Are you looking to improve your business website and increase traffic through search engine rankings?
Do you feel like you could improve your website performance and increase conversion rates of potential customers with better website design? Have you tried everything but still can't seem to move the needle? Perhaps you feel like your website design on your business website could use a complete redesign.
We have compiled a list of 7 easy-to-implement website design improvement ideas that will help you improve user interaction, get more sales from potential customers, rank higher in search engine results and enhance your website performance. You can make these simple changes with no special skills required and make a huge difference, so why not give them a try!
So in no particular order, here are seven simple website improvement ideas.
Have a prominent phone number
So many website designs lack this simple yet seemingly obvious tip. The goal of any website should be to have your potential customer find relevant information via search engines and then reach out and ask for more information/quote/sales demonstration. Your number should be displayed on your home page, preferably with a link that new customers can call you directly from the website page and make it mobile-friendly.
The one exception to this rule could be e-comm stores, but if something goes wrong in an e-commerce transaction, the first thing a customer wants to do is talk to someone in person, so not having someone available could lead to immense frustration and negative reviews.
If you do not have a clear phone number, you should have a highly visual contact form and...
A Strong Call to Action
A solid clear, and attractive call to action (CTA) above the fold on your mobile-friendly home page. Above the fold first part of the website, a website visitor sees when they visit your website is a must; if you want visitors to do something, you need to tell them. Every webpage should also have a strong call to action as part of the web design. Here are some examples of a solid call to actions;
Call Now
Fill in the form
Get a quote
Buy Now
You get the point.
Install Google Analytics
Don't panic; this is a free but extremely important service by the Google search engine that tells you how many website users have visited your web pages today, this week, this month, this year. If you have a website, you should be interested in seeing if anyone has looked at it.
Using this tool, you can see the number of site visitors, and you can aim to improve on that - without knowing, then you are just performing RAMming. No, this is not a farmers pastime but Random Acts of Marketing or marketing without any benchmarks or objectives or expected outcomes.
Connect your Social Media Pages
The more your website pages are part of the worldwide web, the more threads or strands Google and other search engines can find you through. Imagine a spiders web that went to one anchor point and stopped. If your website contains links to other relevant websites, the easier you can be found. Google Analytics and Social media profiles are simple ways to tick this box, BUT please check your links to the right place and displays correctly! I have seen too many websites with inactive or incorrectly directed links. Having correct links also allows for social sharing between potential clients.
Social sharing should be a prominent feature of your website design as it allows users to verify social proof for themselves by easily connecting to your Facebook or Linkedin pages.
So do it now - no wait, finish the article first!
Get a blog!
Do you want to generate more leads and get people talking about your company? Start blogging with excellent content. That's right, create content for them to read!
Blogging on your website is an excellent way of generating search engines traffic for free that would otherwise cost much money in advertising dollars. Blogging also has many other benefits like attracting links and genuine customer feedback, which can help you improve your website.
Website optimisation is about understanding what people want/need from your site and then making sure you provide it to them. It doesn't matter if you're a restaurant, insurance provider, or just someone with an opinion. It would help if you made it easier for people to find what they're looking for while providing them with the information they need before leaving your site.
If you need a hand creating a blog, check out this link for affordable and carefully crafted blogs created specifically for your business.
Add Fresh Content
For some people, blogging is just too hard. But when was the last time you refreshed the content on your website. Shoppers and site visitors love to revisit their favourite shop, but if you see the same thing and nothing new every time you go there and nothing new, you will begin to lose interest and stop visiting. Google and other search engines see things the same way. If their robots have visited your site and noted it only to return months later to find no new information, then the Google robots will also get bored and stop visiting.
Try to create 10% new content each month.
Content does not always have to be written.
Add a Video to your Website.
Video is the number one way to engage and increase conversions and should be a feature of any mobile-friendly website design. A video can be anything from a 20-second advert showing what you do or how you do it up to an in-depth training course on performing tasks related to your business. Another great option to tick this box is video testimonials.
The more engaging your videos are, the better. Think about what you want to do on your website and compare it with a video that does the same thing but in different ways.
Video can be expensive, so if you're not sure, start small by just adding one or two at first. However, don't get caught up in making your video look like the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Make it look natural, about real people and honest business. Visitors will also engage more with reality than fake imagery.
Make sure it is Mobile-Friendly
When designing websites and website pages, a lot of focus is based on the desktop version. With everyone now carrying mobile devices, your website design must be mobile-friendly.
This is a no-brainer, non-negotiable website improvement tip. You need to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and works well on a mobile device such as tablets and smartphones - on all website pages.
The number of people using these types of devices is increasing every day, which means more competition for the attention span when visiting websites, so you need to engage them before website visitors click away!
Nothing will destroy a users interaction faster than a un mobile-friendly website design.
Use Real Images instead.
Stock images look great, but they don't create a lot of engagement. Stock images are just placeholders for web designers who cannot afford for clients to take their time providing authentic images. Of course, this is not always the case; I personally overuse stock images and screen snapshots because it is hard to make digital marketing land content writing look glamorous and exciting when I'm in my pyjamas.
Images are an essential design element and also allow a website page reader to rest and make the web design visually appealing by providing some white space into the website design.
It's essential to keep in mind that website visitors are looking for something specific, and stock photos just aren't going to do the trick.
Use realistic pictures instead with people who are happier than models - this will make visitors more likely to stay on your site and engage with it.
We hope you found this blog post helpful, and you can easily implement some of these website improvement ideas. If you need any help, don't hesitate to reach out via our contact form, we are always here to answer your questions!
And please feel free to share this post with anyone else interested in website optimisation. It is never too soon or too late to start making changes to improve your site's performance.