These days, customers expect to be able to check a website for every business under the sun, whether they want to browse your product range, learn your opening hours and contact details or simply explore what you’re all about. In 2018, a website is an absolutely mandatory part of the marketing mix.
Yet not all websites are created equal; while you can easily create a website that does the job, there’s much to be gained for putting in that extra effort and developing a website which entertains as well as provides practical benefits.
Here are some tips on how you can enhance your company website:
Build a site that answers your audience’s key needs
What is it that brings visitors to your site? Are they there to shop, to learn, to socialize, to get practical information or perform a service operation? Truly understanding what your audience’s needs are will help you curate a website that best meets them. There’s little more annoying than a website which is time-consuming and confusing to get what you want from; a well-designed, smooth running and pleasing website can add real brand value to your company.
You can run consumer research to better understand the optimal user experience for your website, then utilize these learnings to enhance your site. Ideally, the fewer number of steps for your customer to succeed in their desired job (be it completing check out, or gaining the information they are after) the better. They shouldn’t have to feel like they’re solving a convoluted puzzle. Make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for.
Working with the right website design team will make all the difference, so find an agency with a proven track record, like mine, if you’re a female entrepeneur or own a small business, or Eventige.com for corporate websites.
If context is king, then conversation is queen…
You’ll have heard the phrase “context is king” bandied around, but how much have you considered the two-way communication of your website?
Opening up a conversation with your audience is a fantastic — and quick — way to create emotional bonds between them and your brand. Using social media link ups and chatty copy on your website will all add up in this way. In addition, hosting a blog on your website is another perfect platform for developing a conversation.
Now, blogs do require some work, but they pay off also. Websites with a blog can have 434% more indexed pages, improving your search engine optimization by a great deal.
Achieve a good balance of interactive elements and fast loading
You may be tempted to host lots of high quality, attractive imagery, video, and animations in your website, as these certainly add a level of intrigue and entertainment into the framework. However, too many digital elements can make your site clunky to use and slow to load; two real bugbears for visitors.
Rather than going overboard with uploads, consider if one large format image would be just as, if not more, impactful than lots of smaller ones. Remember, you can always link to your Instagram or Pinterest accounts, should you want to share more imagery than your domain will allow.
Always come back to the question: what does my visitor want from my site? If your website design is detracting from their jobs to be done, it’s not enhancing your site, it’s damaging your brand.
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