Are you designing for fingers?
58.99% of web traffic is on a phone, is your website mobile friendly?
Does your website need an update?
An update involves a refresh of your website, specifically layout, content, style and functionality. When first creating your site you worked with a highly talented technical person but they likely lacked design skills.
Captivating your online audience is 99% visual. Your wireframe could still be relevant but your imagery and interface design could use the wave of a new magic wand.
A refresh is imperative every few years to keep you relevant in your market. Websites become outdated and need to be redesigned to remain competitive. After all, who wants to work with a company who has a bad outdated website? Answer - no one.
Especially for those who strive to make a great visual first impression through their site (an example is an online portfolio). Design trends change, font styles go stale and inbound marketing best practices can quickly become obsolete practices.
Other examples of a website refresh may include adding an updated logo, changing the color scheme and updating outdated images. It can also include re-evaluating the messaging and calls-to-action to improve lead generating opportunities.
Here are a few more subjects to consider for a website refresh:
Re-evaluate your functionality; UI and UX, especially for mobile users
58.99% of web traffic is on a phone, is your website mobile friendly?
Does it consider how a user navigates your site with their fingers and hands with bounded screen visibility?
Does your audience innately move through your site?
Is it hard to navigate?
Is it confusing the end user?
Is your bounce rate high?
When navigating your site it’s imperative for your viewer to feel in control of the interface. It should have a consistent flow allowing visitors comfort while venturing and discovering all areas of your site. You want to offer a fresh perspective but also predictability, allowing even a novice user to move through your site freely.
Re-evaluate your call to action
What is the end goal? In online marketing lingo, a call to action (CTA) refers to a button or link that directs visitors to take a certain action like "Add to Cart" or "Register Now."
Re-evaluate your landing page
A carefully crafted landing page is the most important element of your site, you have mere seconds to captivate your audience. This initial visual greeting will either motivate users to stay and want to learn more about your offerings, ultimately inspiring them convert (buy, join a list etc.) or unfortunately bounce (leave your site).
A carefully curated welcome with stylish considerate content, layout, style and functionality will play a huge role in the enduring success of your site.
Landing pages ultimately do three things:
They welcome and inform the user what you have to offer.
They interest the user to learn more or partake in the offer.
They make it easy and clear how the user can follow through on your offer (i.e., "convert").
What is conversion?
A conversion can refer to any desired action that you want the user to take. A conversion rate records the percentage of users who have completed a desired action. Conversion rates are calculated by taking the total number of users who ‘convert’ (for example, by clicking on a purchase), dividing it by the overall size of the audience and converting that figure into a percentage. For example, if an ecommerce site receives 200 visitors in a month and has 50 sales, the conversion rate would be 50 divided by 200, or 25%. Improving your conversion rate ultimately allows you to get more sales with the same amount of traffic.
What “about you”?
The About page of any website is often the most important aspect in procuring a new audience. Having an “about us” page allows the user to see who you are and what you do, which helps to build trust. People will hesitate interacting with businesses that they know nothing about.
If someone has clicked on it after seeing your home or landing page, it's an excellent indication that you've almost won them over. Now you have to convince them you're the right person for the job or offer the best product.
A website refresh's main purpose is to redefine and update your space in your market. Now, let’s look at the functionality, usability and design of your site! Could your site use a refresh?