People that surf the web looking for a particular product or service are usually looking through tons and tons of websites. Before deciding to look into the content on a particular site, the site itself either attracts them or pushes them away. Basic website components, like graphics, colors, and unique content, are what make people stay on websites and look through the content. So, if you want your company’s website to attract and retain visitors effectively, it takes more than just throwing several images and graphics nonchalantly onto a web page and decorating them with a weird color pattern. Creating websites involves a lot of brainstorming, thinking through designs, understanding of audiences, market perspective, and some other things that help web designers and developers create great websites.
If your company doesn’t work in the website design industry, you probably need professional assistance – in reality, this is the only proper way to make a website. Some business owners decide to create websites on their own using free website builders on the Internet. But, this is not a good solution if you want to have a functional, unique, and converting company website. You need to find and hire a reliable, professional, and reputable web design company in San Francisco that can develop and launch a site that will bring and retain customers. This is what achieves the bottom-line – boosting your earnings. Once again, unless you are a web design expert yourself with a team of professionals at your side, this is the only appropriate way to go. Poorly designed websites with generic stock images, confusing navigation, bad copy, and zero brand identity will not help you win customers.
But, let’s assume you’ve hired someone in the past, and they created a site for your company. At first, it seemed like the return on your investment was good, but then the metrics began to drop. Fewer and fewer people visited the site day by the day. But why was this happening? What could be wrong with your website? Some things may push users away from you before they even approach your sales funnel. We are going to review some of these factors below. Always remember, it’s best to hire a web design company to help you fix such issues and roadblocks because they are specialists, and they know what they’re doing.
Navigation Simplicity
It’s hard to imagine anything more frustrating than visiting a site where you aren’t able to find the information you’re searching for. Whatever the industry, one essential quality for a good website is the simplicity of navigation on each page. Moreover, navigation simplicity is critical for getting the best SEO results.
Please take a moment and think of the last time you landed on a site and were unable to find the piece of data you were looking for. It doesn’t take much time for a visitor to get frustrated when they visit a site for something particular and don’t know how to find it. Therefore, the simplicity of navigation is crucial for proper user experience.
To ensure simple navigation, make certain that your web design agency incorporates a navigation bar that stands out but remains consistent with the feel of the site. Use a logical arrangement for your website’s pages. Your web design agency should also conduct usability testing before launching your site with the new navigation bar. In case you have many product pages, it’s also great to add a search bar to your web page so that visitors can easily find particular items that they might consider buying. This may also prompt them even to want to read about them and learn more about your company’s products in general.
The User Shouldn’t Think Too Much
Not every website visitor is instantly ready to convert. However, for those that are ready, using the site should be obvious and straightforward.
If you’re serious about selling your products or services, you will need a call-to-action (CTA) on each page of your site. CTAs can be as simple as plain buttons with text such as “Call now,” “Find out more,” or “Sign up,” for example. All of these calls-to-action encourage your site visitors to take the next step down your sales funnel and commit to your brand.
To make certain that your website visitors can contact you no matter what page they are at, it’s also great to add a contact form along with CTAs. Even if they aren’t interested in dealing with you, after providing you with their contact details, you will be able to send them newsletters and stay in touch with them throughout the year. This same practice allows you to perform personal contact with your prospects – take notice and get in touch with them individually. It is a much more effective way of dealing with potential customers than bulk emails.
Tone Friendliness
The things you want to tell your website visitors, whether they’re one-time passersby, prospects, or even loyal customers, have to be expressed in a friendly manner. For example: “We are currently available from 10 am to 5 pm from Tuesday to Friday. If you can’t reach us by phone or in chat, leave your message, and we’ll get back to you ASAP. We apologize for the inconvenience”.
In case the copy featured on your website isn’t written in a compassionate tone and thereby catering to the needs of your audience, you decrease your chances of winning new customers and increase the chance they will choose your competitor instead.
Design Responsiveness
Nowadays, more Google searches happen on mobile devices than desktop computers. In other words, your potential clients are surfing the web on the go, and they have to be able to access the information they want and need using smartphones and tablets.
The only way to ensure that this option exists is by making your website responsive. It will allow your website to adapt to any screen size and browser, thereby providing a great user experience. Even though it might require some comprehensive web development work, if your company site isn’t mobile-friendly, you should invest time and money into it. This will allow you to reach a larger audience, ultimately.
The Bottom Line
Some of the issues mentioned can make potential clients turn away from your website and, subsequently, from your company. If some of these issues sound familiar while reading this article, you might want to solve them ASAP. You want to be the best in your niche, and target audience support is one of the most important things for your business’s success.
This means you need professional help. Find and hire a web design agency that will be able to see and eliminate any usability issues on your site or can even build an entirely new one for you. Dealing with a design company that has a good reputation and at least some experience in your particular niche is crucial for your site’s efficiency and converting potential. Remember, most customers are going to find you through your website, so it must be impeccable. Making sure that your company site not only includes some of your brand identity but also provides great features, content, and overall experience to visitors is vital for gaining their trust. Discuss all the things you want to achieve through your website and let your web design agency do the best it can to help you.
