Every business owner knows that we live in an age where your online presence is more important than ever. Many people look up a business online before they ever step inside. A good website that people can use easily can drastically increase your sales. If you haven’t given your website a makeover recently, here are some ways that you can make your website more user-friendly.
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
More and more people today simply grab their phone to look at a company’s website. It allows people to get information on the go. However, if your website isn’t mobile friendly, a potential customer might immediately go to a competitor’s website. Don’t take the chance on losing a customer by taking the time to make your standard website and your mobile website as easy to use as possible.
- Know your customer
One website might be great for one product or service but not appropriate for another. Be mindful of the product that you are selling, the customers you have, and the customers you want to attract. If you have an older customer base, you should use large fonts and make the website as simple as possible. A website for a company with a younger customer base might use more flashy choices for the website.
Don’t forget to consider customers you haven’t necessarily catered to yet. Opening the doors to a new customer base can greatly increase your sales.
- Ask!
One of the best ways to learn how to make your website better for your customers is to simply ask them! Set up a survey to determine how people who use your services think it could be better. Be sure to ask open-ended questions and keep the surveys anonymous. You won’t be able to accommodate all of the suggestions, but you can make changes based on the most common comments.
- Balance
Be sure to use a good balance of pictures and text on your website. If the website is only text, it can be too overwhelming for customers. Alternatively, if you use too many pictures, it may make the website distracting, and customers might not be able to find the information that they need.
- Avoid excessive multimedia
Have you ever gone onto a website and music or a video instantly started playing? Did you enjoy that or did you just want to shut the music or video off? Most people don’t appreciate multimedia automatically playing as soon as they get to a website. If you must include videos, keep them in one place and let the customer decide if they want to watch them. You don’t want someone to exit out of the website just to get the video to stop playing.
- Use the correct colors
Your website reflects you and your brand. Consider what you are selling and how you want to portray your company when picking colors. If your company requires a more professional tone, use primarily neutral colors and fonts. If you want to portray your business as cool, feel free to be a little more experimental. If your logo uses specific colors, it’s a good idea to continue with those colors to remain consistent.
- Make all content easy to read
When you put content on your website, you need to ensure it’s written in a format that the reader can skim to find the information that they need. Consider using a search function. All writers should use clear headings or lists. These articles should be detailed with all of the necessary information. Furthermore, the language should be clear and friendly. Even if the article is informative, the writer should always use a tone that keeps the reader engaged and even entertained. Once you have content on the website, it’s important to make it shareable. You also want to continue to add content regularly to keep your website relevant.
- Provide contact info and link to your social media
You need to make it easy for current and potential customers to reach you. Make sure that you have your phone number, address, and business hours clearly displayed on the main page. You may even want to include that information on other relevant pages. You may also want to give customers the ability to buy products or request a quote for your services directly from your website so that you can make a sale without making the customer come into the physical store!
Social media is a great way to keep in constant communication with your customers. You can keep them informed on all new products and sales. Putting out entertaining viral material can also help bring new customers into your business.
- Make it fast!
We live in a fast-paced world, and you need to keep up! This is especially important when it comes to your website. In fact, it is recommended that a website should load in 3 seconds or less. If it doesn’t load in 3 seconds, customers are more likely to get frustrated and go to a competitor.
- Reviews matter
Your online reputation mostly comes from reviews from customers on websites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Help people put positive information about your company online by allowing them to post a review right on your website! If you make it convenient for your customer, they are more likely to post a review. You may even respond by giving people who leave a review a discount.
Negative reviews don’t have to be a bad thing. Look at your negative reviews and respond to see how to handle the situation and keep your customer.
If you need to update your website, it might be easier than you think! Learn more by talking to a professional designer who can make the process simple and fun. You may be surprised at how well an online change can affect your sales and your entire company. Remember to continue to update your website regularly to ensure that your customers still enjoy using the site.
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