When you own a business, you’ll know exactly how important first impressions are. And for modern businesses, your website is the cover that people will judge you by. You will need a standout website to compete.
Your website can be a lot of things for your business. It can be an information portal, a shop, or a showcase of your best work.
It’s also one of your business’s most valuable communication tools, so you want it to hit the right from the start.
These days, your standard website no longer cuts it. So how can you make it stand out? Take a look at the following ten steps to help your website create that lasting first impression.
Table of Contents
Website Design
A well-designed website with strong SEO attracts more visitors and keeps them engaged. Clean layouts with clear calls-to-action guide users seamlessly.
Optimized content using relevant keywords ranks higher in search results, driving targeted traffic. Fast load times and mobile responsiveness create smooth user experiences across devices.
A consistent brand identity with compelling visuals builds trust and credibility. Strategic link-building and technical SEO boost domain authority for better rankings.
By nailing both design and SEO, your site becomes a standout in your industry.
1. Transform Your Typography To Stand Out
Remember the days when Comic Sans was considered edgy and cool? Those days have long gone. Fonts (and even free fonts) and typography have become much more creative over the years, with brands owning and using fonts to great effect.
The right typography can make your website look exciting and fresh, while also helping to enforce your brand effectively. Take a look at some incredible examples of how typography can be used in web design to great effect.
Be sure your font is large enough and easy to read on your website!
2. Lead With A Hero Image For Standout Website
Images can have a significant impact on your website, making an important first impression. A current trend with website imaging is to use a hero image – something that’s striking.
It’s also important that your lead image is responsive so that people can see it to its full effect no matter what device they’re using.
Instead of focusing on using generic, corporate stock photography, why not commission a photographer to create some bespoke images for your business?
3. Embrace Modern Design
Traditionally, websites had a simplistic design. But now that web development has come on in leaps and bounds, there are many more possibilities that make it possible to create some truly striking websites.
A flat website design is visually appealing and makes things easier for the reader, so if you’re looking at refreshing your website, then a flat web design is the way to go.
4. Use The Right Hardware
For your website to run effectively, it’s going to need some strong building blocks. A good website is worth nothing if it can’t cope with the demands put on it.
First of all, you’ll want to select the right provider who can give you the bandwidth and features needed to keep your website running at a great speed.
You’ll also want to make sure you’ve got the best php framework to help you keep all of the back ends of your website in order.
It’s important to research your different options carefully and don’t be afraid to invest money in buying a good product.
5. Make Your Site Super Secure
As GDPR has been around for a few years, you should be well-versed in the dos and don’ts by now. Web security and data protection are one of the most important considerations for your website.
One mistake with your customers’ data could cost bankrupt your company, making a secure website essential for your business.
You should continuously look for ways to improve your website’s security and make sure that both your company and client data remain as secure as possible.
6. Show Off Your Products In Standout Website
Whatever the purpose of your business’ website, make sure it shows it off.
If you handle products, for example, you’ll want to make sure you use eye-catching, large images to help people see what they’re buying more clearly.
You can also add interactive elements such as zoom features, 3D imaging, and video demonstrations to help people get a realistic picture of your products.
As people can’t see and hold what they’re buying in front of them, you need to work hard to make your products stand out online.
7. Be Current With Your Communications
When customers want answers, they want them fast – that’s why so many people turn to social media to air their questions and concerns about businesses.
If you want to keep your social feeds free from complaints and queries, you could add a live chat feature to the site so that people can get in touch with you instantly.
Make your contact options clear and visible to help your visitors get the answers they need as soon as possible.
8. A Good Blog For A Standout Website
Want to attract more visitors to your new site? Start a blog.
A blog can be a good way of communicating information to your customers and clients, while the added SEO will help to improve your search rankings to attract new customers.
Making your business blog a success requires some time investment to produce informative, engaging content.
Once you nail it you’ll be able to develop a reader base that could help you to sell more and increase your business’ reach.
9. Make It More Intelligent
User experience (UX) is very important for a site today. Not only does it help generate some attention, but it can also help you to retain a visitor’s interest for longer – helping to convert those leads.
