Increase Online Traffic by Improving Your Website’s Design
You need a website if you’re selling products and services online. This is an excellent marketing tool that can be used to attract potential leads and customers. However, what if you’re not attracting enough online traffic? How can people know you have what they need?
The first thing to do is to check the design of your website, including the layout, aesthetics, and loading speed. Then, by making any necessary improvements, you will increase your chances of persuading people to purchase your products and services.
You should also reduce your site’s bounce rate. This tells you how many times visitors will ‘bounce off’ before one decides to make a purchase. You can reduce this rate by implementing the following advice.
1. Speed up your site’s loading time by removing the clutter
Nothing deters prospective customers more than a slow website. In fact, studies have shown that many visitors will leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load. Here are some tips on how to shorten the load time:
Optimize or reduce the size of your images as they require substantial bandwidth, and this can negatively affect your loading time. You don’t have to remove or replace the pictures. Just make them smaller so you can save on bandwidth.
Check your plugins and remove any that are unnecessary. All your plugins are included in your site’s loading; it can take a while for them to load, so you should only enable those that you really need.
Minimize codes. Websites often include numerous HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, but you can reduce the load time by removing all the unnecessary characters in your site’s codes.
Choose a suitable host provider. If your current web host is slowing down your site, consider switching to a better one. While decent providers may be more expensive, a fast website will make the investment worthwhile.
How advantageous is a fast-loading site?
Research has shown that:
Around 1 in 10 people will leave web pages that take three seconds or more to load. This can also result in reduced customer satisfaction and a loss of potential conversions.
More than 60% of your potential customers will go to your competitors if your site does not load quickly enough.
2. Improve your site’s visual hierarchy
Improve your website’s visual appeal by utilizing:
Bold but professional fonts
Large readable text sizes
Bright and enticing colors
Create a visual hierarchy and use visual cues to lead customers to your pages.
3. Optimize your website
Web design and SEO are indispensable to each other. For instance, you can improve the user experience if visitors have no problem navigating between your pages. If your site controls are complicated, users may choose to visit your competitors instead.
Consult a website designer on how to improve the user experience. They may suggest several options, and it may be wise to test each one to discover which works best. For example, a site should lead prospective customers from the homepage to the shopping cart in as few clicks as possible. If you are a service provider looking for leads, make sure the lead box is easy to locate.
Furthermore, consider placing your navigation bar horizontally across the top of each page. Also, you should include links to your various products and services, contacts, FAQs, and testimonials. However, be careful not to overload your menu with too many options, as this can overwhelm and confuse visitors who may decide to leave.
4. Choose the colors wisely
Colors, such as those used for your site’s background, can help focus visitors’ attention on the content. You may even decide to experiment with colors but remember they should never impede your content’s readability. For example, visitors may have a hard time reading letters and words in a blue or pink font set against a green-colored background. A professional web designer can help with the color combinations that will make your content both engaging and readable.
Remember, when choosing a color, make sure it:
Elicits the desired emotion
Matches your business brand
The Call-to-Action (CTA) colors should also stand out.
5. When selecting a font, always go for sans serif
Serif fonts have small flourishes at the end of the letters. Times New Roman is serif. While serif fonts look neat and attractive, their use should be limited to titles and branding.
Sans serif, such as Arial and Helvetica are preferable as it makes it easier for people to read the content. In turn, if they stay long enough, your conversion efforts are more likely to succeed. Consider limiting your fonts to two or three typefaces, as too many will make your site appear messy and confusing.
6. Add white space
Websites with too many images and videos can distract potential customers from your product offers. Naturally, you don’t want them to leave your site empty-handed, so think about adding blank spaces to improve your conversion rate.
White space refers to the blank areas between the text and images. Many website designers and business owners ignore this technique, but it can significantly improve the readability of your online content.
7. Include images that are appealing to your audience
Besides adding white space, limit your pictures to a few good ones. You should only use high-quality and professional-looking photographs. If you only have a small budget, there are lots of appropriate stock photos to choose from online.
8. Your website should accommodate various layouts
Online traffic from mobile devices is now outpacing that from desktops. So, if your online business is not optimized for mobiles, you are losing out on a huge market. Ask your site designer to create a mobile-responsive layout. The additional layouts will make it easier for prospective customers to discover your products and services.
9. Use social media
If you have included a blog on your website, you should share it through various social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
You could also let readers share your blog by adding social share buttons to your site. You will be happy to know that this strategy is unlikely to increase your bounce rate. And, once a reader likes your content, they can share it, and this will increase your chances of converting more visitors.
Conclusion
If you’re an online business owner, you should optimize your website on a regular basis. This will involve some tweaking of the site’s design to increase online traffic, improving your chances of converting visitors into customers. Remember, you don’t have to make major changes; just remove some of the clutter and speed up the loading time. The result will almost certainly increase the number of visitors and sales. Furthermore, any design changes that enhance the user experience are worth adopting.
Written by Emma Carter