Websites are designed to work – not just sit there idly looking pretty! Your website should be generating leads for you and if it’s not, that could be because it’s not prepared for 2017.
It’s not mobile ready
The importance of a mobile-friendly web design should never be overlooked. Can people access your website from a mobile device? If your answer is no… shame on you! The answer should have been yes at least three years ago!
Some estimates suggest that around 80% of internet users access the internet from a smartphone, with close to 50% of users owning a tablet. These statistics are only likely to get higher and higher.
I know from personal experience of browsing the internet from my mobile that if a website is not functioning effectively then I’m very quick to exit it in favour of something more responsive. I simply don’t have the patience to navigate through a website that’s not equipped for mobile – particularly if it takes ages to load. Just imagine the number of leads and customers a business has lost out on due to a poorly functioning mobile web design (see here for 3 essential things fashion retailers need to know about mobile commerce).
It’s boring
When people first started creating websites the goal was to cram in as many keywords as possible into pages, Meta descriptions and alt tags in a bid to rank highly on Google. This created tonnes of websites that generated pretty good organic traffic, but were not pleasant to look at!
Today, the SEO space has shifted significantly with a great deal of it taking place on social media, within blog pages, email and link building. This means that you don’t need to create pages and pages of boring, long-winded content to achieve SEO success. Instead, you should focus on aspects such as social bookmarking, social media and link building.
It’s also important to bear in mind that today’s audience doesn’t have the patience for endless content, so break it all up with beautiful pictures, captivating videos and other easily digestible forms of communication.
It’s ugly!
Keeping your website modern and fresh is essential to keep your customers engaged and coming back for more. But don’t just focus on having a great looking website. Your site should always match the rest of your branding efforts so ensure that your logo is consistent across your site, social media pages, email signatures, business cards and so on. Every design decision should be executed with precision and caution to guarantee the most powerful response possible.
It’s frustrating to use
Usability is more important than aesthetics because as mentioned above if your website is not responsive or easy to use, users WILL exit it in favour of a competitor. If a website user feels that a site doesn’t care about the user experience, they are 97% likely to exit that site, never to return again. But if you make usability improvements to your site you can easily drive change and increase your revenues.
If you’re interested in improving the user experience, then consider the below points:
Font
Steer clear of fussy, overly fancy fonts that are difficult to read (see here to learn all about the psychology of font type in logo and web design).
Colour
Choose colour wisely, ensuring that it matches your brand image and values (see here for 5 colours that have the power to increase sales).
Navigation
MUST be easy to use and understand. Keep things very simple and refined.
Content
Mix content up with plenty of white spacing, lists and paragraphs. Incorporate images or video to break up the written word and make everything more digestible.
With 2017 in full swing we recommend you take a long hard look at your website to assess its usability and ensure that it’s central to your digital marketing strategy. It should be appealing, accessible, interesting and easy to use, with plenty of focus on the visual.
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