By some estimates there are over 800 million active websites, but by others there are over one billion. How can you even begin to think about competing with numbers like those? Actually, it may be simpler than you think. However, don’t confuse ‘simple’ with ‘easy.’ It will take an amazingly well-designed website to keep visitors there. You can get them there with effective inbound SEO but getting them to stick around is another matter altogether. This is something which Web Design West Midlands experts Currant Web have perfected. Read on for some of the top things to consider.
Creativity and Originality a MUST
Even though there are amazingly attractive themes and templates you can modify, without that creative touch, they will look and act much like any other out-of-the-box solution. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use the same theme as others are using, it means that it will take a great deal of modifications to make it stand out from the crowd. Sometimes it’s just better to start from a blank canvas, so to speak. Find ways to make your home and landing pages interactive in original ways, such as using hands pointing to key clickthrough areas or original artwork that is simple and appealing.
Simplicity Is Also Critical
Think back to the huge number of times you were interested in a product or service only to click through to a website that was too busy to comprehend at first glance. What you came looking for was not a key focus and there were so many images, boxes and blocks of text that you simply backed your way out again. The mind works in mysterious ways. If it takes more than a few seconds to comprehend visuals, it will tune out. Keep your visuals simple but always interactive! Calls to action need to be short and sweet within clear copy. Also, be mindful of the fact that you don’t want to overwhelm the visitor with a million and one CTAs. For each page, only a few are needed, and they should be easily seen and understood.
Forget the Search Engines – It’s the User That Matters!
Does it sound like we’re breaking a cardinal rule here? For just one moment, think about the ultimate purpose of why a visitor has landed on your page. You have already done your job with inbound SEO and you can effectively use SEO on your website IF it doesn’t interfere with user-friendliness of your site. Search engines are how you get people to your site, but search engines don’t sell products. It is up to you to convert them once they are there. Keep every aspect of your web design easy enough to navigate and you will notice a drastically reduced bounce rate. By the way, Google ranks on bounce rate as well, so don’t think you are breaking all the rules.
A Bit of Clarification Might Be Needed
No one is denying the necessity of ranking well in the SERPs. Yes, your ultimate goal is to rank highly in the first few positions of page one of the search engine results pages, but that will be extremely difficult if all your visitors pop in and pop right out again. Google recognises the importance of the UX (user experience) and so has modified their algorithms to account for this. Therefore, you still need effective SEO, but you also need to keep visitors from leaving too soon. The longer they stay and the more pages on your site they click through to, the greater your score will be with the search giant.
These are just a few of the key aspects of great web design, so if you remember nothing else, these will give you a strong foothold against the competition. Web Design West Midlands experts Currant Web are leaders in the field because of their effective use of these key aspects.
