6 Essential Tips For Improving a NEW Website
By Fernando BiZ
A good website design is one that provides visitors with the information they are looking for within a few seconds of landing on it. Is the layout of your website easy to navigate? If you sell products, can users get the products they want and pay for them with minimum hassle? Regardless of being new, do you have a high or low bounce rate? All of these things, among others, are factors that contribute to the success of your website.
If you answered no to any of the questions above, it may be time to take another look at the design and optimization of your website.
In the course of this article, we will explore a few web design techniques that will improve your website and significantly reduce its bounce rate.
Design and layout –
The design and layout of your website says a lot about how your visitors receive it. Your website may be the only chance you have to make a good first impression to first time visitors and showcase your company image. Therefore, it is crucial that you follow current design trends when planning your website. One of the current trends to utilize is the minimalist approach. Website visitors rarely read all of the content on a website; instead they quickly scan pages looking for information that stands out. A minimalist approach makes it possible for users to quickly identify the most important information you have on your website. It is also an essential SEO booster, as it produces an appealing and user experience-centered website.
2. Responsive design –
It is no longer news that more people are now using mobile devices to find content on the internet rather than regular desktop PCs. Smartphone usage has gotten so popular that there are now billions of active mobile website visitors globally. You could well be reading this post on your smartphone, this goes to show how important it is that you design your website so it can work for both mobile and desktop users. To succeed on the internet, it is vital that your website properly displays for both desktop and mobile users without losing information. Even search engines Google and Bing equally recommend responsive layout as a way to boost website relevance on SERPs.
3. Catchy homepage –
The homepage is likely the first place visitors will land on when visiting your website. Even if they will eventually navigate to other pages to get the information they want, it is an engaging homepage that will give them that confidence to stay on longer.
A good homepage should contain tidbits of information that tell your visitors what they are likely to encounter if they browse further. Some of the essential features your homepage should contain are:
- Bold catchy headlines and titles
- Highly relevant information nuggets
- High quality relevant images
- A short and interesting video
- Clearly defined call to actions
Of course, there are also a lot of other things you can include on your homepage to make it more engaging and interesting, but at the very minimum, the above things listed must be present.
4. Be visible –
If you want a successful website that has a strong online presence, then you need to create a website that can be found easily. That means using best practices to help your website rank high for organic search. If you can successfully earn a spot on the first page of Google SERP, you have placed your website and business on the fast track to success.
The secret is to have a website that is totally relevant to the needs of your visitors and the requirements of search engines. This means that everything from the name of your website to the content it contains and products or services it carries should be both user and search friendly. It is important that you give the same level of attention to your website’s identity as its content. This means choosing a domain name that search engines and users can identify with. If you are just starting out with your website project, then you can try out Web Hosting from Freeparking, from WordPress, GoDaddy, Alphabet and many more for the right domain that will identify perfectly with your brand and your niche.
5. Implement clear call to actions –
Call to action buttons are what tells your visitors the action you want them to perform. For instance, if you want your visitors to sign up for a newsletter, a call to action button will tell them to do so at the end of their visit. The secret to effective CTAs is clarity and positioning. The information on your CTAs should be clearly defined so that your visitors will have no doubt about what you expect from them. They should also be positioned in a way that your visitors can easily see them and use them.
If you already have a website, now is the time to check if you have effective CTAs on your pages. Read through all the content on your website, if you come across pages with only a single call to action for a specific individual action, while ignoring other equally important actions that can be taken on your website, then you need an update.
6. Readable URL Structure
The structure of your internal URL plays a huge role in how fast links are indexed. When you have readable or search engine friendly URLs, your website will enjoy good on page SEO.
But what exactly makes a good URL structure? A good URL structure is made up of internal links that are easily understandable and does not have too many deep links or numbers. In WordPress websites, for instance, the default URL structure contains a combination of letters and numbers. URLs like this can’t be understood by both search engine and human users. If your website is built with WordPress, it makes good design sense to change your permalink structure from default to custom.
Conclusion
Having a well-designed, clean and fast-loading website is one of the main factors that can lead to improved visibility on the internet. When your website has a design that follows current best practices and trends, it will lead to more credibility and trust. Human visitors and search engines essentially want the same thing – a website that produces accurate results and relevant information in very little time. Follow the above 6 essential tips to improve the design of your website and boost your website’s SEO.
You can learn about SEO tips for websites to rank higher at https://clickdo.co.uk/seo-training-course/
Author Profile
- The Founder & CEO of ClickDo Ltd. Writes about digital marketing and SEO for local businesses in International corporation. You can read more on OM HQ blog for more of my writings.
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