Every business needs a website, we hear that all the time, ok every business needs a mobile friendly and responsive website and again yes, we hear this all the time, it’s the mobile age after all.

The latest and most talked about now is that every business just don’t need a website but a search engine optimized one, so that your website can grab the free traffic that a properly optimized website brings.

Yes, most website have all of these.

• They are slick, visually appealing.
• Mobile friendly and responsive.
• [b]Search engine optimized and much more.

Yet something doesn’t seem to click. Users land on the site and still can’t find their way around the site and not able to tell what the website is all about, the organization behind it or what they do. We think that every website needs these 7 features listed below.

1. Your Home Page Must/And Should Tell What Your Website is All About.

The home page is often the first port of call for most website users and most do not go beyond this point, while others go to the other points of interest on your site from here.

That make's it imperative for you to capture your users attention as soon as they land on your site home page. Your website homepage should contain the following element

A screaming headline: Normally done with the

tag the screaming header should simply tell what your website is all about. Eg for an event management company, the screaming headline could be “Your event deserved a special treat” “Extraordinary events delivered”[ib] “Make it an event of a lifetime” etc. The sole purpose of a screaming headline, is to capture the attention of your site visitors within seconds and tell them what your site unique proposition is.

A subheading that drives home the point + A CALL TO ACTION: following on the heals of a screaming headline is a sub-header text to drive home the point of the header text ( this can be a normal text or done with a header tag

) the point is simply to drive home the headline and something that will make them take action.

Your Contact Details Within Sight: Normally aside from the usual places where you see contact details on a website, you can have one just within sight of your site visitors, in case they are in a hurry to place a call or drop a message through a form.

This is normally just above the navigational bar, your visitors can easily give you a ring without having to scroll all the way down to the footer section of your site.

A quick message/Lead generation form: Another important feature to have on your home page header section , is a quick message or lead capturing form. Here you just want your site visitors to quickly send you a message while they are still at the very top part of your website or use same for lead generation purposes, whereby you collate their contact details in a exchange of one of your expert resources in form of an ebook.

Tell’s who you are, what you do and what differentiate you from your competitors: Before they head to the [i]“About us page”, from your site home page, they should be able to tell exactly what your business is all about, the unique proposition you offer and what differentiate you from your competitors. All of the above should be clearly stated.

A Clear and inviting Call To Action ( CTA ): Here you want your site visitors to take action, you need something compelling to enable them take action which is what a Call to Action does. This can be achieved through a combination of action words, strong visuals and a compelling short video illustration.

Eg, “Contact us to plan your next event” “Sign up for free consultation today” “Let’s build that website for you today” “Sign Up today and 25% discount from regular fee” etc.

Your CTA should be compelling enough for your site visitors to take action and it should lead them to a page which further supports the message your CTA button/link covens.

List of your products/services: Every website do have a services/products page, which often is one of the prominent navigational bar menu item which lists your business full offerings. Whereby a full page is dedicated to this, nothing stops you from adding a brief intro to your business services on your site home page with a link to the main services page.

1. Tell what your business is about with your “About Us Page”:
   Your site About us page is not optional, it’s an important part of your website that should ultimately tell the story of your business. This part is a bit difficult for one-man businesses especially those who work from their home addresses with no formal business structure.

• Tell the story of your business
• Share your business Vision, Mission and Core Values
• Show your partners and testimonials from satisfied clients.
• Including your team members and more.

1. Have Call to Action (CTA) on every webpage of our site:

We have already listed CTA as one of the features that should be on your site home page, it doesn’t stop there because your site visitors can land on any page of your site outside your home page.

So, the CTA should be prominent on all your site pages including your posts and should maintain the same look and feel throughout your site.

1. Your website should have a logical flow and consistent look and feel about it:
   Yes, they should be a consistent look and feel about your site for the seek of usability and user experience of your site users.

So, from your site
• Logo
• Usage of color, font and header styles
• Navigation flow
• Ordering of content structure
• CTA and Contact information.

In all of the above, a consistent structure, look and feel and design flow should be maintained so that your users don’t get confused as they move across the site and start wondering if they are on the same website or not.

1. Your Site Contact information should be within reach:
   Earlier we have highlighted why your business contact details should and must be within reach. One of the places this should be is the top part of your site, above your site navigational bar or at the right corner of your navigational bar. This could be your business hot-line or your email address.

Aside from this, most website do have their contact details at the footer part of their site. This should be consistent across your site and should list
• Your site pages
• Contact details ( phone, emails and the rest )
• Social media account
• And your site map ( HTML Sitemap ).

1. It must and should have a blog:
   Every website needs a blog for many obvious reasons.

It shows your expertise on your business subject: How else can you prove to the world that you know what your business is all about? The number one way to do that is through your blog. Eg with this blog I’m showing my knowledge and in-depth understanding of my field, building my authority and telling my would-be clients that their jobs will be in safe hands.

Increases your chances to rank higher and attract more traffic to your site:

Enables you to break new grounds: Your site blog will enable you break new grounds, attract new audience to your site, retain old ones and as you share your contents across board, your business will be discovered by more and more people in your niche.

1. Newsletter Signup’s
   How will you keep tab of your site visitors, especially those interested in your business offerings? How willl you let them know about your new offers and the solutions that can solve their business problems? How will you move them from just mere visitors to paying clients?
   That's where your newsletter signup and your site optin forms comes in. Ultimately your site newsletters signup form enables you to

• Build relationships and connect propelling to your customers.
• Increase your business audience.
• And ultimately drives sales.

Your newsletters enables you to relate with your customers on a different level and you're able talk to them personally in a language they can understand, build relationship with them and ultimately drive sales to your business with ease.

BONUS: Other Important features every website must have includes but not limited to
• Frequently Asked Questions on relevant pages ( especially products/services pages )
• Live Chat Feature and
• Sitemap ( HTML )

Aside from the above 7 Top Features, they're other features that every website should consider some of which are based on the niche your website serves and your business overall goals.

They could be many more important features every website must have eg E-commerce websites have theirs among others.