As a business, you want to be portrayed in the best possible light. After all, a company that has a good reputation and exudes professionalism is always going to obtain (and retain) customers.
Your website is a massive part of how people judge your business as a whole. If it looks like something that is still stuck in the 90’s-early 00’s (think HTML, primitive flash, gradients!), then that’s a bad sign. But even the most modern, sleek looking sites are nothing without any substance attributed to them.
With this in mind, we look at what your website says about you, and how you can go about improving the experience for your users.
Design is Imperative for First Impressions
Having an attractive, fully functioning website is essential when it comes to gaining the attention of first time visitors. If your site isn’t easy to navigate, then newcomers are less likely to stick around and figure out how to do so. And if it appears dated or “cheap” then, again, users are going to leave and end up with one of your rivals.
The speed of your website is also another thing to consider. Ensuring you are on a good server, and using less demanding content such as hi-res pictures and videos will help in that regard. And not everyone has a super fast Internet connection, so keep that in mind when deciding on what to include on your site and you can expect your website conversions to steadily increase.
The Quality of Your Content is Important for Retaining Users
While design is needed to bring in users, aesthetic qualities alone won’t retain them. Quality content is, ultimately, what users want to consume, and that is why they are visiting your website. If it isn’t up to standard, then they will have left your site before it has even fully loaded.
Content can be produced in a variety of ways, but you must ensure that it always specifically targets your audience. In terms of crafting content, structure, validity, fluidity, and research are all things to keep in mind.
Oh, and it’s rather important for SEO reasons these days too!
Heavy Use of Ads Can Be a Deterrent
Adverts appear on nearly every website, and while they can prove to be a slight annoyance, they don’t generally disrupt our browsing experience. The ones that do, however, can be more than just an irritation, and might even lead to users opting against using a website for that sole reason.
The types of advertisement we’re talking about are lightbox ads—essentially the modern day pop-up window. They can appear at the bottom of your screen or practically cover the whole screen, but these lightbox ads—usually accompanied by video and/or sound—are very, very annoying! An over indulgence in banners/skyscrapers is not encouraged, either.
Of course, using no ads would solve this problem!
Ultimately, You Need to Show You Care About Your Audience
How your website represents all of the above is, in the end, a showing of the amount of care you have for your audience. A site that is well crafted and full of useful content is going to be welcomed warmly by your audience.
Just remember: the more you cater to your customers, the more they will return the favour and support your business.
Spencer Frandsen is a digital marketing master writing on behalf of CCG, a Los Angeles Digital Agency
Published: April 15, 2014
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