A website’s value is in the sum of its parts.
People come to your site for its content, brand experience, and, of course, its products. Deliver a clunky experience and they’ll seek services elsewhere.
Many of you likely built their site using a website theme. Or, if you had the money, tapped web developers for a custom site. Whichever, you likely think there are areas lacking — and it shows in the site’s conversion and sales.
Applying a few web design tips can realign your business and site goals.
In the following, you’ll learn ten powerful tips to improve the experience. Most you can do on your own, others may need expertise. Let’s dig in.
1. Mobile/Responsive Design
2018 saw mobile web use reach 52.2%. Google adapted its search experience to put mobile first. There is a preference for mobile designs in SERPs.
Adopting a mobile/responsive theme has many benefits:
- Improves SEO value
- Adds accessibility
If you haven’t, rework your site’s theme so it’s responsive. This lets it adapt to the screen size, improving the site experience. In doing so, you’ll keep users on longer and this adds to an important SEO factor: dwell time.
Or: Use a mobile app service to convert the site into a mobile theme.
2. Landing Pages
Landing pages strip unnecessary elements from your typical web page. This improves the visitor’s focus, aiding in conversions. Landing pages also happen to be an amazing inbound strategy.
Creating them is easy:
- Create a page without a sidebar
- Plunk a strong headline to capture visitor attention
- Use images and romantic copy to sell the product
- Include opt-ins or a strong call-to-action
The landing page is part of the whole experience. Drive new site visitors to it through ad and marketing campaigns. Or, direct regular readers to improve opt-ins for your newsletters and such.
You can use landing page tools to build these important elements, too.
3. Consider the Hierarchy
The flow of information and engagement is an important consideration. Even now, you’re experiencing hierarchy in this post. Structure and divide Information so it’s easy to skim, with important info at the top.
Do the test:
- Sit someone down at the computer
- Open your homepage
- Get their immediate feedback
- Let them play around on the page
- Repeat several times with other people
This gives you insights into the user experience. You’re often blind to these small features but your visitors take notice. Strip these elements if they interrupt the hierarchy and flow of the experience.
Tip: You can use heatmapping tools to achieve a similar feedback loop.
4. Lock Down the Navigation
You should remove any many unnecessary steps as you can. Steps? The web pages between a first entry on the site and the intended destination.
Example: Homepage > Product Page > Checkout
Navigation plays an important role in this interactivity:
- Keep navigation at the top
- Use links for context-based navigation
- Place helpful resources in the footer
- Don’t present too many options
Look at great site work and see how they use navigation. Pick the best example and replace it if needed. Else, use analytics to learn the flow and strip navigational items causing friction.
5. Use Media
Here’s the thing:
- Google relies on text-based content to know your site’s value
- Users tend to enjoy media like images and videos for content consumption
There’s a delicate balance in there you need to have on your website. You can do this by using stark, hero images for products. Then, backup the media impact with supporting text content for Google and SEO.
Let images and video speak for your business offers.
Why?
Because images and videos stir emotions. They’re also great for branding if they’re personal. You can also improve dwell time by engaging with interactive media elements.
6. Include Trust Badges and Call-outs
Your site needs to immediately convey it’s credible.
A successful website will include several items to build credibility:
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- Badges and logos from business associations
- Rating systems and user comments
Let others speak for your offers versus typical marketing spin. This helps people overcome resistance they may have with your business. Plus, it adds personality and lets visitors “experience” ownership through storytelling.
7. Don’t Crowd It
Learn to love white space because this isn’t print anymore.
White space is the area between design elements. The spacing lets the items “breath” by not crowding them. This, in turn, makes the site easier to access.
Likewise:
White space is useful for dramatic effects and engagement. Visitors aren’t bombarded with information — priming them for a strong call-to-action. Use this throughout the site but especially on product pages.
8. Consider the Typography
This would include font:
- Family
- Color
- Styling
Most will tell you to use a sans-serif font because it’s easier to read. But, determine this based on your industry standards. Follow the industry if visitors expect your typography prim and proper.
Why bother? Because much of the site is text-based content. You want to make sure your visitors can absorb the information. And, so they don’t feel worn out trying to process the information.
Easier/engaged reading equals more dwell time and potential sales.
9. Be Consistent
Don’t make your site a mish-mash of design choices:
- Keep header elements in the same location
- Don’t switch between left and right sidebars
- Use the same buttons and call-outs on all pages
- Stick to neutral colors for website copy
…you get the idea.
10. Make Sure It’s Super Fast
The longer the site load time the more likely someone leaves. Fix this by getting better website hosting and a caching service. Or, strip the site of resource hogging elements cutting into the load time.
Try this:
- Open PageSpeed Insights
- Plug in your URL
- Run the test
- Find and fix problems
A few tweaks and you’ll have the site loading under 2-3 seconds.
These Web Design Tips Lead to Inbound Sales
We share these web design tips to improve the site experience. In turn, you’ll boost inbound marketing efforts and create more sales.
If you feel like your site is lacking (even after applying these tips): Get in touch.
Give us a call, 843.834.1884, or click for a free consultation. We’ll find opportunities for your business growth. And, offer great suggestions and services to make it possible.