Your website provides a the first look at your products or services. A great website will make a strong first impression, give users what they want, and invite them back again. If you are unsure how well your website speaks to your audience, it might be time to clean up your site until it truly represents the quality and effectiveness of your brand.
1. Keep It Clear and Simple
A simple yet clear call to action will help focus your users’ attention. Hopefully it will also keep their attention by encouraging them to click on. Your website should welcome users to look around and find what they need quickly. Easy, logical navigation will prevent confusion and invite users to stay on your page.
You will do your audience a favor following a “less is more” approach. The faster they find what they need, the more likely your users will stick around. Think of the clean style of WordPress website design: it effectively communicates content on a simple platform with minimal distractions.
2. Be Upfront
You want your audience to make the most of their time. Put the information they are looking for upfront on your website. To do this, you will need to know who your users are and what they want. Like your CTA, the product, information, or link your audience needs the most should have a clear and focused space on your website.
You can also be upfront with who you are. Stating clearly on your homepage what your brand is and what services or products you provide is a great search engine optimization strategy. Beyond its SEO use, the first bit of reading about your brand should make a strong impression. This initial text, together with the whole style of your website, can communicate your uniqueness and make you stand out against your competitors.
3. Make It Fresh
Publish fresh content on your website as often as you can. You want your audience to know your site is alive and active, so show them this by updating frequently. Showcasing your latest products or sharing new content demonstrates to users how your website– and therefore your brand– are moving forward and worth keeping up with.
This doesn’t mean you have to feature web design & storytelling so sophisticated users think it rolled out of NASA Ames Research Center, but you would still have to engage the tech savvy population you are attempting to draw in.
A fresh website is relevant to its users. Say you have a business in Hollister and would like to cast a wider net for potential customers. Is your website designed to appeal visually to an audience in a place like Palo Alto, which is heavily influenced by the latest trends in technology? Tech savvy users will not engage with a website resembling an artifact from the early 2000’s exhibit at The Intel Museum. In this scenario, it would be smart to model your site after the newest trends in web design.
Your website is a critical first link in your relationship with your audience. Take the time to make it shine– both you and your users will be so glad you did.
