An excellent business website has to boast certain elements to qualify as a reliable and efficient website. Gone are the days when a site with a short mission and vision description was enough.

In this new digital age, firms need to invest in websites that can make them stand out in their respective sectors or else they’ll risk going out of business.

I understand that every website ought to be unique in its way. My point is, they all follow a specific formula to ensure high standards are met.

That said, here is an enumeration on elements of a good business website.

1. Design

The design is an all-encompassing term including every visual aspect of a site including, but not limited to, colors, layout, template, theme, white space, fonts, and logo. We live in a visual world, so ensuring your business site is aesthetic should be a priority.

Luring people to your website means nothing if they’ll spend no more than 10 seconds there. In fact, the average user takes less than 6 seconds to decide whether he or she will continue navigating the site or not. Furthermore, from a business point of view, their time on the site is of little value if it doesn’t lead to a sale at some point down the line. It’s important to utilize exit intent technology and other methods of encouraging visitors to take action in situations which would have otherwise led to no sale.

Most people, if not all, love attractive things. Let’s take you, for instance. If you were to visit a park only to find that it’s filled with brown grass and dead trees, you would be inclined to leave the park and subsequently try out the adjacent park with a greener environment and a lot to offer in regards to scenery.

The same concept applies to a website; if a visitor finds the site unattractive or unaesthetic, they’ll be likely to move on to the next one, with a visually impactful design. “An optimized web design,” as a leading web designer put it, “Is what expresses a business’s marketing message.”

2. Functionality

When you have succeeded in visually appealing your visitors, it’s time to pitch your business’s cause, mission, and vision; and that’s where functionality comes into play. Those not acquainted with the term, website functionality implies the ease with which a visitor can navigate your website and find the information they need.

Another critical functionality element every website should boast is a clear and visible call to action, particularly if your business intends to convert site visitors into sales leads.

3. Security

According to Google, the number of hacked websites in 2016 increased by 32% compared to the preceding year. The tech giant publicly proclaimed that it does not expect these hack rates to decrease anytime soon.

With that fact in mind, a first-rate business should continuously devise new ways to secure its website from hackers as best as possible.

4. Contact Information

Prospects have found your business site, and its well-optimized web design was appealing enough to make them stay. Better yet, they have navigated your site, and now they think you are the perfect entity to meet their needs and requirements.

To ensure your business converts all these leads into sales, ensure your contact information is right there on your homepage, above the fold.

Display your, email, phone number, address and contact form clearly on your site.

5. Content is king

An excellent website never goes dormant. A good firm will continuously post useful and relevant content on its site. Better yet, to keep its visitors and prospects on the loop, a firm will post the latest news on business, share prices, stock markets, finances and anything that might affect its clients; directly or indirectly.

A website is a business’s digital home. Even better, the site will fish for sales leads day and night from all corners of the world. It is fundamentally the facade of a business and every firm should take the time to make it sparkle.