Our secrets for creating a highly engaging website experience.
Key 1. Know your Audience
You can probably describe the age range, gender and location of your average customer – but truly knowing your audience goes beyond their demographics.
What are their buying habits? How do they spend their free time? What social media sites are they most engaged with? Who is in their personal network and how do they connect with them?
Key 2. Nail your Tone
Deciding your desired tone and then executing your design to reinforce it can make a significant difference in the overall “feel” and “flow” of your site.
A good website should reinforce your brand identity – so what message do you want to be sending to your visitors? Some sites convey an urgency; act now or you’ll miss out. Other sites provide a reassuring tone; we will always be there for you.
Do you want your visitors to feel like your brand is fun, established, respected, new, or trustworthy? You need to put in time and effort to nail your tone if you want to create a consistent experience.
Key 3. Drive Productive Action
What do you want people to actually do when they come to your website?
How to increase Productive Action:
1. Clearly identify the primary and secondary objectives for your website
2. Proactively design the content, layout, navigation, and calls-to-action to maximize the potential of visitors accomplishing those goals
Key 4. Engage Every Visitor - Regardless of Device
53
of ALL Web Traffic comes from mobile phones *as per study published in Jan 2020
11
seconds is the longest time a website can take to load before 40% of visitors will leave
60
of consumers say they are less loyal to a brand with poor website or app performance
Everyone carries the internet in their pocket today. If a website doesn’t effectively cater to both desktop and mobile users, the business looks outdated and is likely to lose potential customers.
A responsive website solves this problem by automatically optimizing itself to fit whatever screen it is being viewed on.
When building a responsive website, it is vital to:
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implement touch controls
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simplify navigation
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minimize load times
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prevent walls of text
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emphasize images, videos, and graphics
Key 5. Tell Your Story
People love a good story – and they are much more likely to engage with a brand when they feel an emotional connection. Telling them your story helps to ensure your success.
What is your product or service?
Who are you?
Who is on your team?
When and why did you start?
What is your competitive advantage?
What inspires you?
What sets you apart?
What are your goals for the future?
Key 6. Be interactive but not obtrusive
Ideally, your visitors should feel like the website is having a conversation with them – responding to their needs and pointing them in the right direction.
There are many ways to direct a user’s attention to key items on your site. Correctly employing these techniques can make your site more comfortable and enjoyable, but overuse can quickly turn off your visitors.
There is a delicate balance to strike between directing a user’s attention, and overwhelming them entirely. Knowing when and where to add the correct emphasis is key.
Key 7. Make Meaningful Connections
How are you connecting to your visitors? How are you encouraging them to interact with your brand? What are you doing to increase positive feedback and word-of-mouth advertising?
Integrating some of connective functionality can significantly increase customer engagement
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customer testimonials
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live chat feature
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news articles page and/or blog
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email marketing (e.g. special discounts, monthly newsletter)
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storefront for selling physical or digital goods (with discount code functionality)
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food menu and online ordering
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live calendar and appointment setting
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dynamic contact forms that transform based on the user’s responses (see below)