5 Essential Elements Every Website Should Have /
While every website design project is unique, every website should follow a common checklist. If you are an equestrian business owner or you have your own website for your personal brand, your website should be one of the most important tools for you to attract new customers and clients. Here are five qualities that every horse website should have:
1 - Visual Design
Humans are visually orientated. Humans also make snap judgements. It only takes about 50 milliseconds (that's 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they'll stay or leave. Therefore it goes without saying that the design of your website (and any graphical elements) must be visually appealing and well-strategized, while also being professional and easy to navigate.
2 - Accurate Branding
We’re big advocates of branding before marketing! Why? Your brand identity is who you are, therefore it should be the foundation of all your marketing plans and activity. Having a website that is a direct reflection of your business and your brand is important if you want your website visitors to remember and recognise you. Your website fonts, colours, images, patterns, layout and logo will all affect the overall brand identity you present, so make sure these align with all of your other online and offline channels.
3 - Quality Photography
This ties in with visual design and branding, but we cannot stress enough the importance of your website’s photography and videography! High-quality photography enhances your brand, and it helps to give potential customers an understanding of your offerings. On the contrary, low-quality images can make your business seem unprofessional and unable to pay attention to detail.
4 - Great Copywriting
What you write on your website is arguably the most important element. It’s what will engage your audience as they move through the sales funnel. It can be quite difficult to sit down with a blank Word document and start writing your website copy, so we recommend starting with a rough plan of each page, and then writing as if you’re having a conversation with your customers. Then go over add and see where you can add keywords for SEO purposes, and elements of your tone of voice for authenticity.
You will receive our handy guide to writing website copy when you purchase any of our Equestrian Website Templates!
5 - Intuitiveness
At the very least, every website should be easy to navigate with the menu easily accessible from any page. This sounds like a basic element, but we see a lot of websites that could be improved in this area.
A truly effective website should anticipate what your visitor is thinking, which requires you to think about your consumer journey. It should be designed to engage your visitors immediately and ideally walk them through to your shop or contact page. This is called ‘conversion’ and is likely to be the main goal of your website. Remember to keep this journey short but interesting - there is a fine line between interaction and annoyance.
There are many other important website elements required to create a beautiful and functional website, but we think these are the most important five to get you started. Your website can be the most important sales generator your business has, so make sure you provide your visitors with the information and tools they need to do business with you in an easy and enjoyable way.
The EQuerry / Co team specialise in designing and building equestrian websites that are search-engine-optimised and offer a great user experience. Get in touch so we can help meet your individual requirements.
