What makes a good website good? (And why does it matter?)
- Yorb Ltd
- Oct 24
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Just 10 years ago, if you asked any business owner where their front door was - the one they expected their customers to come through – nine out of ten would have pointed to a real door in a bricks and mortar building.
But if you asked those same people that question today, they’d likely all point to a URL. And rightly so.
How much consumer business are we doing online?
According to NZ Post, last year, Kiwi shoppers spent over $6.09 billion online. The only year we collectively spent more online was in 2021 – in the COVID lockdown era. Sadly, last year also saw the number of online transactions from offshore retailers like Temu grow at a faster rate than local transactions (16% vs 12%) as consumers focused on stretching their budgets further.
The worrying news is that if you’re a traditional retailer, you’re now not only up against your local competitors, but the mega online resellers who can more easily undercut your pricing.
And for those who offer local services – from real estate agents to accountancy services to restaurants – the choices open to potential customers have grown. They can see all accountants within a 10km radius, and every restaurant offering Uber Eats delivery – so they’re empowered with options and will choose based on how good your online shopfront looks, and how well it works.
All of which means that if your digital shopfront is looking shabby or bland or is under-performing, then you’re self-sabotaging your ability to compete.
In this blog, we’re just going to touch on some of the things you need to prioritise when investing in a new website design and build.
It’s all about speed
In their 2024 article on Top Website Statistics, Forbes said: “In today’s digital age, having a well-performing website is crucial for businesses, and addressing this issue is essential for success in the competitive online landscape.”
And we couldn’t agree more. But what degree of performance makes a good website experience?
Speed matters: 47% of website visitors find a 2-second wait too long
Your website's loading speed is critical. Google reports that a 3-second loading time will drive away most people, while nearly half of users won't wait longer than two seconds for a website to load. The upshot? If your website isn’t loading pronto (on desktop or mobile), expect to lose potential customers and sales.
Speed readers: Website visitors spend 5.59 seconds looking at your written content
You read that right - 5.59 seconds. With most people scanning websites, not reading, only 28% of the text is read. This means that your most important information has to be easy for your reader to spot and absorb. Too complex? Too long? Too far down the page? Hard to read font? Forget it, you’ve lost your chance to make a great first impression.
Speed leavers: If they don’t find what they are looking for in 5 seconds, 61% of visitors will move to another website
Ouch. 61% of website users expect to find what they are looking for within five seconds of landing on a website – or you’re dust. If you’re not offering a website that’s easy to use, 40% are going on a no-guilt trip to the next site.
And you’re not serving up a smooth and user-friendly website visit; there are very few second chances. 88% of online users won’t return to your site if they had a bad experience to start with.
First impressions matter
While it might sound like something your mother would say, it’s a truism that’s hard to dismiss.
First thoughts: 94% of first impressions are driven by your website design
So, what does that include? Try designs that are too complex, busy, and lacking in navigation aids, have a boring design, or exhibit bad use of colour, not enough introductory content, small print or too much text, a corporate look and feel, and a poorly-functioning search feature. In effect, the judge starts before the browsing!
Design matters to the point that 38% of users won’t engage with your website if it’s badly designed.
First look: Most visitors judge your credibility based on your website
According to Forbes, almost half (48%) of website visitors say the number one way they decide on the credibility of a business is determined by the web design. Perception is everything, and you have little chance once someone you can’t connect with has made a fast decision and backed away.
Functionality figures
How your website works counts. It can be a simple, beautiful, almost minimalist design – the Marie Kondo of websites, if you like - but the user expectation is still that it will work smoothly and seamlessly.
Menus matter: Website visitors spend around 6.44 seconds checking out your main menu
When website visitors spend about 6.44 seconds looking at your main navigation menu, it tells you exactly how important it is to have an easy-to-use and accessible form of site navigation.
The faster a visitor can find what they are looking for, the happier they are.
Keeping it simple: Don’t turn your forms into roadblocks
Nothing kills a visitor or buyer’s enthusiasm to engage faster than a form that simply demands too much. But how much is too much?
Every year since 2012, Baymard Institute has captured the shopping cart abandonment figures. And for 2025, it’s 70.22%. 18% of those intending on making a purchase but walked away did so because the checkout process was too long and complicated. Baymard did some checkout usability testing showing that an ideal checkout flow should have just 7-8 form fields. Yet, their checkout benchmark database revealed that the average US site had 14.88 form fields.
Active accessibility: Good for visitors, good for business
An estimated 17% of people living in New Zealand households were identified as disabled in 2023 – that’s a total of 851000 people. Add ageing baby boomers with low vision or reduced motor skills, and accessible design stops looking like a compliance chore and starts resembling an untapped market segment – and a sensible business strategy.
Not only do accessible sites typically load faster, but they rank higher on search engines and carry a lower legal risk. While web-accessibility lawsuits are less common here than in the US, the Human Rights Act (1993) and the proposed Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill both point toward stricter expectations. This includes implementing semantic HTML, sufficient colour contrast, alt text for images, and keyboard-friendly navigation as preemptive and cost-effective insurance policies.
Takeaways!
Today’s digital natives want to complete as much of their buying cycle without having to pick up the phone or even send an email. And that means presenting a flawless first impression followed by a seamless customer experience.
If your current site is looking behind the times, or is clunky and slow, now’s a good time to set up expectations of what good looks like. Here are just some of the ‘must-haves’:
A good web design is visually appealing, user-friendly and easy to navigate, with clear calls to action and well-placed, high-quality visuals.
It has straightforward top-level menus, persistent search bars, and breadcrumb trails. These may be small design choices, but they make a giant impact on engagement metrics and, eventually, revenue.
It focuses on fast page loads, consistent typography, and mobile responsiveness. These all directly correlate with conversion rates.
It curtails those eform extravaganzas – and doesn’t demand more information from your visitor than they’re prepared to share. (Baymard says that stripping out non-essential fields can improve completion rates by 35%! Who knew?)
What next?
Your physical shopfront may close at 6 p.m., but your digital one never sleeps.
Make sure it greets every visitor with the ease of navigation, accessibility, and a friction-free experience that modern customers expect. Because the competition is only a back-button away - and they might just have figured out how to keep that door wide open.
Ready to modernise your digital storefront? Contact us for an obligation-free chat about how Yorb can help you engage website visitors, generate more leads, drive website traffic, and grow online.
