In recent studies conducted by Microsoft, humans today have an attention span of only 8 seconds. This means the opportunity to gain interest and engagement with your audience will be over before you can get them to read the whole web page. Effective website design is critical to show prospective customers the value of your company as soon as they enter the site.
Another study conducted also found that half of consumers list a website’s design as their top criteria when deciding if they think a company is credible. Not only must your website engage with its readers, but will also have an impact on your company’s overall brand reputation.
The company’s homepage is one of the most important pages of a website. It is not necessarily the first page an audience member lands on when they are being directed to that site but your home page is usually what is judged by the audience. If the UX (User Experience) of the company’s site is cluttered and unprofessional, visitors will think the same of the business. It’s important to make sure your customer’s first impression of your website is excellent – you only have a few seconds to prevent that mouse from clicking the back button. So how do you design a website that attracts customers?
SIMPLICITY
Only having a few seconds to make an impression on website visitors means simplifying the user experience. This means not wasting precious time waiting for impressive images, sliders, pop-ups, and banners to load. A homepage that is overcrowded with different types of content, image galleries and striking colours may confuse visitors and deter them from going further into the website.
- Making sure to utilise only essential design elements without irrelevant widgets, banners and other types of distractions.
- Creating a structure for the website that is easy to navigate.
- Keeping the uniformity of the design all throughout the website by keeping a visual connection between different types of website elements.
- Making the website responsive and mobile friendly.
CONTENT
An important aspect of good website design is creating compelling and engaging content. Speak directly to your target audience and make the content easy for your customers to understand your company – who you are, what services you offer, and what they can get from your website. The branding of your content will affect your businesses success so choosing your company logo, brand personality and tone of voice is vitally important.
Another aspect to pay attention to, is less is more in terms of text in a website. The goal is to create engaging content that hooks the customer within a few seconds – otherwise it can dampen your conversion rate. Engage first and educate later.
USE EFFECTIVE CALL-TO-ACTION BUTTONS
Position call-to-action buttons placed in strategic places to boost click-through rates and increase conversion. When these buttons are placed on the businesses home page, they assist in site navigation and user journey. Whether they link to other information, contact forms, or a product purchase, call-to-action buttons must be distinct and easily accessible in order to entice user interaction.
TESTIMONIALS
One of the most effective components of a company’s offering is reviews – or even better – testimonials. Including testimonials on a website can generate more engagement and conversion. However, to create attractive and reputable testimonials there are a few things to consider such as: avoid anonymous publishing of testimonials, adding photos of happy customers, and publishing testimonials that reveal specific values of your service/products.
All the tips listed above will help you incorporate different techniques and design elements that elevate the look of your website and attract new customers. An effective web design should not only be aesthetically pleasing, but easy to use, functional and have a fast load time. Developing a website requires a lot of effort, investment and user testing which in the end can find your business attracting more customers and making it flourish.
