Your website is often the first introduction your business has to potential clients. Websites have become the “face” of a company, and it is important always to put your “best face forward.” Your website design can determine whether a client buys your product or service or moves on to the next business.
When a person clicks on your website, you have about 25 seconds to make an impression. This will determine if they stay on your site longer to get the information, product, or service they need or move on to the next site. Having a good design will help keep visitors on your site longer and convert visits into sales.
Ultimate Guide To Website Design
Website design is more than having the best graphics; It is all about the visitor’s experience. When you are designing your site, you must keep the visitor in mind.
1- Mobile Friendly
The first thing you must do, especially if you have an older website, is to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. According to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department, over 65 percent of browsing on the Internet for goods or services is now done using a mobile device. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are losing sales.
2- Navigation
Your site must be easy to navigate. Visitors to your site want to find the information, product, or service quickly when they are on your site. If your site is easy to navigate, they will stay longer and look at your content more.
3- Content
Content is the most important part of your website. It would be best if you had useful and current information available on your site. The information must be available so that it is easy for the visitor to read (skim) and find what they are looking for.
Your content should also include things that will enhance the user experience. This includes video clips, diagrams, pictures, and even available white papers about your product or service. All of these things may not apply to your business, but your site must make the extra effort to provide exceptional service.
4- Uncluttered Pages
Although new website design encourages a wide variety of things to be available on your sites, such as videos, written content, and photos, you also need to keep the site from looking cluttered. If your site seems cluttered, the visitor will automatically;y move to the next page.
Take advantage of drop-down menus instead of posting lists of links. Convert photos into links to different areas of your site. You can even use collapsing text boxes so people can choose to view an entire article or not. All of these little things can make a large difference in the success of your site.
5- About Us Page
In the past, the About Us page was just a straightforward page with some contact information on it for the website owner. Now, with so many people turning to the Internet to conduct their business and make their purchases, an About Us page must be a full page on your site with good content.
You need to build a story about your company or yourself on this page. You need to make a connection with your visitors. People want the convenience of shopping on the Internet, but they still crave personal interaction when shopping in person. Having a good About Us page is essential for a successful site.
6- Articles and Information
Often referred to as the “blog” part of a website, you should have an area where you provide information and updates about your products and services in a friendly and interacting manner. Most people view the blog as customer service.
New information, new uses for your product or service, even a great recipe that you found and wanted to share with all of your clients is great for this area of your website. It is a way to be personal and interact without putting on the hard sell.
7- Security
Your website design must incorporate all of the necessary security features to make your visitors feel safe. This includes having a secured site address (HTTPS) and using secured shopping carts. Security is something that you cannot overlook. It is also important that once your site is live that you maintain security measures with necessary updates.
8- Limit Pop-Ups
In the last few years, there has been a trend in adding pop-ups to your page to encourage people to sign up for a newsletter or advertising a new product available on the site. While these things can come in handy, they can also become overwhelming.
Again, you must consider the user experience. If your visitor is spending all of their time on your site shutting down pop-ups, that is less time they are spending researching your product or service. If you put too many of these popup notifications on your site, it will just force your visitor to a new site.
You can encourage your visitors to join mailing lists and newsletters without becoming overly aggressive with pop up notifications. One of the easiest ways is to offer a discount on their next purchase when joining your newsletter at check out.
9- Do You Need An App?
Some businesses will do really well having an available app for their company. If you believe that you can boost your business by offering an app, make sure that you have it designed when designing your site. This will ensure that the site and the app look and feel the same way for the site visitor.
Apps can be used for many different things, such as notifying clients of sales or new products, giving the visitor quicker access to your site, or even a repeat business rewards program. Many people overlook the benefits of having an app that compliments your site to their success.
10- Professional Design
The demands of the Internet are always changing. Search engines have many requirements for websites that must be met to rank high in a search. If you have any questions about your website design, speak with a website design company about launching your new site.
