With millions of websites active on the internet today, there’s no denying that businesses have to do more than ever before to strengthen their online presence. With diminishing attention spans and customers increasingly demanding personalisation and originality in offerings, a one-size-fits-all approach just does not make the cut anymore. Neither does a run-of-the-mill design that looks “oh so familiar” or boring. So, how do you ensure your website is not one among the many sites that merely exist on the Web? Here are a few tips to up the appeal of your site and make it interesting enough to turn the tide in your favour.
Relevant Domain Name
Your website’s domain name is not just an address that your visitors will use to retrieve and view your site. It is also your business’ online identity and a means to reinforce your brand. Hence, don’t just spend time contemplating the right name for your company. Also, invest time in deciding on an appropriate domain name that is unique, concise and easy to remember, and that accurately represents your business. Even better if it is keyword optimised. When choosing a domain name, pay attention to its extension too. A .com extension, though the most popular, may not be relevant in all scenarios, especially when you are running a local business catering to a specific region. Your choice of domain name can have a considerable impact on your site’s search engine rankings. Hence, think long-term and consider the future diversification possibilities of your business before opting for one.
Reliable Web Hosting
To run your business online, you need to host your website. Assuming you are engaging the services of a third-party provider for this, make sure you do your research well and choose a reputed company that assures you of quality web hosting services. The latter is crucial to the success of your site as it can influence your site’s speed performance, ability to function uninterruptedly and capability to thwart cyber attacks. Opting for a company based on pricing alone can lead to the quality of web host being compromised. With website hacking on the rise and customers increasingly losing patience with slow-running sites and ones that have regular downtimes, hasty and half-baked decisions can prove to be disastrous.
User-friendly Interface
Now that you have bolstered your site with robust security features and ensured it’s running at an optimal speed, it’s time to focus on the next important element – UI or User Interface. A user-friendly interface is critical for a positive user experience (UX). It is what will encourage your visitors to continue their interaction with your site.
When getting your website built, don’t emphasise so many fancy design elements that navigating your site or retrieving information becomes cumbersome for the user. End of the day, the user has landed on your site to know more about your products and services or to make a purchase or query. Ensure he or she has a memorable experience of your site by keeping the layout of your web pages aesthetic but simple and free of distractions. You can achieve this through careful placement of key takeaways, visuals and call-to-actions (CTA). Responsive web design can further enhance UX by making your site easy to access across multiple devices such as mobiles and tablets. Make sure you factor it in when sharing your requirements with your web design company.
A picture is worth a thousand words
It is for good reasons that content is dubbed as king. After all, it serves far too many purposes for its importance to be undermined. Content is no longer just a means to educate a site’s readers about the business and its offerings. Today, it is also used in marketing strategies to foster brand awareness and loyalty. It is not unknown that SEO content is crucial to a site’s search rankings, which, in turn, determine whether and how quickly a site is likely to be spotted by its target audience.
When hiring an agency or copywriter to create an SEO-friendly web copy, stress on compelling content that can not only grab the readers’ attention from the start but also retains that attention for long. One of the quickest ways to lose the trust and interest of your prospects is to offer them information that is inaccurate, dated or uninspiring. Thus, make sure you keep your web pages up-to-date always and that the information published on them is accurate, relevant and fun to read.
Insightful Blogs
Every website should focus on incorporating a unique selling point (USP) that differentiates it from the rest. This USP could be in the form of a branded blog that makes it worthwhile for your visitors to spend their precious time on your website. Creative, original and informative blogs can be one of your site’s standout features that lend it a unique identity of its own. Use them as a medium to demonstrate your mastery over your chosen domain. You can even look upon them as free advertising for your business, meaning they give you a chance to showcase your offerings to your visitors at no extra cost. And by optimising them with relevant keywords and consistently posting them, you can gain some SEO advantage too.
Well-researched blogs, when written in a way that strikes a chord with the readers, can win you brownie points with your visitors. Such blogs can make visitors want to come back to your site often to read the latest posts, thereby boosting your site’s traffic. An important aspect to consider here is the tone and theme of your posts. Your blog is an extension of your brand’s voice and image. Hence, what it coveys and how it coveys should be congruent with your brand’s values and communication style.
Catchy videos and visuals
According to independent studies, it is the first few seconds of a user landing on a web page that decide whether Catchy and powerful visuals he or she will linger on or leave the website soon. Catchy and powerful visuals, whether static or moving, can immediately generate interest in your site’s visitors and retain their attention for long. They can be that “wow” factor that leaves your visitors with a lasting impression of your brand and positively influences their buying decisions, thus preventing your prospects from abandoning your site without taking any action. Hence, don’t shy away from exploiting videos and visuals to engage with your audience and keep the latter hooked.
When looking to get your brand’s story across to your readers, images and videos can prove to be a compelling medium as they allow you to share your brand’s journey and value proposition in your own unique way. You can even add an element of individuality to your visuals by choosing custom photos over generic stock pictures. The former will leave room for you to put your own spin on your imagery, thus ensuring your images are anything but cliché.
Client testimonials
Last but not least, boost the credibility of your website by publishing genuine testimonials from customers who have availed themselves of your offerings in the past. Any feedback that comes straight from fellow users can go a long way in instilling trust in potential customers and help drive conversions. When it comes to sharing client testimonials, look for feedback from neutral sources that are verifiable and that your readers can trust. Reviews posted on third-party websites like Trustpilot, and comments made on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, can help you earn not just the readers’ trust but also their loyalty towards your brand.
Conclusion
As evident from the above, a lot goes into the making of a website that can stand out from the crowd, visual aesthetics being only a part of this multidimensional aspect. If you feel you do not boast the expertise to amalgamate all of the above on your own, it’s probably wiser to hire a professional web design company to get the job done for you. An experienced web design company will help you build a site that is not only stunning to look at but also scores high on all aspects that matter the most to your visitors.
