Your website can be one of the most cost-effective marketing tools you have. However, many businesses use websites that are difficult for visitors to navigate and overloaded with information — or don’t contain the information that visitors are looking for.
Here are a few tips to help you create a website that is user-friendly and virtually flawless:
Keep Your Homepage Design Simple
Your homepage is the most important part of your web design. Aim to create a homepage that can answer any questions that new visitors might have, including:
- Who are you?
- What is your business?
- What does your website offer the visitor?
It’s also important to remember that visitors might be using tablets or mobile phones. Avoid using things like Flash animation or navigation that might not be supported on other devices. Use a design that is simple and optimal for any device that a visitor might be using to view your website.
Give Every Page a Purpose
Whether you’re asking your visitors to download a PDF or providing them with a way to contact you, every page on your website should be purposeful. Every page has a role on your website and an opportunity for conversion.
Take a look at the analytics for your website and identify your most visited pages. Then, ask yourself if each page provides visitors with the information that you want the to see or sets them up to do a specific action that you want them to take. If a page doesn’t support your goals, it’s time to consider making some changes to the page to make it more effective.
Have a Wide Array of FAQ Pages
FAQ pages are often the most neglected pages on a website, but they can have the most impact on your visitors. Several highly successful brands include FAQ pages to benefit their customers at different parts of the customer journey.
Having a wide array of FAQ pages can serve many purposes, including:
- Alleviating any purchasing anxieties that customers might have and increasing customer satisfaction
- Empowering customers to find answers to their questions without calling customer support, which can be costly for brands
- Improving site navigation and search engine optimization
An effective FAQ page will identify customers’ key problems and pain points while providing targeted information about those problems.
Share Original Content that Relevant to Users
Content that is poorly written can quickly cause a visitor to leave your website. Content is king, and copy that is engaging and relevant to visitors can be the difference between them deciding to purchase a product or try out a competitor. It can push visitors though the customer journey, establish your credibility and build trust.
Fresh content is critical — the information on your website should be up-to-date, including business hours, updating product information and changes to prices.
Go Visual
Visitors want information and visual content can provide that in a fast and engaging way, while driving traffic to your website and increasing conversions. Adding visuals to your pages can break up content and help you better illustrate your point. Make use of images, videos and infographics to make your content easier to read and more engaging to your customers.
Customers are craving more visual content. According to Hubspot:
- Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it
- When images are relevant, visitors spend more time looking at the images than reading copy
Take a look at how T-Mobile informs customers on how to set-up their voicemail. By adding a video and visual aids to the page, they provide step-by-step instructions in a way that is easy for visitors to digest.
A well-designed website with engaging content can go a long way in showing customers that you care for them, while being a cost-effective marketing tool for your business. Focus on creating a website that is user-friendly and engaging, while provides invaluable information to visitors — it will make a difference in the customer journey.
