What draws a reader, or customer, to a website? Is it functionality, or useful information? Websites have grown, since their inception, into media-powerhouses, community-driven news sites, and booming billion-dollar businesses — take a look at Amazon. Most business websites record performance by examining metrics, including click-through rates, to measure customer interactivity.
One important aspect of success is your website’s design, which, if properly executed, boosts your click through rates, and creates an influx of repeat visitors. Design persuades customers — it motivates, promotes, and intrigues.
So, how can you improve your business website’s click through rate, and overall success, with design?
Draw The Reader Into Your Site
“Above the fold” is a common term in web design. Customers usually surf quickly, and with short attention spans. So, to combat this problem, designers began creating sites that placed the most relevant information above the fold — the top part of a webpage immediately visible to a web surfer.
This “sweet spot” is perfect for a concise explanation of the business, strong copywriting, and attention-grabbing headlines — meant to draw the reader deeper into the website. So, in order to take advantage of your website real estate, compile a list of the most meaningful phrases, terms, and information about your brand to insert at the top of your site’s pages.
Make Typography Meaningful
The font on a website determines how customers view your brand. Serif fonts relate to business, and present an image of authority. Popular Serif fonts include: Times New Roman, Georgia, and Cambria. Sans-serif fonts create a personal atmosphere, and remain popular with social media, and community-driven sites. Popular Sans-serif fonts include: Arial, Helvetica, and Verdana.
Decide how you would like the customer to view your business, and look for an appropriate typeface which reflects your brand’s image. Do you want a more personal feel, or would a streamlined, minimalist site be more appropriate? So, knowing your brand is key when choosing a typeface.
Use High-Quality Images
Readers can spot a low-quality photograph. Many sites use low-quality, copyright-protected photos (often unknowingly) on their website, which lower their click through rates. Use high-quality stock shots from reputable sites to add a dash of class, and reputability to your site. Stick with professional, meaningful photographs of people interacting. These images evoke an emotional response in readers, and make them want to click further through your site. Choose photographs which add meaning to posts, and headlines. Web-savvy surfers are visual, and respond to well-placed images, and, sometimes, invest in a product solely based on its attractive visuals, including high-quality photographs.
Design means nothing without knowing your target market. Knowing your customer is the most foundational knowledge for a successful business website, and without that knowledge, design and aesthetics add no value. Discover more information about your audience with sites like Google Adwords, or Facebook Ads, and research their behaviors and trends.
Find out what they want, and tailor your design to advertise your product or service in direct response to those wants. With these tips, your business achieves a higher click through rate, and you walk away with a better understanding of your brand and target market. With this information in-hand, designing a functional website becomes much simpler, and rewarding to your business and customers.
Image Credit: freedigitalphotos.net
Making your website more attractive will help you gain more views to your site but having an elegant look of your page with less information content will not work so it’s very important to balance these two. Think for the appropriate design that would stand out and make the content more informative and useful to the viewers.
Hey Charles Dearing,
Your information on enriching a business website is really interesting and attention captivating. I am sure the business community as well as the customers will reap equal benefit from such a resourceful write-up. The website design advice included in your write-up, I am sure, will take the websites surfers to quench their knowledge of necessary queries. Wishing you ever progress.
These tricks will surely keep readers from coming back to your site. Consistent quality content is one big factor to keep your business alive no matter how many updates Google makes,
This is good information. It is amazing what a good “call to action” button or form does for your website.