A poorly designed website is bad for business. At a time when online marketing is prominent in all kinds of business, properly designed websites are an important marketing tool you can’t afford to forego.
That being said, here are 8 simple changes you can make to improve your website design:
Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
An increasing percentage of global internet traffic is shifting towards mobile devices. More people are surfing the internet using their smartphones and tablets. Therefore, your website needs to be responsive to their screens. Ensure that:
- Your images do not get distorted on mobile screens
- Menus and banners are easy to navigate on mobile
- The website loads quickly on mobile browsers.
Some big companies center their web design solely on mobile before moving on to optimize for the desktop. It shows you how important mobile traffic is to business and SEO. If your website is great on mobile, you will rank better on search result pages.
Reduce Loading Time
People are very impatient with slow-loading websites. If yours takes a couple of seconds more to load, they will move on to your competitor. It will increase your bounce rate significantly. That will hurt your conversion rates incipiently and you will not spot the reason easily.
Your website is loading slowly mainly because it is very heavy memory-wise.
Media on the website jacks up the memory taken up by the website on the server. As a visitor retrieves the website, they have to load many Megabytes thus slowing it down. As much as high-quality images and videos improve aesthetics, you should use them modestly if your line of work can allow it. Distinguishing between what to compromise and retain is a tightrope you will have to walk.
Simplify Navigation
Make your website user-friendly by enabling visitors to go to any page quickly. Regardless of whether they are using a mobile device or a computer, they should move around with ease. The following simple changes can help you achieve that:
- Have a dedicated page as a sitemap
- Have an internal site search feature
- Insert a button that your visitors can click on to go to the top of the page
- Divide your content into different categories. Then have drop-down menus to different pages when users hover over the categories.
Insert Contact Details
Your contact details should be easily visible on all the pages of the website. It improves your conversion rates drastically when visitors can reach you directly from your website. Take advantage of online marketing with this simple adjustment. Websites belonging to professionals such as lawyer, doctors, accountants, forex trading experts, real estate brokers, mechanics, and engineers benefit more from using this simple sales tactic.
State Your Main Objectives
Value proposition is vital to a good marketing strategy. Something as simple as letting your visitors know what you do and why you do it can boost your reputation very quickly. Plant your mission statement prominently on your home page if your website allows it. Add it to your “About Us” page as well. People need to know what you do and what they can expect from you if they buy your goods or services.
Integrate Some White Space
White space is the area around different elements on a web page that is left empty. Although they can be wasteful if done haphazardly, they are an important design element that will help increase readability. They add some “breathing space” for your readers and make your website look stylish and less “stuffy.”
SEO
Once you have made your website easy to use, it needs to be easy to find online. Implement an SEO strategy that markets you to your target audience. Use Local SEO if your line of business is more aligned to local clientele.
Insert CTA Buttons
If your website is low on Call To Action (CTA) prompts, you can improve its conversion rate by inserting CTA buttons. These buttons could tell visitors to:
- Download
- Subscribe
- Buy
- Make a Call
Conclusion
In an era when digital marketing has taken more prominence, you cannot afford to slacken off on improving your website. Even when you have got your whole website design all wrong initially, do not give up. Start making these changes one step at a time. Soon enough, you will have a well-functioning unit that will boost your business in ways you never thought possible.
I think that it’s important to have in mind that website design is something you’ll always have to work on – fix up a bit here or add a bit there, etc.
In the end, there’s no such thing as the perfectly designed website from every angle (UX, UI, SEO…) What’s important is to stay updated with current trends, try out different things and watch your analytics regularly.