Just having a website isn’t enough. Everyone knows that. But let’s take that one step further, shall we? My name is Joey Matterhorn, and we’re going to go against the grain and say….
Even having a website that “looks good” is not enough!
Don’t get us wrong: visuals matter. Presentation matters. That first impression…. Matters.
But if that’s all your website is going to do – getting the prospect through the door of your business – that’s all you’re going to get.
You want your website to go beyond “inviting” them in. Get them to want to buy. Get them to come back and want more.
How do you get a website to do that? You follow these ten steps:
#1: Make your website seamless
Think of the website like you’re home. Less clutter, more hierarchical organization. You have access to the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, and basement. You can get to all the areas of your home with ease.
That’s what your users want – easy navigation. It takes a predictable and understandable structure with a nav bar, categories, content libraries, menus, keyword searches, internal linking, a sitemap and so much more to make it so ridiculously easy that anyone can find what they need on your site.
#2: Make your website responsive
By ‘anyone’, we of course mean by device, platform, system or browser. These days, your customers come in all of those versions –
Your website needs to be designed to accommodate all of them. Not just the most popular one. Some like browsing on their phones; others like browsing on a laptop or tablet.
How your website is designed will look vastly different from platform to platform based on screen width, resolution and orientation. And if something’s off, that could ruin the entire customer experience.
#3: Make your website consistent
By consistent, we don’t just mean using the same “colors.” We mean by a brand distinction – everything from the font type to images to content voice to overall style.
Customers like what’s familiar to them, especially if what’s familiar to them on your site is what’s familiar to them on other sites. Once you get them in the door with something that’s familiar to them, the rest they see should match the same look and feel!
#4: Make your website fast
Seems like an oversimplification, but the fact is this: your bounce rate is a factor. The longer it takes your site to load, the higher your bounce rate.
It means more users are leaving your site than arriving, because it’s simply taking too long for anything to load. So consider aspects like your image sizes and asynchronous loading to ensure the stuff on your site that matters the most gets seen first.
#5: Make your website simple
We know, it sounds counterproductive, but don’t think ‘simple’ means ‘unprofessional’. Rather, a simple website simply makes the process super easy for any customer to get from A to B.
Focus on any points of friction you want to avoid: confusing labels, convoluted imagery, confusing copy, and unnecessary double opt-ins.
For you, A is your brand; and B is buying it. The less steps you have between A to B makes it that much easier – and faster – for the customer to buy and for your brand to make money.
#6: Make your website communicate
The website copy and visuals are basically your voice. Make sure your voice is what you want it to be: trustworthy, transparent, professional.
This goes in line with seamless navigation in that if you can present the same exact message you want to convey in a shorter amount of time than what’s currently displayed on your site, expect to reduce your copy to the voice that matters. Leave all the “asides” and other “noise” in the garbage.
Test your imagery, too. See what resonates better with audiences. Be democratic about it.
That’s it. Six steps. But we’ll do one step better.
Good Rep Media will walk those steps with you. Side by side. That’s our pride and joy as the most cost-competitive website development agency on the market.
Because, you see, everyone needs a hosting plan with social media and advertising, logo development and much more. And while the steps are easy to understand, they’re not as easy to take without the right tools at your disposal to get everything put in place to perfection.
So start off right! Click that link below.
