Do you want your business to make a good first impression? If so, you should design your website while keeping your user’s perspective in mind. A company’s website is often the first thing a potential customer sees regarding a brand. It is essential that businesses create a visually appealing and user-friendly site that engages their target. This ensures that users spend more time immersed in the brand and increases the probability of a conversion.
So, where should you start?
Valuable Content
Create value for your customers. Including relevant and interesting videos or blog posts will increase the amount of time a user spends on your site. Knowing your target audience and what interests them will help you generate valuable content that goes beyond promotion. Start discussions, engage with your audience, and develop a brand voice that speaks directly to your customers on a human level.
Effectively engaging your audience through valuable content will increase brand loyalty. People will seek out your brand if you are providing meaningful insights and information and will establish your business as a thought leader within your field.
Keep it Simple & Consistent
One of the most common design mistakes is cluttering your website with unnecessary information. Don’t be afraid of white space and only include what is relevant. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm people. Users tend to click away from a website after only 15 seconds. It is important that relevant information is easy to find and no other elements are drawing attention away from your main message or call-to-action. A simple design is not only more cost-effective but will also load faster and increase user opinions of a brand due to its effortless user experience.
In addition to simplicity, it is also important to be consistent with your branding and design. Make sure to always follow your brand guidelines. This ensures nothing on the website strays from the core brand colour scheme and font styles while the copy remains consistent in terms of tone and brand voice. These elements humanize the business by developing a personality. This ensures that customers always recognize your branding regardless of the platform.
Navigation
Now, let’s consider your website a journey that your user must successfully navigate. As a business, you are in complete control of this journey so it is your responsibility to ensure that it is as direct and smooth as possible. If the journey is difficult or does not make sense, you risk losing a potential customer. Consider how you want the user to discover all relevant information. Each page on your site should lead somewhere else. Linking your pages throughout the site will create a cohesive platform that is easy to maneuver and understand.
To lead users through the navigation journey, calls-to-action will prompt the necessary steps to arrive at the final destination.
Creative Call-to-Actions
It is important to determine what the end goal of your website journey will be. Is the goal for them to make a purchase? Contact your business? Sign up for an email newsletter? Your end goal will determine navigation and what your call-to-action should be.
A call-to-action is copy on your website which leads the user further down the path to conversion. An example of this would be including a button that links to another section of the website. CTAs such as “Learn More” and “Buy Now” are commonly overused. Leverage your business’ unique brand voice and develop creative copy that appeals to your target audience. By creating interesting and engaging CTAs, users will be more likely to take the desired action.
Mobile Optimization
Is your business’ website mobile friendly? In today’s world, most users are accessing business websites via their mobile devices. If your site is not optimized for mobile viewing, it reflects poorly on your business. A negative user experience decreases a business’ reliability and credibility.
Throughout the design process, make sure mobile optimization is a key focus and doesn’t get overlooked. This will ensure minimal updates down the line and create an optimal user experience.
Use Analytics (and test!)
Google Analytics is an important tool to help any business better understand their users and how they are engaging with your website. With this program, you can track all aspects of your site from the number of active users to website views to the click-through rate and to the user’s conversion patterns. This will help to better understand the user experience and which elements are generating leads and which are negatively impacting your bounce rate. Through analyzing demographics and the interests of your visitors, you will be better equipped to engage customers and improve overall SEO.
No matter what element of the design you are adjusting, it is always important to constantly be testing! Try out different content types, navigation structures, calls-to-action and monitor your analytics to learn what copy and design are most effective. Your website users will show you what tactics will lead to conversions as long as you monitor your site’s analytics.
What elements of web design are most important to your business? How will you optimize your user experience? If you have any questions about anything I’ve discussed, don’t hesitate to reach out and contact me today!
