Today, your website has become the most powerful tool in the changing marketing landscape and it has the potential to be the centerpiece of your marketing efforts. But, technology is changing rapidly, and it can easily make your website feel outdated and old. In some cases, a redesign project would be an ideal solution, but for this you will need to invest a lot of time and money. If you do not have the resources to do a redesign of your website, we are here to help, because we have put together a list of eight tips that can help you improve your website to make it more useful, helpful and to improve your overall user experience.
Speed Up Your Pages
Perhaps one of the most frustrating experiences for uses is if the page loading time is too long. Nowadays, more and more people browse through their mobile devices, accessing the content from several different platforms. Whether they are browsing online or streaming something on their devices, they want fast results for the content they want. And, when they do not get it, they bounce. Slow loading pages are an interrupting experience for the user and can be the source of their frustration.
A 2 second delay in the load time of your pages during a user’s visit results in abandonment rates of up to 87%. So, what can you do? You can get your consult Google, which offers a free service where you will be provided with information about the speed of your page. You will also be offered some suggestions on how you can improve your load time on both mobile and desktop devices.
Feel Free To Have a Lot of White Space
We have often come across people complaining that there is too much white space on their website, which they consider to be an unused space that would be ideal for ads. But, a white space is something that is essential for a good website design. It makes the content more legible and it enables the users to focus on elements that surround the text. A white space that surrounds the titles and text increases the attention of the users by 20 percent, and it also makes your website feel open, modern and fresh.
There is one downside of white spaces; they can take up too much space. If you want to get a lot of content above the fold, which is the part that is immediately visible without scrolling, too much white space may replace some important information. You need to find a balance between what important information needs to be at the top, and how much white space will you be needing to highlight that information.
Make the Call to Action Attractive
The consumers are already accustomed to follow visual cues to see which content is important and relevant to them. Clear and strong calls to action will enable the user to navigate more easily through your website and get the information they want. When it comes to creating buttons for your website, take some time to think about the psychology of the colors. In a study conducted by Maxymiser, researchers were shocked to find that they had increased clicks by 11% while testing out action messaging and color variations.
Different colors evoke different messages, so think about the message you want to evoke and make sure that you choose the colors wisely. After that, consider the words you are going to use for your buttons; they need to include an action word or a verb that will make the user do something. Choosing the right psychological triggers and words is determined by the level of emotional identification those words will prompt. Without an emotional connection, there will be no action. Make your words action-oriented, bold and time-sensitive.
Make It Responsive and Mobile-Friendly
It is imperative that your website is easy to navigate and mobile-friendly, no matter the type and size of screen through which it is being viewed. Google now penalizes websites that are not optimized for mobile devices, so the need for responsiveness is much greater. This is the most valuable way to improve the usability of your website.
Make the Hyperlinks Stand Out
When you add links to your pages, you basically want your users to click on them, and this is why you need to make sure that these links are easily identifiable by placing some visual cues. Different colored and underlined text will draw the attention of the reader and let them know that this is a link. Regular web users see the blue underlined text as links and know that they need to click on them, so exploiting the expectations of the users is crucial for success.
When it comes to making the hyperlinks stand out, you do not exactly have to reinvent the wheel; stick to the conventional ways because they are going to be your best ally. You also need to think about the length of your hyperlinks; the longer they are, the easier it is to identify them.
Have Written and Well-Designed Headings
Your content and headings need to be driven by what potential customers are searching for. So, including keywords in your title is very important for attracting the right audience and targeting your message. Search engines give headings more weight than the content, so choose the right heading and make it stand out if you want to significantly improve your searchability.
But, the most important thing here is that headings will guide your users through your website, making it easy for them to scan through and find the content that speaks to them.
Wise Use of Images
Internet users are only getting faster and smarter at judging the websites of companies, so when they first visit your website, they will be able to easily pick out a generic stock photo that they have already seen before on some other website, or the one that resembles that non-personal style of stock photography. This kind of photography can decrease trust in users and also stand out as non-unique and generic. You can increase conversion rates on your page by simply replacing the stock photo with an actual image of your team.
This is something the users appreciate, and even though stock photography can be high quality, it fails when it comes to creating a connection between the company and the user. No stock photograph will be able to convey your brand’s message, as well as your products and services, the way you would like to. Only actual images can achieve that and, at the same time, they’ll speak directly to your potential customers. So, use your images strategically and place them so that they will support the content and provide the users with a visual break from the text.
Use Bullets
Bullets are great because they will enable the user to quickly receive all the information they need, like ways to solve their problem, benefits and key features of a service or product, and all of that in a short period of time. This will make the propositions appear more attractive and enable the users to get all the information they need. With numerous interesting icons out there, you can get a little creative with your bullets and also help the readers further by placing images that will represent your point. This is very useful because you will be isolating the most important points without getting caught up in specifics and terminology.
These were our tips that can help you improve the user experience on your website. We hope that they will provide you with some ideas on how can you revamp your website. If, on the other hand, you believe that a professional could do all of these improvements better than you, then you can look for a professional website design company that will take proper care of your website.
So, it is not important what option you will choose, as long as you do everything in your power to improve your website for your users.