Additional tip: be proud of your website design.
Congratulations, your business courted many wayward customers to your website! And condolences, your business website scared away those wayward customers.
Now, more than ever, the design of your website is very important to anyone (business or consumer) who wants to do business with you.
Here’s a few quick tips to retain those retailers:
Invest In Maintenance:
As wayward users on the Internet, we like to think websites function on our time. Unfortunately, missing pages, database errors, and server crashes would beg to differ. Maintain your website as a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders. If rental cars break down frequently in your rental car company, chances are you won’t have many returning customers.
Think About The Users:
Put yourself in the position of the consumer wondering into the wild of the World Wide Web. Does it take a machete cutting through the thicket to reach a product page? Must you whip out the map and compass to find what you want? Yes to any of those questions mean you have an unfriendly site on your hands, my friend. The less time the consumer spends digging, the more time the consumer can buy.
Stop Wasting Time:
Next-to-no user wants to read your paragraphs-long back-patting about your company. It means squat to most consumers. In fact, a Nielson study found out users barely read word by word, and scans web pages instead. If the consumer wanted to seek out your mission statement or values, they will seek that out. Try to prioritize your site’s most frequented content. If you’re Columbus’s small business crown jewel of Jeni’s Ice Cream with a regular rotation of flavors, provide ample real estate to showcase the laundry list of flavors.
Expose Yourself:
Go ahead, make a scene and show the world who you really are on the inside…inside your company that is. Yes, faces, personalities, families, things that add humanity to your business. Commission a local artist to sketch employees, pair up standard, employee headshots with goofy poses, show the world the people you trust to make your business great. Even a smidge of human life lifts your business website higher.
Media Misuse:
You know the type. Auto-playing videos, mysterious music blaring through your speakers, they both guarantee that your website will be sentenced to life in Internet prison. Users will seek out your company’s media on their terms. If anything else, consider the association: a company’s website starts a video without their knowledge. If they’re willing to compromise trust right away, what other things are they willing to do without your consent?
Bottom line: stop thinking about your company and place yourself in the user position. For more advice on website design, our blog features several articles on this important subject.
Via
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/43-web-design-mistakes-you-should-avoid/