The competition among businesses online is cutthroat and strategic. One of the most powerful indicators of a company’s successes is the responsiveness and design of their website. Potential customers decide to stay or leave in an astounding .05 seconds, so only the most responsive and engaging websites are guaranteed to hook in a high percentage of consumers.
A great website will expand the scope of your brand help your company attract new customers, as well as keep the loyalty of existing clients. Here’s a guide to help you build the best, most responsive website possible.
- Use appropriate and aesthetically engaging themes
- Ensure you have a fast and reliable site to maintain quality
- Incorporate the power of social media and appeal to mobile users
Upgrade Your Themes
A theme is the layout or design of your website. Themes are the most visible factor in your website and will be seen by every single visitor who clicks onto your webpage. Choosing the correct theme, which emphasizes the messaging and quality assurance of your brand, is a great way to keep visitors on your site and will help create better content in the long run. Themes are endlessly customizable and can be built with a plethora of different platforms, including WordPress.
The fashionable themes of today are minimalist and sleek; they’re not overly filled or busy and they don’t try desperately to keep the attention of visitors. Instead of cluttered themes, choose themes which are elegant and unique, catching the user’s eye while being easily navigated and browsed through.
Enhance Your Customer Browsing
Another factor tied directly to the quality of your website is how easy it is to navigate for your customers and staff alike. Navigation is always bolstered by a fast website which responds quickly to clicks and loads every page in under two seconds time. For a faster webpage, make sure all of your images and videos are compressed and optimized for the web. JPEGs are an excellent choice to use when designing your website and giving your customers visual aid throughout their experience.
Speed is crucial to website performance, as it’s the number one indicator of a website’s success and the main reason why many customers could be clicking off your site before they’ve fully explored your offerings. To ensure a fast website, you can monitor and analyze your speed using many different websites and Google analytics – remember, you want every page to load under two seconds.
Your Website Should Be Mobile-Friendly
Designing and building a website is not enough to ensure you’ll be seen and liked by customers across the nation. Your site must be accessible and compatible to mobile users on phones and tablets, as these devices are quickly overtaking the desktop as the most popular tools to browse and surf the internet. Making your website mobile friendly will increase engagement and keep eyes on your site for longer, as well as simplify navigation and customer satisfaction.
Every consideration must be taken into account if you want the best mobile website among your peers: design, loading times, font type and size, and navigation are all crucial factors to consider and adjust to provide you customers with a great experience on your mobile site. Creating a synergistic whole is also a great way to increase brand awareness and present a unified front for you company across all platforms and devices.
Utilize Social Media
The explosion of social media is one of the greatest phenomenon of the last decade. Today, nearly three billion people have a social media account, a staggering number however you choose to view it. This tremendous tidal wave of new users has forced businesses to think smarter and harder about increasing their social media presence and engaging fans directly through campaigns and marketing which takes full advantage of the features and benefits social media has to offer.
Social media lends an intimate feel to your company and helps you connect with customers on a massive scale that somehow still feels intimate and personal. Links to your social media platforms should be easily seen throughout your website and presented in a natural, organic way.
Integrating social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is a great way to step ahead of the curb in terms of competition and consumer connections.
Don’t Underestimate The Impact of Icons
Icons and symbols are extremely useful in website creation, as even the most inexperienced user can easily identify symbols and their meanings. Text is often plain and boring, but symbols spice up your content and catch the attention of consumers. Bulky text which must be scrolled through endlessly can be difficult to focus on and slow down the speed of your website; try adding icons which tell the story you want to tell without those giant walls of texts.
You should always tailor your icons to the topic at hand. For example, if the article is about football, throw in some easily identifiable icons such as a football or goalpost to shorten your article and entice the reader into staying on your site. Icons can be added to your sidebars to delineate categories and improve navigation as well.
Final Thought
Your website is the first and most important part of your business. Visitors will judge the quality of your products or service by the presentation of your site and decide to stay loyal based on navigational ease and the overall aesthetic quality. Follow these simple tips to help attract new consumers and impress current customers with the most important tool in your arsenal.