Nowadays, if you want your business to be successful, you need to have a customer-friendly website. That website is going to be what everyone who googles your brand’s name is going to look at, meaning that it represents what your business is all about. If it looks like it was created in 2009, it might cause you to lose hundreds of potential customers.
In order to make a website as customer-friendly as possible, it is recommended that you focus on decreasing the site load time and going for a design that is simple and responsive. Other than that, you might want to make the website mobile-friendly, accessible to people with disabilities, and organized, as well as fill it with genuinely useful information, including updated product information and business hours.
If you want to learn more, keep reading! Below, you will find a short guide to making your website so customer-friendly that it will boost the reputation of your brand in no time.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
When it comes to making a website customer-friendly, you need to remember about search engine optimization, also known as SEO, and search engine marketing, also known as SEM. It is the best way to get people to visit your website when looking for non-specific terms such as “inheritance advances in 1 business day” and not your competitors.
Search engine optimization is about increasing your website ranking in search engines, such as Google and Bing. You can do that by targeting relevant keywords and phrases on the website and getting backlinks from reputable websites.
Search engine marketing is about buying advertisements on different search engines. It can be expensive, but it will make it easier for potential clients to find you.
Add Genuinely Useful Information
If you want to make your website customer-friendly, it is recommended that you fill it with genuinely useful information. The goal is to make every single page on your website a helpful resource for potential customers. For starters, you could list your business hours, post detailed information about your products and services, and add a blog section with helpful articles related to what you specialize in.
Decrease the Site Load Time
A website that takes a long time to load is going to make your visitors leave, so you need to decrease the site load time. The best way to do that is to remove all the unnecessary stuff from the website, such as videos, pop-ups, and advertisements. Other than that, you should choose a performance-optimized hosting solution, avoid creating unnecessary redirects, and use a caching plugin.
Make the Design Simple and Responsive
One of the best ways to make your website customer-friendly is to make its design simple and responsive. To achieve that goal, you have to get rid of stocky images and ambiguous terminology, go for an eye-catching color scheme and create a navigation bar that will help each user move around the website. If you do not know how to do any of the things listed above, hiring a professional designer to do it for you is always a viable option!
Make It Mobile-Friendly
Did you know that mobile accounts for half of the web traffic worldwide? Because of that, you should make your website mobile-friendly by creating its mobile version. It should be simple, easy to use, and include the same information that is available on the desktop version. Other than that, you should test the mobile version on various mobile devices and ensure that everything works as intended.
Make It Accessible to People with Disabilities
Another way to make your website customer-friendly is by making it accessible for people with disabilities. That way, you will be able to increase your reputation and show that you care about everyone who visits your site. In order to make your website accessible, do the following things!
- Add alt text to images.
- Add keyboard navigation.
- Avoid blinking and moving elements.
- Get rid of background sounds.
- Add closed captions to each video.
Make It Organized
To make your website customer-friendly, organize the information that is on it. First off, it is highly recommended that you put the main menu at the top of the page. Later on, break each page that the menu links to into sections with appropriate headings. Nobody wants to read walls of text! Other than that, create an individual page for each service that you provide instead of listing all services on one page. It will make it easier for your website to rank in different search engines!
Use Professional Photographs
Photographs taken by professionals can make a website look competent and appealing. On the other hand, blurry photographs taken on a decades-old phone can be a huge turn-off. If you can afford it, you should hire a professional photographer to take a few pictures of whatever you are selling. In addition, you could photograph a few important employees, such as the chief executive officer, the co-founder, and the chief financial officer. It will humanize your brand, making it more attractive to potential clients!
Accept Online Orders
If you are into e-commerce, you should think about accepting online orders. It is a great way to get people who do not have time to call you/visit you in person to make a purchase! You can start accepting online orders by launching a separate online store and posting a link to that store in the main menu of the website. Here is a detailed guide that will help you take care of it!
Making your website customer-friendly is not an easy task, but it is definitely worth the hassle. In fact, if done right, it might help you gain hundreds of customers! However, to achieve that goal, you will need to take care of a number of things, ranging from the site load time and design to search engine optimization.
If you do not have time for that, hiring a web designer and a search engine optimization expert is a viable option. If you find the right people for the job, you are guaranteed to end up with a customer-friendly website that will boost the reputation of your business in no time!
