| 1. Google | 1,100,000,000 |
| 2. YouTube | 1,000,000,000 |
| 3. Facebook | 900,000,000 |
| 4. Yahoo | 750,000,000 |
| 5. Amazon | 500,000,000 |
| 6. Wikipedia | 475,000,000 |
| 7. Twitter | 290,000,000 |
| 8. Bing | 285,000,000 |
| 9. eBay | 285,000,000 |
| 10. MSD | 280,000,000 |
| 11. Microsoft | 270,000,000 |
| 12. LinkedIn | 260,000,000 |
| 13. Pinterest | 250,000,000 |
| 14. Ask | 245,000,000 |
| 15. WordPress | 240,000,000 |
So what does that have to do with your business? Sure, you are probably not a search engine, a news site, or provide email, but you do offer a service or product just like these websites, and you have competition just like these other websites. There are hundreds of search engines, thousands of email sites, and millions of news sites. So what has made these the most popular choices in their field?
The features which users have consistently said they want in a web site, and that keep them coming back to those sites as opposed to others, are in this order:
1. Usability
2. Can find what they need
3. Fast
4. Good content
5. Easy navigation
When more positive features are asked for popular answers include things like; “It’s fast” “It has the information I need” and a surprisingly long way down the list you get answers like “It looks good” “Modern” “Attractive.”
When designing your website, or redesigning (which many experts suggest doing every 2-3 years), don’t look at those other small to medium size businesses you may be competing with. Blaze a new trail in your niche. Make it simple, fast, easy, with quality content your customers can really use. Do this right and your site might be the Google of its niche in a very short time.