The way your website flows can significantly improve someone’s browsing experience, making them more likely to return. There are different ways to boost your website’s UX experience that will transform the way your visitors view your content.
Regular testing of your changing website is important to ensure it’s performing as expected.
10. Promote It To Stand Out
What use is having a stand-out website if nobody knows it exists? Having the right promotion strategy can help you generate website visitors and hopefully ensure positive conversions for your business.
Effective SEO is one of the things you’ll need to master, as well as establish how you can get people to your website through social media, etc.
You can also consider some paid-for advertising online through Google, YouTube, etc., X Twitter that will help you drive traffic to your site.
In Conclusion: A Standout Website Today
Your business deserves a good website! Making some modern improvements will help set it apart from the rest and make it a successful business website.
Whether you want to improve its appearance, its functionality, or simply make it better for your visitors, now is a good time to make changes.
Don’t forget out your hosting either. That’s an important part of your site. You don’t want any downtime and be able to reach for help if needed.
Turn a boring website from standard to a standout website and watch those page views increase.
How are you making your new or older website stand out from the standard websites out there today? I’d love to know more in the comments below!
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She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Great tips Lisa,
I always like to have a website which is simple and super functional. List like as you do. UX is something which speaks louder about the website.
People judge the website with its look. And this is why, you need to tweak a lot of things on your website to mater it with the modern standards, and it’s an on going process.
Thanks for the awesome one, have a great day ahead!
Thanks Navin, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Yes, the user experience is very important! What good is a great cover for a book that is difficult to read or not about the cover, right? Tweaking is a must with websites today, you can no longer set it and forget it! Thanks for coming by Navin and have a great day.
Hey Lisa! I love that times are changing and it’s more acceptable to use different fonts. I’ve always been on to like the fancier ones anyway. This is a major plus! I can’t tell you how many times I land on a site, whether mobile or desktop, and I can’t read the font because it’s so tiny! It’s so annoying that I just leave instead of putting on bifocals or squinting to read it. Just not worth it.
I’m glad you’re sharing these tips and you know I’ll be passing it along. Happy Wednesday!
B
Hi Bren, not really different but readable and big enough. Fancy ones can be hard to read and are often hard to understand so using them sparingly is the key! I don’t like those tiny font sizes at all. I end up clicking away and looking for something else to read. Wow, it’s Wednesday already? Where is the week going Bren? I hope all is well your way, happy first day of Spring there! It is still cold up here….
Lisa, I am so happy that you brought up the topic of fonts. It is a pity that a large percentage of WordPress templates come with small fonts by default (Obviously, that can be fixed by making those fonts larger).
And, you are right about embracing modern design because first impressions count.
Hi Renard, yes, me too! I do run across many especially the free version of wordpress that are so hard to read, I have to scroll away! It’s a shame since many spend time making them but if they can’t be read, it’s a waste. Sorry to say! Hopefully some will read this and update their fonts and pronto! Thanks for coming by Renard and enjoy the rest of your day.
Hey Lisa,
you mention fonts and their size.
I agree completely. I use Iconic One theme on my site. It’s beautifully elegant to me, but one shortcoming is that its native font is too small.
I wear glasses and even wearing them, I had trouble reading.
So I fixed it on my site by increasing the font and now I’m happy with my theme I won’t change it any time soon.
And its a free theme.
Hi Nikola, Yes, Bold and easy to read is the key! I’m glad you have changed yours to be more readable. Free? That worries me unless you can customize it. I did that years ago but now use paid customized themes.Thanks for coming by Nikola. Have a great rest of the day!
The website has become an online shop of the business, on internet customer get thousand of options. The website that attracts them the most is the one on which they do interaction, so the design of the website plays an important role. Thanks for blog which elaborate each and every minute details.
Hi Vaughn, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. You know I was thinking today at some meetings, people want to drive traffic to their websites via social media, but what good is it if the website is not done well? Right? That’s the first order of business. Thank you for coming by on this one and have a great rest of your day!