Your website is a key feature of your business, so it’s vital that you can channel sufficient time and effort into each page to ensure that it meets or even surpasses the users expectations. Failing to achieve a quality website could leave your brand behind, as modern society now focuses heavily on e-commerce and online activity. Luckily, it needn’t be as difficult as you might expect to improve your website, as there are several simple tips and tricks that you can make the most of to take your online platform to new heights in no time at all. So, if you would like to find out more, then simply read on!
The Aesthetic Of Your Website Matters
The way that you choose to present your website contributes massively towards its overall success, as the design and theme that you choose for each page will reflect on your brand and service as a whole. Putting little to no effort into the presentation of your website will encourage users to believe that the same lack of effort is applied to your products and services, even if this couldn’t be further than the truth. There’s no time like the present to upgrade your online platforms aesthetic, so start off by establishing a set colour scheme and layout that you can utilise throughout your entire website. When choosing a colour scheme, try not not to go overboard – it’s best to stick with two to three colours at most, as any more than this can make it extremely overpowering. Pick one specific font that you can use throughout your website, as using more than one font can look messy and unprofessional. Make the most of headers to get important messages and information across to readers, such as page names, slogans and more, keeping content text much smaller so as not to overwhelm. Steer clear of excessive patterns, too many pictures and other features that can encourage a feeling of clutter and chaos, capping your images to 2 or 3 per page – this will also help to reduce the total loading time that it takes for your website to power up in a user’s browser, so it’s a win-win. Aim to avoid any low quality videos or pictures that are pixelated or not true to their original colour, as it’s best to have nothing then to have something unattractive and unprofessional. It’s a good idea to take a look at a few other successful websites in your industry to see which styles and aesthetics really work for your target audience, as you may spot certain details that you wish to recreate in your own platform. Never straight copy from any other brand, as you may find yourselves in serious trouble.
Always Test Before Publication
Whenever you decide to adapt or upgrade your web pages, no matter how small the changes are, you must perform sufficient testing before publishing your site on the web. Failing to test your website could cause your customers to fall victim to all manner of different issues that affect their experience overall, and these issues could have easily been avoided if you were to take the time to test thoroughly. Exploring several different forms of usability testing will be of real benefit for your brand, as this will help you to identify any design or programming flaws that can impact upon the look, feel and quality of your website as a whole. Be sure to outsource a large percentage of testing as this will give you a totally different viewpoint – asking your staff to test their own work will likely keep errors under wraps, so requesting that those who have never navigated around your site take part in testing is the most effective decision that you can make. Test features such as browser loading times, presentation, ease of use, and accessibility, whilst using every button and option to see whether they truly operate as they should. Consider using different methods to access your website such as a smartphone or a laptop, as well as several internet browsers – you may find that your website appears unique in each and every option, and this should be addressed immediately to keep up appearances and remain a trustworthy source.
Make It Interactive To Improve Customer Service
One big stumbling block that can have a dire impact on your brand as a whole is your online customer service, as it can often feel impossible to try and meet the needs of your clients without even seeing them face to face. Adapting your service in order to abide by the limitations of the world wide web can be tricky, as it’s such an impersonal and anonymous experience that’s terribly difficult to improve! However, making your website interactive can be a brilliantly effective way to improve your customer service, as adding a point of contact will break down the walls between you and the rest of the world. You wouldn’t open your doors to a brick and mortar store without having at least one member of staff on the floor to meet customer needs, so why are hosting a business website without having a single option to get in touch? Many successful websites make use of an interactive chat message feature that pops up automatically on a user’s screen – you can personalize the message to suit your unique brand, but something along the lines of ‘i’m here to help – send a message if you have any questions’ is absolutely ideal. It can be hard to achieve respectable levels of customer service when you cannot even see or hear your clients, but chatting to them virtually can really help to break the barrier between your business and your target audience.
Taking your website to a whole new level has never been so simple when you can take the time to make the most of the brilliant tips and tricks that have been carefully detailed above. There’s no time like the present to boost your online brand, so what are you waiting for?
