When businesses first started using the Internet for marketing, the goals were simple. At the time, simply having a website was enough to put a business ahead of its rivals, content was a second thought. As the Web has evolved, however, so has the number of competitors and the expectations of consumers who are using the internet for shopping and information.
In todays changing marketing landscape, your website has become a more powerful tool than ever. As a 24/7 salesman, your website has the potential to be your most powerful asset and the centerpiece of your marketing efforts. It is vital that a website is geared towards satisfying consumers expectations, is an engaging experience, has high quality content and functionality that makes e-commerce an enjoyable and simple experience.
Here is how to make your website not only attractive but functional for you and your audience.
Go for Responsive Design
Responsive design means your site will adapt to any screen and device. With the 38 million smart phone users in the UK alone according to Google, and a number that continues to increase over time, if your website is not ready for mobile, you are going to have a hard time keeping visitors on your pages.
High Quality Content
First impressions are huge. Relevance is huge too. Having a high quality content is the first thing to touch on. There is a different level of attention required when reading a website to a printed document. Too often, we encounter sites with long blocks of text with small print. Nothing can turn a customer off more. Make content easy to scan. Short sentences, short paragraphs, clear headlines. Use lists, graphics, tables and charts. These all play a role in making content quick to read and easy to understand.
Producing high quality content helps in several ways. There are literally billions of web pages out there, so to help find the best for research results, search algorithms are getting better at determining good content from shallow content.
Make a long term commitment to SEO by creating unique, relevant website content on a regular basis. Aim for quality blogs post and videos every month and you will start to see your search results improve. You will supply your visitors with relevant information on your business or industry and you will make your site more personal.
Choose a Simple Design and keep Navigation Simple
Many years ago, web designs were incredible complex. Today all that has changed. Web designs are embracing a minimalist and simplistic approach. Clean flat designs are very much in. Flashy websites are a no-no. Furthermore, fancy website graphics will slow down your site.
Consumers that land on your site should be able to get to any page of your site within two seconds. To earn links and credibility, people need to be able to find everything with no effort. Don’t give to many options as your site may appear chaotic and unorganised. For less important pages, stick them into sub-menus.
Make every page a Landing Page
This is very important as many people concentrate on the Home Page and neglect the rest of the site. See every page as an opportunity to force people further down the sales funnel!
But I also recommend to make it easy to always return to the homepage. Your banner or logo should be clickable, linking back to the homepage. This makes it easier to navigate, will boost traffic and keep people on your website for longer.
Contact Page
Your contact details should be available and easy to access. Have a page dedicated to contacting you and make it easy to find by putting it in the Navigation Menu or in the footer of every page. Sometimes, its unbelievable how difficult is to get in contact with the owners of a website. If you are making it difficult for people to get in touch, you are already loosing 95% of your potential leads.
As we all know, trends change all the time, and so web designs need to keep up with the demands of customers. It is important to review your website often to see what is current and what people are demanding. In this way, you will be able to consider what changes need to be made to your site, to drive traffic and retain visitor engagement.
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