All businesses need a website. Whether you use it for commerce, marketing, or conveying important information about the company, a web page is vital to your presence in the marketplace.
A successful website should have a unique design. This is directly tied to the amount of traffic you receive, the amount of attention you retain, and the rate at which you convert visitors to customers.
The purpose of a website is to serve your business; it shouldn’t work against it. Simple choices, and equally simple mistakes, make a difference in how the customer views your company and the products and services you offer.
Many of those choices and mistakes are because of website design. While a good design may subjective among consumers, there are a few habits businesses should avoid when creating or restructuring a website.
Companies often misunderstand what the audience is looking for when browsing the internet, which leads to a bad design. First, begin by balancing aesthetic and content choices. Even the most visually appealing website won’t retain visitors if the content isn’t engaging. Conversely, including features that aren’t necessary to your business can overwhelm visitors.
The first mistake to avoid is an auto-play feature. Never greet visitors to a web page with blaring music or video that automatically starts rolling. Pop-up windows, whether they’re advertisements or relevant to the company’s services, are also annoying to see as a visitor. Always avoid using poor quality images and fonts that are difficult to read, as well.
The most essential information you want to include in a website should be easy to locate and boldly displayed. Don’t make it difficult for a visitor to find your company contact information and make sure your call to action is clear and prominently featured. The site must also be easy to share via social media platforms.
Another key factor is site navigation. A faulty, confusing, or unintuitive navigation UX will have visitors clicking away in seconds. Likewise, once you have someone’s attention, you don’t want the site to be unresponsive or take excessive time to load—this will cost you precious retention.
Lastly, the site should be optimized for popular search engines. Include relevant SEO keywords that reflect your business or what you’re selling. You should also make sure the site can be displayed on mobile phones and other mobile devices. This way, you’ll keep the site current and have it reflect the way people access the internet today.
With a unique website design, you’ll maximize the views, retention, and conversion rate of your target audience. If you’re ready to revamp your business’s site and avoid common mistakes, download our free ebook, “9 Of The Best Manufacturing Websites That Will Inspire Your Next Redesign.”