5 Tips That Could Drastically Improve Your Website

Have you ever been to a website only to have no idea what the company does, how to reach them, and ultimately left? A business can lose out on clients and sales with a poorly designed website. If you can pinpoint the common reasons why someone leaves a website quickly, you can make adjustments to prevent that and keep people on your website longer.

Don’t be a business that loses out on sales because of a poorly designed website. With the following five tips, drastically improve your website for the better. They require a commitment of your time, but no major expense. And the return on that investment in time can be well worth the effort. 

Have a Coherent Plan

Planning is vital for everything when operating a business, and your website is no different. Websites that have no flow and no coherent plan are difficult to navigate. When that happens, the user gets frustrated and leaves.

Prevent this by creating a plan before designing your website. Ensure you cover all the basics a website should, including an about page, contact, privacy policy and a mission statement.  If you need help with your privacy policy page. Make sure to use a privacy policy template.

 First Impressions Matter

First impression matter, so treat each page like it’s the homepage of your website. Depending on what someone searches and what keywords the search engine picks up, the first page the viewer will see can vary from person to person. With that, if you treat each page as the homepage, then your website should have an excellent first impression.

It’s a good idea to work to the 15-second rule here. You have the average reader’s attention for 15 seconds once they land on your website. No matter which page they land on, it needs to deliver enough engaging information, in an appropriately eye-catching format, to convince the reader to stay on your site and read more of your content. 

Keep It Clean

Less is often more when designing a website. Users only spend a few seconds on each page. If they’re faced with paragraph after paragraph of words that is cluttered with images, you can imagine they’ll leave very quickly.

Be concise with the information you upload. Make sure it’s valuable information that won’t waste the user’s time. Avoid cluttering the screen with too many images, videos and animations.

Think carefully about adverts too when it comes to clearing clutter. Too many and the user experience is degraded. Too few and you’ll miss out on revenue. Try to strike a balance that delivers a positive user experience while also helping you to make the income you need from the site. 

Get Creative

Your website is a time to let your creativity shine through. Although your website needs to showcase your company’s brand, you can do so in a creative way with words and pictures.

Many popular websites have a mini video on the homepage as the background that helps explain the company. Using an online animation maker can help you achieve that. Remember the point above – keep it clean.

Just remember to keep an eye on your page speed when adding layers of creative content. A site that offers interesting ways to engage with your brands is excellent; one where the page takes too long to load is not.

Consider Website Translation

Creativity applies not only to words and pictures, but also to the site in its entirety. Could you use website translation services to enhance its quality at the same time as broadening your customer base? Doing so will ramp up your ability to connect with overseas audiences and could drastically improve the user experience for all those who currently use your site in their second or third language.

The process of translating your content into your users’ native tongues means you also have a chance to review the site itself and consider which parts are most important and which need to be revised, updated or simply dropped, all of which can drive further enhancements.

Add Call-to-Actions

Tell the viewer where you want them to go by adding a call-to-action (CTA) to your website. A CTA is a prompt for the user to follow (“sign up now,” “subscribe,” shop now”). You want to entice the viewer with a few words to perform the action. Using CTA’s can help boost sales and draw in new customers.

CTA’s are also an excellent way to help navigate your website. Rather than having the customer wander through each page until they find what they want, give them the options to do so with buttons (CTAs) that link to specific pages). Your potential customers will thank you.

Designing a website that helps your business doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with a plan to get you going. Ask for help when needed, and have a fresh set of eyes go through it before making it live.