First impressions last forever. When someone is on your website, how do you think they will react?
This is the question you need to ask yourself and find the answer to before you start anything when creating your pro website.
The user of your website doesn't need much time to make a first impression, so it's a good idea to focus on this aspect
When a user visits your website, the first thing they notice is the look (design) and feel (UX). Does your message stand out? Is it easy to know where to click? A pro website doesn't just look great, it also works great, providing engaging content, useful links and smooth navigation so your visitors can find exactly what they're looking for.
If a user accesses your site and is immediately turned off by the look and feel, it's clear that you've failed before you've even started. In the blink of an eye, your website can crash and burn.
So here are 5 top tips for creating the website you want and the one your readers will love to visit.
1. Make sure your site is optimized for mobile
Today, it's increasingly common to see users or visitors to your website visit on a mobile device (a smartphone or tablet). Web traffic has moved past desktops and is turning more to mobile devices. Optimizing your site for mobile devices is crucial.
This mobile optimization allows your site to adapt and be responsive to the mobile platform; that is, the layout and design will fit the smaller screen size of mobile devices, and the UX will be comfortable and easy to navigate on a small mobile device. Making your site responsive for mobile is something you need to consider from the start. It's important that your mobile site has the same brand identity and personality as the desktop version, so it pays to design your desktop website in a way that can be easily and comfortably adapted for mobile.
2. Think chatbots: integrate automated chat to drive conversions
Messaging platforms already outperform all other types of apps; in fact, 6 of the top 10 mobile apps in the world are messaging apps. So it's only natural that marketers are starting to take this into account, using messaging technology to provide better online customer service. And the answer is bots; specifically chatbots, which are automated chat messaging tools based on artificial intelligence that are already generating higher conversions. When you visit a website that uses chatbots, a small chat window will open on the page, inviting you to ask questions or have a conversation to engage and guide you to what you need. But it's not a real customer representative: it's a bot, programmed to give you a great customer service experience.
Chatbots aren't just for big companies. There are many chatbot providers you can use to easily create, customize and implement chatbots on your website.
3. Reduce page load time and increase engagement
It doesn't matter how professional your website is. If users have to wait 10 seconds for your page to load, you've already lost them. Statistics are clear: the longer it takes for a web page to load, the higher the page abandonment rate. Furthermore, it is clear that your Google ranking will take a hit due to this long loading time, burying your site among the lower rankings in search results. Just like SEO, loading time will be affected by the design and programming of the page. You can improve your page load time in a number of ways including: code optimization, lowering the rate of redirects, image optimization, etc. .
4. Choose the best design option for your needs and budget
One of the decisions you will have to make when creating your website is whether to use a design template or create your own custom design from scratch. Today, you will find great choices of website templates and software that make it quick and easy for even the most inexperienced novice to create a pro-looking website.
On the other hand, when creating a custom website, the sky is the limit. A template-based design will not allow you the complete freedom to get a custom site in terms of the particular configuration and overall functionality of the website. However, custom websites are much more resource intensive, including time, labor and budget.
Ultimately, each business owner must weigh the pros and cons of custom design versus template design, and then decide which is best for their needs.
5. SEO rules: it's easy for consumers to find you on search engines
Okay, you know that SEO is not something you can see, but it is essential to creating a great website experience. The user experience and the way you are found on the net will be determined by your SEO strategy. Don't make the common marketing mistake of only focusing on the design of your website; you will also need to consider your site's ability to appear and rank on search engines. After all, what's the point of having a professional looking site if it can't be found? So be sure to focus on creating effective titles and meta descriptions for all your web pages.
Remember that your SEO strategy will have a direct impact on the content and layout of your website, so it's worth planning your SEO before you even start thinking about fonts and images.
If you're not a web designer, this can all seem a bit overwhelming. But remember, there is no one answer to great web design. Researching what others are doing is one way to find inspiration and ideas to guide the design process. And as long as you are aware of the elements that make a well-designed website, it will be much easier to work with a designer and create the website you want.