Generally it is believed that having a superior site means doing an overall revamp of the site. This may be true in a few circumstances, however in most cases a few changes here and there can make out the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.
Here are some of the things you can do to make your website more pretty
Keep your menu neat and tidy
It is very important for the look and layout of your site that you keep it simple and tidy. Try and avoid too many items under one heading. It will be easier for the user to navigate through your site if you have condensed it. Additionally, they won’t have to hit the back button as they will easily find what they are looking for, thus resulting in a better experience for your site’s visitors.
Have a call-to-action plan on every page
You must make every page of your site interactive. It is essential to keep the user involved at all times. It can be anything like, watching a demo video, viewing your credentials or getting them to purchase your product. You must remember that you should not give the user the time to think when they are browsing your site. It may be a hyperlink or a button or anything else that ultimately leads them to take an action that you want them to take.
Give your contact details on your home page
Your contact details like phone number, email address etc should be easily available on your homepage. It is utmost important for every website, yet many people do not provide it or it is hidden in one of the pages. Many users log onto to your site just to find your contact details, so make it important on your homepage. Top-right corner is usually the best place to put it. However, you can also put it down in the footer. You can prefer where to give your contact details, but it must be there on your homepage.
About Us page is mandatory
When a business person, or a consumer for that matter, selects a company, they like to know who they will be working with. You must provide details about your company like a brief history, strength of your team, areas of expertise etc. It is good to add the real biography of your team members with pictures of each person and a note explaining their role and expertise. Apart from sharing your professional experience, you can also list your hobbies, family life and things you like to do etc. You need to show that you’re a real human being.
Images speak louder than words
It is easier for the user to get an idea about your work if you put up big, bold images. It will save the user time and give him a better understanding of what you do. Pictures have a better and longer lasting impression than the written words. Capture images of your team at work, some of the recent projects you have undertaken etc. However, this does not mean that you do away with the written content.
Directions widget is important
You can avail Google’s map widget and add it to your website to mark your presence. Google gets you a direction map highlighting your doorstep with just the input of your address. It conveys to the prospective consumers that you care about the entire experience.
Optimise your site for mobiles and smart phones
Many website owners still make a huge mistake of not making their site mobile-friendly. Most people use smart phones and tablets these days and tend to access the internet on the go. The user may find it difficult to use a site that is not optimised for a screen smaller than it was originally designed. There are various tools available to optimize your website for mobiles. Alternatively, you can also hire a designer to make your website mobile-friendly.
Fix your company’s brand
Make sure the logo and colour of your company match with the one on your site. Using matching colours helps you create brand awareness and helps your customer recognize you easily.
Social media integration is a must
In the present scenario everyone are present in the social media network. You tend to miss out on a large chunk of consumer base if you are not active on social media. Moreover, Google takes social media responses into consideration while ranking your site. Get started with Either Facebook or Twitter and master one before moving onto others. There are also other social media sites like LinkedIn, Google+ etc.
Involve your customers in your site – add testimonials
Nothing makes a better impression than a fellow customer writing a testimonial about your service and company. Your client’s goodwill about you can boost your status as they can share people their experience working with you and your team like compatibility, economical and technical details etc. Ideally, you should have it pre-written so that the consumer just has to approve it.
Find your main objective
For you to have best possible results from your website it is vital to know what the main goal of your website is and what you want do with it. Once you are clear with your objective you can commit changes like adding or deleting a page, optimizing content and design, enhancing the appearance of your site etc. The goal of your site should to top of your priority list. Let your team also know about this so that they can also help you out.
Set off from the scrape
This is not the ideal thing to do as it involves as it challenges like economy, time and a lot of manual work. However, if your website is old, it is better to start from the scratch with new technology. Hence, this is a wise idea than trying to overhaul what you already have. Hire the best team possible and start with a pencil sketch.
Employ a professional
While you may have an in-house set-up for designing and functioning of your site it may be worth hiring a professional. They will not only help you move your project forward, but also give you new ideas and bring in their experience and expertise to your project. You spend a lot of money and effort to develop your site, so the last thing you want is to have no increase in traffic flow to your company.
Adjoin industry resource
If you are trying to establish your company in the market then it is very important to give industry references. It could be in the form if reports, surveys or links etc. This material helps the customer to know that you are aware and well-informed about your product.
Before your company starts realising the benefits of the new website, you should also take some key factors into consideration that help in increasing the visibility of your site and makes it customer friendly.
Below are some of the most glaring mistakes that people might commit and ways to correct them
1. Site pages should not be too heavy – Spacing is key
While it is all too good to decorate your website and fill it with animations and widgets, it should not be done at the expense of content on your page. The content on your site remains of utmost importance, as ultimately this is what dictates the success of your project. Also, if you add too many animations and make the page heavy it will take a lot of time to load. It also decreases the screen real estate. When there is enough space on the screen, then you can add whatever you wish to.
2. Navigation through your site should be easy
You need to make sure that if someone visits your site he should not leave because he could not get his way around the site. You should keep navigation in your site very simple and user-friendly. If the customer has to spend time to figure out how to access your website, chances are that he will move on to your competitor’s site. Remember to always have a tidy and precise navigation through your site. It is one of the key factors to a gratifying user experience.
3. Spelling & Grammar mistake
This is one thing that puts off customers like nothing else. Spelling errors not only point to carelessness but also lack of credibility. If a company can’t take time out to proofread it will not give a good impression about the services and products provided by them. Even a common typing error may have a lasting impact on the success of your website.
4. Using white space appropriately
It is not compulsorily important to fill all the white space in your website. The “white space” can be used to your advantage by filling them up with call to action plans or social media icons etc which will in turn interest the reader. The focus on your site should always to draw people to your content while having a sound layout at the same time. A bit of white space can help distinguish between the design and the content.
5. Do not forget SEO
Search Engine Optimization is an important factor for any good web strategy. SEO cannot be ignored as it helps you determining keywords, attract traffic flow to your site and make it more visible in the search results of top search engines. A good SEO will help in improving business to your site.
Author Bio: I’m Ramya, a freelance web designer/writer based in India. I have worked in a number of SEO projects and have a good insight into creating a web design with SEO techniques incorporated in it. Apart from web designing and SEO I also contribute high-quality articles to top class websites and blogs. Besides business I am part-time wildlife photographer and generally an extrovert, I also like travelling to different destinations. http://www.seotraining.me.uk/seo-training-courses-overview/
