The average time a person takes to decide whether they want to stay on a Web page or not is 15 seconds – If they are not happy they will leave, making your business lose a potential customer.
Simply having a website for your business is not enough to ensure a powerful online presence. How your website looks and feels can make the difference between visitors hitting the “Back” button or converting to paying customers.
If you are looking to improve your website’s appearance and performance in order to achieve higher sales levels and draw in clients, the team of digital marketing experts at Visual Marketing Australia has a series of recommendations for you:
Include social icons
Include social media icons on every page of your website so visitors get redirected to them without having to search (people are more inclined to visit social media pages if there is a direct link and they don’t have to search up themselves). Taking your prospects to social media is always a good idea because these platforms allow you to engage better with your customers and interact directly, while websites only provide the possibility of one-way communication.
Also include social share buttons; if you have great content why not make it possible for users to share pages they have found useful or interesting? This will increase visibility and traffic on your website. A good WordPress web developer on the Gold Coast should be able to add these elements to your website with little effort.
Calls to action
Calls to action indicate the next step users should take on a page in order to convert to customers or at least move further down the marketing funnel. They can encourage visitors to purchase a product or service or they can simply act as a guide to help users navigate through the website.
Examples of common call to actions are: “Sign up”, “Click here for more information”, “Call now”, “See pricing”, etc. They are usually provided in the form of a call to action button and can be featured on landing pages (a standalone web page, created specifically for the purpose of a marketing or advertising campaign). Tips for creating effective call to action buttons from our favourite WordPress web developer in Brisbane include:
- Choosing the right colour for the CTA button (red and green are the most popular, but other colours can be used as well if appropriate for your website, on condition that users find the button immediately)
- Use words that describe a quick result, like “now”, “today”, “quickly”, “easily”, etc.
- Choose words that describe an elevated status, like “wealthier”, “happier”, “slimmer”, “stronger” etc.
- Use 3D effects to make the button look like it’s jumping off the page (helps captivate users attention).
- Create a sense of urgency – as in “Sign Up and Get 50% Off Today Only!”
- Utilise images
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ and can sometimes captivate user’s attention even before they start reading any content. The human brain processes images within as little as 13 milliseconds, which is 30 times faster than you can blink your eye. However, using images on your business website can be tricky if you are not doing it the right way.
First of all, make sure the images you are using fit in with your business, website, services, etc. As stated in the previous paragraph, your website visitors need a tiny fraction of the time to sort it out and understand what your business is about. You wouldn’t want to create a wrong first impression, so pay attention to the photos you feature on your website, especially the main image on the home page. Your WordPress web designer on the Gold Coast should be able to advise you on how to choose a suitable home page picture.
Another issue is where you take your photos from. Use genuine-looking photos; avoid images that look too stocky. Stock photos from stock websites sometimes seem fake and this doesn’t promote trust in your business. E.g.: if you have a business, people are more inclined to trust you if you use real life images of your staff, offices, etc. rather than stock images of an ‘office’.
Last, but not the least, use high quality images – even if you don’t wish to utilise a professional photographer, this objective is easy to reach nowadays when even your smartphone can take high-quality pictures.
Design tips
The other aspect that contributes to the first impression that your website leaves on visitors is its design. The overall aspect of the website is thus something visitors assess within seconds, and you can win their trust and interest by following these pieces of advice from any experienced WordPress web designer in Brisbane:
- Use contrast to avoid blandness. Balance lively colours with more discreet hues
- Be consistent. Ensure consistency with colours, fonts, etc. as there is nothing worse than a mix-match throughout a whole website
- Use appropriate dynamic effects and pop-up windows. Don’t go overboard as bounce rate increases when there is too much going on
- Make use of lots of white space. This captivates users’ attention, makes it easier for users to read text, and allows them to focus on what’s important. Think about Google’s home page, which is one of the greatest usages of white space.
Navigate Properly
Make sure users can move around your website easily. Streamlined content helps, as users abandon if they can’t find what they are looking for easily. They say that ‘User should be able to get the information they need in 3 clicks starting from home-page’ – if not, you will get an increase in bounce rates and your prospects will use competitors that provide a better structured/navigated website and a superior website experience.
An important thing to remember when ensuring easy navigation on your website is to enable users to get redirected to home page when they click logo – an WordPress expert on the Gold Coast should be able to put this into practice. Also consider navigation alternatives that are becoming increasingly popular, like the infinite scroll style website which has been popularised by Facebook and is ideal for mobile users.
Mobile responsive
Having a mobile-responsive website is a must these days, as most people use their mobile to browse. 75% of millennials use their smartphones to go online as often as their computers, and smartphone ownership in the same population segment has reached a percentage of 95. Moreover, 88% of Australians own a smartphone, and the older generations are now seen as key growth drivers.
The solution to reach your audience under these circumstances is to create responsive design so that visualisation on mobile and desktop is nearly the same. You want to be consistent and avoid an experience that is drastically changing when users visit the same website through an alternate device (mobile or iPad). Moreover, Google has already introduced mobile-first indexing for a while, so the user experience provided to mobile device visitors has an indirect impact on your Google ranking as well.
SEO
The need to develop an effective SEO strategy will always represent a priority for businesses having a website. For the latest advice on how to boost your Google ranking in 2019, read our article Tips to boost your Google Ranking to discover effective methods such as:
- High-quality and useful content
- Choosing the right keywords and including them throughout your website content
- Including meta data within your website
- Using internal linking
- Using Alt tags or alternative text descriptions for images on your website
- Having a mobile-friendly website
- Making sure you have the right number of words per page.
Content
In 2019 content marketing continues to be vital for your business, and has the same role of engaging a target audience by creating and distributing relevant and entertaining content. Before starting to create content for your business, keep in mind that you need to demonstrate your industry knowledge in a manner that positions you as an expert. Content marketing began as print materials distributed to customers, but nowadays businesses can choose between different mediums (website, blog, eBooks, social media updates, podcasts, emails, videos, etc.) and different communication channels, with website being one of the most popular.
Need assistance with website design or looking to improve an existing website? Call Visual Marketing Australia today for web design and development services that will ensure greater business visibility and increased traffic!
