Right now, you’re going to find out the key elements of a first-rate up-to-date website. All of the following elements are necessary to rake in more conversions. No smart business owner would say no to that. So let’s dive right in.
Minimalist Design
The minimalist trend will be carried onto 2020, with lots of clean negative spaces. How good a website’s UI is will make or break it. Currently, the most popular designs are semi-flat with a bold color scheme that ties into your business’ brand.
The homepage has to be somewhat plain. Unlike web designs from 20 years ago, it doesn’t have to be loaded with text and graphics to entice visitors.
In fact:
Potential customers are more likely to stay on the site if everything is spaced out and appropriately placed. A clean layout will have its payoffs.
Optimized for speed and mobile devices
Your website NEEDS to load quickly. Consider this:
More than 50% of a website’s visitors will click off if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load.
That’s why your site has to be optimized for improved functionality, particularly for mobile devices. These days, people prefer to browse the web on their phones rather than on their desktops. You have to make sure that:
Your site loads quickly on mobile.
The text is readable.
The buttons are clickable.
Otherwise, you stand to lose people who might be interested in what your business is offering. What a waste.
Engaging content
One way you can let your business’ personality shine through your site is by having extraordinary content. This includes everything from featured videos, high-resolution product photos, and well-written posts.
When was the last time you trusted a business that can’t even be bothered to post clear pictures of their products?
Consistently churning out fresh and creative content shows your customer base that you care. Make sure you also have relevant calls to action peppered throughout your content to raise your conversion rate.
Intuitive navigation
Your website shouldn’t have more pages than necessary. It’s also important that every page is easily accessible. The most popular navigation element these days is a hamburger menu, those three horizontal lines that trigger a drop-down menu to access every page of the site.
You may also want to keep your content more streamlined by not cramming too much of it on one page. You don’t want the site to be too scroll-heavy. If a certain page keeps loading more content, it’s smart to add a “back to top” button to help the user out.
Space for customer interaction
One of the reasons why someone would go on a website is to get in touch with a business. So you have to make sure that there simple contact form on your site should customers want to inquire, suggest, or complain about something.
If you want to take it a notch higher, you can implement a chat system where customer service representatives can address your customers’ issues.
At the very least, give your visitors a chance to subscribe to your mailing list. It’s a cheap and easy way to announce promotions and give updates to people who are interested.
About Us Page
The About Us page often doesn’t get much love because businesses think it doesn’t get visited that often. But actually, the About Us page is a great way to tell customers your story and to show them what causes your business is passionate about.
People always appreciate humble beginnings because it gives the business more personality. Instead of a boring write up, spruce up your About Us page with employee videos and photos from outreach events. When customers see real people behind a business, they’re encouraged to support it.
Strong CMS and infrastructure
Being able to track conversions and easily tweak your website to keep up with current trends is extremely important. That’s why your website has to be built on a robust platform with great usability.
When looking for the right content management system, here’s what you should look out for:
- Loads quickly
- Secure enough to prevent data theft and hacking
- Has SEO features
- Backed by dedicated developers
- Ability to edit content any time across all devices
- Has free and premium design options for all budgets
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into building a great website. The trends are constantly changing so it’s hard to keep track. It might be a smart move for your business to leave it to the pros. But now you know what to expect from web developers who know what they’re doing.