Having a good website for your business is akin to having a retail store in a great location. It has become one of the most effective ways to engage with your customers and drive sales. A good website can add credibility to your company and make your business appeal to more people.
Whether you are part of a large company looking to update their existing site or a start-up about to launch your first website, you must ensure the interface’s perfect.
This guide has tips on design, load times, accessibility, and content to help you create the best possible website for your business.
Ensure your site is optimized
While many businesses have websites, the biggest mistake they make is a lack of optimization. People will access your site through various devices, including phones, tablets, laptops, and even smartwatches.
Your site needs to display its content correctly, whether on a 9:16 laptop screen or an 18.5:9 mobile screen. By taking the time to ensure your site is well-optimized for all devices, customers are more likely to explore it and find something they want to buy.
As this is likely a one-time optimization, you might find it more economical to outsource the job. If you’re inexperienced with hiring external IT specialists, you may find simple web searches ineffective.
In this case, you can look on sites like DigitalSupermarket reviews, which act like the Better Business Bureau for web services. By finding affordable and reliable means to optimize your digital footprint, you can improve your website quickly.
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Keep your design fresh and simple
When you need to appeal to a mass audience, it’s best to use a design language that reflects your product in the most elegant way possible. You don’t need too many animations, 3D text, or fifteen category tabs to grab attention.
Instead, ask yourself what impression you want to make on your customer. A simple website that clearly shows what product or services you provide will let new customers discover what they want to buy on their own. If you have too many options or distracting elements on the homepage, you could run the risk of giving your customer analysis paralysis.
A pro-tip is using color theory to design your site. Many websites will use bright colors like orange or yellow on their product listings to catch users’ attention.
Then, the site uses a gradient to guide the user’s eye from the product to the ‘Buy Now’ button. It is a simple aspect of design that can significantly affect your engagement.
Reduce site load times
The above two tips will help you achieve one very important aspect of website engagement: having a quick load time. A study found that 40 percent of website visitors and shoppers abandon a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
You do not want to risk having customers leave your site or bouncing after just one visit. Even with loyal customers, a slow website risks lowering customer satisfaction levels.
By ensuring you’re not forcing your users to load too many high-res images, and that your website can trim itself according to whether it’s loading on a mobile or desktop, you can dramatically increase the loading speed.
A slow site is similar to having a physical store in a high-traffic area. Even when people want to visit the site, it will take them longer, which can reduce the number of sales you can accomplish throughout the day.
Include good SEO practices
SEO is not limited to content-based websites. Your website may simply be listing out the services your company offers, such as a contractor’s website detailing the skills they have.
Or you might have an online retail store that lists multiple products to sell. Regardless, you need to ensure your website is able to rank high on Google, so it is more likely to show up in search results.
This includes using the best possible keywords, including your information on Google Maps and Yelp, and that you gain backlinks.
The words you use to write the ‘About Us’ page or caption an image can affect your site’s search engine optimization. SEO is a specialized field and can have a bit of a learning curve.
However, if you master this skill, you will be able to ensure each page on your site ranks higher than the competition and finds more potential customers. If you cannot find the time to work on it yourself, it would be best to outsource the work.
Keep crucial information easily accessible
When new customers visit your website, they could be looking for specific information, such as your business hours or your retail location. They might also be looking for contact details to inquire about a product before making a purchase.
By keeping this information in a place that is easy to find, you give the customer a sense of security. Not only will they find the answers to their question, but they will also get the impression that your company provides good customer support.
Keep your website’s ‘Contact Us’ and ‘About Us’ tabs in your website’s header or in an easily viewable area. If you want to include social media buttons on your site, the best practice is to place them in the footer.
The world is fast-paced, and people will not go digging through your web pages to find the information they want. If you do not keep your information in an easy-to-find place, you risk potential customers leaving you and finding another company to buy from.
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Conclusion
A well-organized website can be the difference between a new customer and a lost sale. You need to keep your prospective customers in mind and ensure they have the best possible user experience while visiting your website.
It’s a sure-shot way to expand your reach and grow your consumer base. If your site is well-structured, it will present information in an intuitive and orderly manner. By following the tips laid out in this guide, you can improve your website interface and, therein, grow your business.
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