use it to highlight your most important contact information engagingly, and then add all your social media links. 

Finally, if you want to bring in new site visitors and connect with them uniquely and meaningfully, start your own blog. 

Here are some blog ideas and topics that you can write about: 

In reality, blogging can be anything you want to share with your visitors, which prompts them to share with their friends and family. It’s worth noting that blogging might take a little of your investment. 

So there you have it. These are the most essential elements a startup site should have to ensure optimal function. A website is one of the most affordable and effective ways to expand your online reach and reach out to your prospects and customers. You need these elements to have a positive impression. 

So, ensure you incorporate these essential elements in your site to steadily build an online presence that brings in more people to your business, no matter where they’re from. Remember, you also need to connect with your visitors, and you’re not just selling your business. Good luck!

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