Imagine inviting a customer to your house for dinner. Now imagine they can not find the front door, and when they do, the corridors are laid out like a labyrinth. On top of that, you have just bombarded them with a sales pitch before greeting them.
Of course, you would never do that. So why is it any different for a website? We provide our top advice on how to improve a website and user experience so you don’t leave a bad first impression and lose customers.
Work on Your Site Navigation
A website should not be a maze. It should be concise with easy to use menus and options. Navigation can help people find what they are looking for, such as products, and help with your SEO.
Be clear in the use of language. Tell people where a click or call to action (CTA) will take them. Let them know where they are going next and never have more than six items in a menu.
Make It Mobile Responsive
Most web browsing and purchasing are now done using a mobile phone. Since 2015 Google has been penalizing sites that are not mobile responsive. Slower, cumbersome web pages cost you valuable SEO traffic.
Not only that, but many consumers will also simply go elsewhere if your page takes a long time to load or fails to be user friendly. Don’t miss out on this valuable traffic stream.
You have several options when making a page mobile responsive. You should ask yourself what works best for your site. Ask “Should I use react?” or “Do I need an Amp page?” to an expert and see what they think.
Improve Your Page Speed
Bounce rate is a measure of how long people stay on your site. If they are coming and leaving quickly, this tells Google that they are not finding what they need at your page. This has a negative impact on your SEO.
Page speed is one of the main causes of a bad bounce rate. Even a loading speed of two seconds can make visitors turn off and look somewhere else. Improving the page speed allows people into your site quicker, letting them browse and read articles as they see fit.
How to Improve a Website With Visuals
Blocks of text are hard to read and extremely off-putting. Even if you have the best sales pitch or story to tell, the chances are that people are not going to read it without visual stimulation. Choosing the best pictures for your site is just as important as the written content.
Stock photo sites can help, or you may choose to get creative and use your images for a specific product. Remember to add the correct SEO information to pictures such as alt tags and descriptions to give you even more SEO power.
Match Your Colour Scheme to Your Audience
Certain color schemes attract certain customers. It all depends on who your consumer base is. Blues, reds, and greens should be for websites attracting a male audience. Purples, yellow, and orange are better for bringing female visitors.
Look at the color of your navigation. Using a red color scheme on a call to action can boost clicks by 20%, with orange boosting some rates by over 30%. How to improve website design using color is tough but will pay off.
Leverage the Power of Social Media
If your website is done correctly, the website will not even be the first thing that most customers see. Social media can get your services and products out quicker than anything else. Make sure articles have clear, easy to use sharing buttons for quick posting on social media.
Answer Questions and Solve Problems
You may have a great website, with great products or services. However, most people do not know they need it yet. Instead, what they do is search the internet for a quick solution.
This is where you come in. Answering questions or solving problems with handy guides keeps people using your site. You are giving them advice for free.
Once you have helped them and gained their trust, they are more likely to make a purchase or buy a service, particularly if it is related or can assist in solving that problem. Use this to your advantage.
Fix Issues with Specific Browsers
Different browsers can be a pain, and where your site may run perfectly on one browser, it may fail to load core components on another.
Google Analytics can help with this and tell you how much of your audience is using a particular browser. Once you know what browsers your audience are using, download them, and try them out. Make sure images are loading and all calls to action are clickable.
Re-Evaluate Your Homepage
Your homepage is the first thing that people see. It should provide all the information people need while keeping the aesthetic of your business or company.
Make sure you have a clear headline with a short paragraph to follow explaining what you and your website are about. Use a strong visual and combine it with a few key bullet points regarding your product or service.
Test Conversion Forms and Pop-Ups
Conversion forms can be both a blessing and a curse. They can allow you to mass a huge contact list for marketing purposes. Execute them incorrectly and they can add to your bounce rate as people leave in a flurry of pop-ups.
Try simplifying the conversion form with fewer options. Be clear in what people are signing up for and offer them something for free, such as an ebook. Try allowing people some time to browse before the form appears so they can get a feel for the site.
Add Testimonials
Testimonials are a great way to build trust with your audience. However, no one ever purposely reads a testimonial page. Get around this by placing small, relevant testimonials throughout your website.
Get Current With Our Guide
Following our easy to use steps, you should now have a complete, simple to navigate website that increases customer engagement and hopefully, conversions!
If you think our article on how to improve a website was helpful, take it a step further by browsing our in-depth articles on SEO and web marketing to bring in even more traffic.
