As the global pandemic of 2020 continues to rip through the nation and people continue to make the commitment to stay home more, digital connectivity has gotten more important than ever. For business owners, having a well-designed, efficient website that can entice, engage and convert visitors has taken on a new level of importance.
If you’re still not sure that your website is getting the job done for you, now is the time to invest in an upgrade that will help your business survive and thrive through COVID-19 and beyond. Here are some things you can do to make sure your website is working or you.
Make sure your site is up to speed.
In a digital world, on site user experience should be top of mind. You can’t engage your customers well online if your website isn’t setup correctly and working as hard as possible on your behalf to do so.
While numerous factors play into user experience, none seem to rank higher in importance than page speed.
Consumers aren’t interested in waiting around for a site to load in order to purchase a product or service – they’ll just happily move on to someone who can meet their needs more quickly. Having a site that takes too long to load or won’t load completely will lose you the opportunity to wow a customer with your amazing products and services.
In fact, studies have shown that an additional two seconds of loading time can increase a site’s bounce rate by 103% and adding as little as 100 milliseconds of extra loading time can cause a 7% drop in conversion rates. That’s money you’re just giving away by not making sure your website is functioning to the best of its ability.
Lost opportunities for conversions on site isn’t the only issue here -page speed also factors into your SEO. If Google determines your site loads too slowly, it can be detrimental to your search rankings losing you more opportunities to capture customers for whom your product might be perfect.
Have great design.
User experience is also greatly impacted by design – the look and feel of your site says a lot to users about your product, your services and your brand.
And while looking good is super important, great design is about more than pretty colors and funky fonts.
Great design guides your user through your site effortlessly and directs them to the places you intuitively know they need to go. It excites them, engages them and convinces them that your product or service is the solution to their problem, an enhancement to their life and exactly what they need.
Like they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and that doesn’t just apply to in person meetings. Your website only gets one chance too. You want your site visitors to know instantly what you’re about, what you can do for them and why you’re the right choice for the job. And, with so much competition just a click away, this first impression can truly mean the difference between making a sale and being forgotten.
Tell your story.
And hire a good writer to do it.
Everything from the basic screens describing what you do and how you do it, to telling the who and why of your brand and business should be well written. Poorly written copy loses you credibility, distracts from your message and fails to convince your customer that you are worth the investment.
Compelling imagery plays a role here too. Great photos and strong graphics help convey your message more meaningfully to your site visitors. Like professional, well-written copy, an investment in professional photography will help give your business credibility. It also serves to keep your customers engaged and often adds value to your message.
In today’s digital world, where everything is within reach at the click of a button, you need to reach through the screen and grab your customer, drag them into your “shop” and sell them your product – well written copy can do that for you when you can’t rely on your charm and charisma to seal the deal.
Is your website doing all it can for you?
In addition to branding, package design and marketing materials, Octavo Designs specializes in web design and development and help you create a website that works for you and supports your business growth and goals.
