An online business is a tricky thing no matter how easy they are to get going. You just need a website builder and a few good ideas for the layout, a bit of copy for your customers to delve into, and high resolution pictures of your products, right? If you want your customers to get the best impression possible, absolutely not.
You need to put yourself in a visitor’s shoes. What are they thinking when they click through to your site? What intention led them to search for products like yours in the first place? And when they do ‘land’ on your website, what will convince them they’re in the right place? It takes a lot of research and a bit of brainstorming, but you can make that first glance count.
Load Fast
If the website doesn’t load fast enough, no one is going to stick around to find out what’s on the other side. It’s a simple fact of the online world; even bigger companies like Coca Cola can suffer from network latency issues! When people use the internet, specifically to shop online, they’re looking for convenience above all else.
If they can’t get that from this one website, they’re going to check out other websites. Without being a repeat customer, they won’t have any idea what they’re missing out on. A first impression can only be made once, and if your website takes more than 2 seconds to get up and running, a user is going to suspect the site is poorly set up, or in some cases, even compromised.
Focus on Them, Not You
It’s easy for a business owner to talk about themselves and their own journey. You delve deep into your motivation for the company and where you came from, and this is an important story to tell!
But save it for the About Page. You don’t want to focus on yourself on the home page or a landing page and alienate the people who are looking for a solution from you. Tap into their needs, their problems, and what they may be thinking.
Use Landing Pages Strategically
Speaking of landing pages, they’re the perfect customer acquisition tool. A landing page can be the content an ad links to, or it can be the other side of a social media post. Either way, it’s the best kind of webpage for introducing a product to those who need it most.
Creating a landing page isn’t difficult either, even when you have to incorporate SEO and good, high value copy. If you don’t have any attached to your website, get set up as soon as you can. You can also use any landing page software to help put one together, which will ensure the format and layout read properly and impressively.
Track What Pages are Performing Well
When you know how people are coming through your website, you can start inserting links on that page to guide them to where you want them to be: the end of the sales funnel. So keep track of what pages are performing well and which ones aren’t.
You want to know your click through rates, retention rates, and bounce rates; putting all three together will paint a far clearer picture of what’s working and what isn’t.
Don’t get too comfortable with these statistics either. They can change wildly over time, and even within a week, so keep coming back to check. A little experimentation with new ad copy, headlines, and calls to action won’t hurt either!
Link to Your Social Media
Your social media accounts can be star performers in your online persona. However, they’re only going to do the heavy lifting properly when you’ve got them linked to your website. Not only does this make the customer journey far easier, but it ensures search engines recognize your optimization efforts as well.
And remember, a website that incorporates its social media through well timed updates is going to come across more trustworthy and legitimate. You’re involved in content creation, which is a green flag, and you clearly want your potential customer base to get the best from you!
A website is your company’s portfolio. It tells a visitor everything they need to know about you. As such, if you want your customers to get the best first glance, use design tips like these. If a customer can see they’re in the right place from an initial impression, they’re not going to think about going anywhere else!