The Website of the Year Awards... What Makes a Destination Domain?
They came, they saw, they
conquered! Yes last night was the much lauded Website of the Year Awards here
at The GWG, and what a night it was... Tensions rose, Prosecco corks popped,
mini hamburgers were dessimated in their hundreds and the great and good of the
digital world mingled to super netoworking effect. What a night it was –
actually incredibly moving also, a tribute to the founders of note who have
carved out their own little slice of web magic... (Click here for the winners...)
Which brings me to the title of this week’s post, what does it take to
create a brilliant website?
The elements are fourfold (ignore them at your peril):
- The frontend
- The backend
(come on don’t laugh)
- The
functionality
- The
design
These foundations (supported by robust tethered beams) must be paid heed to if a domain is going to scale the heights of say Net-a-Porter....
The beams consist of:
- - Providing up to date original content in a myriad of forms. All search engines lap it up like Pavlov’s dog.
- - Next up it’s quality not quantity – bear this in mind! Look at sites like Nowness – (that purposely limit the amount of content they upload). The site sources artists (from the world of fashion art and photography) to provide enduring, boundary pushing content. Never forget that just as the web’s greatest strength is the abundance of information available, so too is this its downfall...
- - Think outside the box; how can you make that newsletter more appealing? How can you impart information more succinctly and swiftly? How can you target your reader with content tailored to user preference (see StumbleUpon for a stunning example). Never stop asking questions. Because all good business stems from providing a solution to a user's problem.
- - Never underestimate social media – it’s the past, the future and the present. More traffic, more readers and more unique hits come via this stream than any other – fail to harness it at your peril.
- - Simplicity is key – not only will this allow your site to play to its strength across a wide range of search engines, but the sites that are really pushing the boundaries are mutually unexclusive in this regard, united by the clean, sharp, high res imagery that can be found on Squarespace for example. Again quality not quantity – use graphics sparingly.
- - Search facilities are core to user experience. How swiftly does your server break down a request? In how many seconds is a well-timed response pinging its way back to your friendly unique user? This is where the back end comes in - functionality is key.
- - The product – to finish, no domain however flashy, well designed and custom built is going to last the distance if it’s a case of style over substance.
So
there are Cybergirl’s tips... Look at the winners of the Website of the Year Awards - they have all paid heed to these simple concepts.
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