Aug 03 2010
Great websites aren't accidents. They have been meticulously been planned, designed and developed to meet a business' goals and to resonate with its audience. And while each website on the Internet is different in some way, the best ones contain three critical components that make them great; what I call The Website Trifecta. Each piece helps support the other and when one is weak, they're all weak, leaving a less than stellar impression on your visitors.
1. Great design
Perhaps this one goes without saying, but a great website will have great design. It doesn't matter if it's incredibly simple or complex, if it's subtle or very obvious, but the design of the site is its backbone. Without it the message a company is trying to get across won't. It's important to note that when I'm referring to design, I'm not just talking about the veneer, the look and feel. I mean real design – the stuff that makes a site easy to read, easy to navigate. Those types of things are not addressed just by filters and effects in Photoshop. They're reached with solid design.
2. Great content
If the backbone of a site is its design, then its core is its content. Good design will get attention but if the content – that is, the text – of the site is less than stellar, it doesn't do you any good. Successful sites have great content, regardless of length or amount. Boring, typical or "flat" writing or text filled with yawn-inducing business jargon won't get your visitors excited about whatever it is you're selling. Engaging copy, however, will take the attention grabbed by the design and keep the momentum going. It can inform, persuade and entice visitors and help convert shoppers into customers.
3. Great imagery
If you're selling a product of any kind, you'd better have more than just a small thumbnail image taken with your $99 point-and-shoot camera. Multiple views and high quality images are critical in convincing someone to seriously consider your product over the competition's. If you're selling a service, any diagrams, charts, screenshots or general imagery or photography you have should also be high quality. Great design will lead your visitors through the site. Great content will inform and persuade them. Great imagery supports your story and your message. Poor imagery says you just don't care that much, so why should your visitors?
Can you have a successful website with just one or two of these? I suppose it depends on your definition of successful. There are sites that do okay with crappy design, good content and so-so imagery that do okay; others have great design, so-so content and really awful photography and do alright. If those site owners are content with "doing okay", then there's no reason for them to even consider The Trifecta. My guess, however, is that if you're reading this, you're probably not satisfied with just "doing okay". The best websites – the ones that are successful in their business objectives – hit the Trifecta. Is your site doing the same?