What a modern business website actually needs
Beautiful is not enough. The practical checklist we use for every website we build — from speed and WhatsApp to share previews and search.
A good-looking website that nobody finds, or that loads slowly on a phone, isn't doing its job. Here's the checklist we work through on every site we build for clients.
1. It works brilliantly on a phone
Most visitors arrive on mobile, often on patchy data. Design for a small screen first: readable text, big tap targets, no sideways scrolling, and images sized for the device.
2. It's fast
Every extra second of loading costs visitors. Compress images, avoid heavy plugins and sliders you don't need, and host on infrastructure close to your customers.
3. Contact is one tap away
Make it easy to reach you the way your customers prefer. In Nigeria that very often means WhatsApp, alongside a phone number, email and a short form. Put contact options in the header, the footer and at the end of every key page.
4. It says clearly what you do
Within five seconds, a visitor should know what you offer, who it's for and what to do next. Lead with a clear headline and a single main call to action.
5. It looks good when shared
When someone pastes your link into WhatsApp, LinkedIn or X, the preview card is often their first impression. That card is controlled by Open Graph tags — a title, description and image set for each page. Without them, platforms guess, and the result is often a blank or broken preview.
6. Search engines can understand it
Good page titles and descriptions, a sitemap, sensible headings and real, helpful content all help people find you on Google. A blog — like this one — is one of the simplest ways to keep adding useful pages over time.
7. You can see what's working
Install analytics from day one so you know where visitors come from and which pages lead to enquiries.
8. Someone looks after it
Websites need updates, backups, security fixes and hosting that stays online. Plan for that from the start rather than after something breaks.
Want us to check your current website against this list? Get in touch and we'll tell you what we'd fix first.
