SITE VISITORS OR RAVING FANS?
Does your website have what it takes to attract web users, AND keep them coming back? Using proactive search engine optimization tactics is important to ensure website visibility, but it won’t guarantee success. Creating a positive user experience that truly gives site visitors what they want is the difference between websites that see lots of traffic, and those that see lots of business leads.
Once your website is on a prospect’s radar screen, how can you make it their target destination? By avoiding common pitfalls that drive site visitors away:
1. Dis-Functionality
Website functionality is a hybrid of site architecture and content: both need to be at their best and work together. Visitors want to find the information they need quickly and easily – when they can, they remember a positive experience with your website, and your company. If you don’t make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for, they won’t come back. Not only that, they will look for that information elsewhere, possibly from a competitor.
Tips for user-friendly functionality:
Review tabs and section titles so visitors can immediately recognize where to find information.
Include tools, calculators, and interactive elements so visitors can help themselves.
Make each page self contained and self-explanatory – visitors can’t be expected to read every page of your site.
Guide visitors to the information they need quickly and easily
2. Waiting… and Waiting…
Web users have grown accustomed to high-speed, no-wait Internet experiences, and studies indicate that tolerance for slow website load times is at an all-time low. Web users of today want information, and they want it NOW. Flash intros and online video presentations are great elements to include on a website, but only if they don’t cause significant page loading delays. As a general rule, if your pages don’t load in less than 10 seconds, you risk losing time-conscious readers.
Tips for a quick-access site:
Optimize images, streamline HTML and avoid large-scale elements where possible.
Test new web pages in a variety of browsers to ensure compatibility for the most site visitors.
If your website is more than 4 years old, or has been updated more than 3 times, the back-end code may be disjointed, out-of-date or redundant – all of which slow it down. Building a new site using new technology and programs can significantly increase speed.
3. Easy on the Eyes
Site content is extremely important to win over potential customers, but design has the power to showcase your message, or completely overpower it. Every design element can attract or repel in mere seconds, and it can be difficult to overcome bad design, even with solid content. Customers distracted by bad design, glaring colours, difficult to read typefaces, and inconsistent graphics are likely to look elsewhere for information and view your company as a less professional option.
Tips on visual impact:
Use only high-quality pictures and graphic elements – grainy photographs or warped logos distract readers and present an unprofessional image.
Streamline design to a simple colour palette and easy-to-read page layout.
Avoid gimmicky animation and distracting backgrounds to keep pages uncluttered.
Building a website that reinforces your brand and resonates with prospects, customers and employees is critical to success. Before embarking on an SEO campaign or promoting your website, ensure that once prospects find your site, they will stay long enough to engage with your company and receive your unique message. Call 5th business today for more information about making your website the ultimate customer experience!
Is your website under-performing? Let 5th business show you the smart way to take your website from good to GREAT. Call us today!
