You did it! After many hours logged with designing, researching, editing, rewriting, tweaking, re-tweaking and, let’s face it, re-tweaking yet again, you’re ready to publish your website. It’s time to get your business going and watch the traffic and amazing analytics roll in, right?
Well…not just yet. You invested time and effort into building your website and brand; now you want to make certain that you’re leveraging your site’s power and influence. Will your website and material get in front of the right customers? Will they know what to do once they arrive at your website? Will they be interested, engaged and influenced?
Of course, not all who visit your site will stick around and become fans. However, you can ensure that your website influences as many users as possible. Put yourself in your user’s shoes for a moment, and take a thorough inspection of your site. As you view each page, be wary of the following website and blog blunders.
1. Is your website responsive?
Pull up your website on your mobile. Do your displays, menus and photos transfer well to your mobile viewing platform? Whether your visitor is using a desktop, laptop, mobile or tablet, you want to provide the best possible experience across all platforms. Remember that most humans have attention spans of about eight seconds. If a viewer can’t access your site quickly and easily, statistics show that more than 60% of them won’t return. Use a website builder that ensures fluid layouts and responsive design so you don’t lose these viewers.
2. Is your copy confusing?
Unless your demographic are science-loving savants, don’t create content that reads like a textbook! Your goal is to provide your information in the simplest way possible. Therefore, avoid writing copy that is full of acronyms, technical jargon and complicated language.
3. Is your call to action clear and concise?
Begin connecting with your viewer immediately by using a clear call to action (CTA). Ideally, your homepage should have a CTA that directs your visitor toward completing a task. Whether you are directing viewers toward purchasing your product, signing up for a newsletter, scheduling a consultation or requesting more information, this is your chance to create a link between you and your viewer. In addition to creating a CTA that is easily seen — ideally located above the fold on your homepage — your call to action should also have a concise headline and a subheading describing what your company offers. (More about this below!)
4. Is your navigation simple and intuitive?
Your homepage and supporting pages should be designed to effectively guide users around your website. Similarly, your navigation bar serves as the primary road map in helping your users find the information they need. If your visitor doesn’t know where to click or if they must constantly click back and forth between pages to find information, they are unlikely to stick around. To ensure easy navigation and a positive customer experience, your website should feature the following:
- The navigation bar should be in a prominent location, either at the top of your page or on a sidebar.
- Your most important information should be above the fold on your homepage. This includes your logo; a headline that briefly explains what you do; a sub-headline that defines your product/service in more detail, and finally, your call to action.
- A “Services Page” and a “Pricing Page” if these fit your company profile..
- A features list that tells customers exactly what they will be getting.
- A benefits list that explains how your customer will benefit from your product/service.
5. Is your contact information easy to find?
Ensure that your viewers can easily get in touch with you by providing your name, address, phone number and email address on every page of your website. By adding this information to the top, bottom or margins of each page, you can establish trust and security with your customers. Having your information easily accessible let’s potential customers know that they will be able to reach you if they have inquiries about your product, a problem with shipping or a general product question.
Also, consider having a “Contact” page linked from your homepage’s navigation menu that includes user-friendly social media links, your mobile number, and a Google map of your location.
6. Is your design streamlined?
When designing your website, it’s tempting to include funky fonts, colorful menus, links and graphs, and page after page that describes every intricacy of your business. Don’t do this! Instead, streamline your content by creating lean, efficient web pages. Put yourself in the right frame of mind and look at your site from your viewer’s perspective. Try to do the following:
- Stick to no more than four easy-to-read fonts; one for headlines, one for subtitles, one for content and one for quotes.
- Keep your copy brief and digestible.
- Limit your menu links on your main navigation page to six links.
- Use headers to break up large blocks of copy. This will also steer your viewer through your content.
- Choose an appealing color scheme by picking one dominant color and one to two complimentary colors. Only use your dominant color in your logo and where you want your viewers to pay attention and take action.
- Readability and easy navigation are your top priorities!
7. Do you have broken links?
Finally, check every link on all of your pages and posts to make sure that you are directing your viewer in the right direction. You don’t want to lead your user to old categories, blog posts and page links that don’t exist anymore. Yikes! We’ve all been there and know that navigating on a “Page doesn’t exist” landing page is frustrating. Don’t put your viewers in that position.
In conclusion, you don’t have to be a fancy web designer to create a well-designed website for your brand. By taking logical, effective steps and using systematic, intuitive design principals, you can pave the path toward growing your customer base. Also, remember that web design is fluid, and you will constantly be updating and tweaking your site during the life of your brand.
Good luck!