What Are the Elements of a Website?

It is safe to say that if a business does not have a functional, well-designed website that is easy to navigate, it is highly likely that it will not survive long.

The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee and went live on the 6th of August, 1991. It was created with the goal of providing information on the World Wide Web project and was run on a NeXT computer.

Since then, almost 31 years later, there are around 1.18 billion websites in the world, out of which 17% are active, and 83% are inactive. When looking at these statistics from a historical perspective, it is fascinating to see how much the website world has expanded in such a short time. From a single website to over one billion only 30 years later!

On average, three new websites are created every second! This means that an average of 252 000 websites are created daily. These are numbers that no other industry can match.

Seeing as the competition today is extremely high, and websites have to fight to survive, developers and website owners pay attention to a lot of details, both in the backend and the frontend. They follow every trend and focus on improving every single aspect of their websites.

For example, as of 2020, more than 68% of all website visits were made using mobile devices. This pushes website owners and developers to divert more attention to the mobile versions of their websites and make the website design more intuitive and mobile-friendly.

Another example is web design. According to a study made by Standford University, 75% of online users have said that they judge a website and whether or not they will buy or visit it frequently based on its design and whether it appeals to them or not. So, website owners and developers are often hyperfocused on how the website looks and update it frequently so as to follow trends and incorporate new features and options.

Another highly important thing for all websites is the first impression they have on visitors. Approximately 57% of web users will not go back to a website and will not recommend it to others if it is designed poorly. This further shows how vital web design is and that it can make or break a business in today's day and age.

A factor that has made websites so essential to our everyday lives and has impacted their popularity tremendously is the fact that people can buy all their food online without having to leave their homes. For instance, in 2018, 48% of US grocery shoppers purchased some of their groceries online. Moreover, experts estimate that online grocery sales in the US will reach over $59 billion by 2023!

Also, eCommerce is another widely popular aspect that has made having a website detrimental to the success of a business. As of 2021, over 2.14 billion people have bought something online. This means that one out of four people in the world participate in online shopping.

But enough about websites and how much they have impacted the business world and our daily lives. Let's move on to what elements you need to have in order to survive the competition that grows exponentially every day. Also, we will look at what components you should pay attention to regarding website design.

Domain name

is significant for your website because it is the address you have on the web. It's how customers will find you online, and it's basically like a street address, only in the online world. Many providers sell domains at different prices, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to find a suitable one

Fast and reliable web hosting

web hosting is the backbone of any website because it hosts your website and makes it available online. Whether you choose cloud or dedicated hosting, the provider is responsible for offering fast service, continuous maintenance, management, good customer support, etc.

CMS

the content management system is in the backend of your website, and it helps you organize, maintain and manage some aspects of your site, like the pages, metadata, etc. It also makes the navigation of your website easier for customers. You can create your own CMS if you have the expertise, or you can use one of the numerous available CMS platforms, like WordPress

SEO-optimized content

to be found among the millions of websites competing for a space on the first page of search results, you'll need to follow a few search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. You can optimize your content by discovering which keywords customers use to find the goods or services you provide. These keywords should be used in your site copy, metadata, media tags, etc.

Accessibility

refers to making your website accessible to people with physical and situational disabilities and people who have bandwidth and speed restrictions. This way, everybody will have access to your website

Performance analytics

are tools that help you track how people find your website, which pages are the most visited, how fast your website loads, etc. You can do this by doing heat mapping, speed testing, SEO reports, etc.

Enhanced security

is special features to protect your website and customer data. It Includes using encryption to protect your sites, storing your data on an off-site server, having multiple backups on different servers, etc. It's especially important for:

• website owners to protect their content, data, and customer information they work with every day, and for users to know that their data will not be leaked

• eCommerce stores that require payment information from customers and have different payment methods. Users need to feel safe to give you their credit card and other information for them to buy products and services from your site

Content

the content of your website is crucial for your business. Not only does it influence your search engine ranking, but it's also the reason most users come to your site in the first place.

Titles and headers

they allow visitors to scan the page for information more quickly. Using headers that appropriately reflect what is in your article will aid in ensuring that people read it

Call-to-Actions

CTAs are prompts that appear on a website and instruct visitors to do a specific action. A CTA is usually expressed as a command or action phrase in the form of a button. Some CTA examples are sign up, buy now, etc.

Intuitiveness

If a visitor is looking for one of your products or services on a search engine or directory where your website is listed, your website must have a landing page that will directly respond to what they're looking for

Clear website structure and navigation

your website’s menu with the options should be readily accessible from any point on the website. The visitor should always know where they are on the website and have quick access to the places they want to go.

• A site map can go a long way in helping visitors see the part of the website they want to. A dropdown menu is another great tool for a clear website structure. It includes a list of options that users can find on your site when they click or hover over it. The list disappears when the user clicks or moves away from the menu

• It's also essential to categorize your website and have different buttons that lead to different pages right on the homepage of your site. For example, Verpex's blog is available directly on the website's homepage, and it's categorized based on the different kinds of articles it has, i.e., a category for reseller hosting, WordPress hosting, shared hosting, etc.

Themes and plugins

the theme of your website are fundamental, and it should be pleasing to the eye, simple yet unique, and should have the content of your website displayed conveniently so that visitors can find it easily

• Themes are the basis for the design of a website. They bring the whole website together and tie-down its functionality and style. A theme includes color palettes, typography, headers, footers, backgrounds, layouts, etc.

• Plugins are software pieces that function as add-ons to a web browser. They give it additional functionality and enable it to show content that it initially couldn't. Some examples are Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Flash, Java, etc.

Mobile-friendliness

your website must look amazing on all types of displays, including laptops, desktops, tablets, and, most importantly, smartphones. Your website should be mobile-friendly and have a responsive design. It should also be simple to read and navigate on mobile devices, which is how the majority of web users now search

Compatibility

your website design should be compatible with all operating systems,including Apple macOS, Microsoft Windows, Google's Android OS, Linux Operating System, and Apple iOS, and with different browsers so that you can attract more visitors

Graphics

Logos, photographs, clipart, and icons are all examples of graphics that can improve the look of a website. These should be placed suitably for user usability, working with the color and content of the web page while not making it too cluttered or difficult to load

Smart Layout

this refers to how the ads, graphics, and information are arranged on your site. It would be best if you focused on arranging it smartly so that the content is easy to spot

Color Palette

the colors depend on the type of clients you seek to attract, and it can vary from a black and white design to a diverse multi-colored one

Photo and video content

customers love seeing images and videos on websites and seeing content through images. The videos and images should be responsive and engaging, and users should be able to pause the videos if they want to

Brand identity

your website should accurately reflect your company and brand. Your visitor should be able to see the link between your brand, printed materials, and physical location right away.

Special typography

many companies use a specific font across all of their pages so that customers directly connect the company to that font

White space

it is a common feature in minimalist web design, but it's also a key feature of modern site frameworks. Users are naturally drawn to crucial components of your site when you balance material like links, text, and videos with equivalent quantities of white space

• Safe payment options - if you have an online store on your website, you'll need a dependable, user-friendly shopping cart as well as popular payment tools like PayPal or Square

• Social media integration – having a social media presence helps boost sales and attract many customers. Of course, you don't have to be present on every platform, but having accounts on Instagram or Facebook will help your business a lot

• Email campaigns – help with collecting data tracking conversations; are easy to start, measure and share. They are very useful in sending emails to subscribers that fulfill particular criteria to target a specific market

• Signup forms - Prominence, proof, and promise should all be present on your signup forms, and people should know what they're signing up for. Also, a thank you page should appear when users submit their form

Websites are engraved in our daily routines forever. They are a practical, convenient and simple solution to many of our problems. And although competition is high, some elements and components are mentioned above to help you get ahead and succeed. So, have no fear. With a bit of effort, you can achieve anything!