We are three decades past the day when the first web page went live on the World Wide Web. Currently, there are about 2 billion websites in the world but only a handful have been able to hold visitors. The gap gets bigger as thousands of new sites spawn every minute and compete for user attention. So, how can a brand overcome this gap?

Creating a website is not a quick fix. Modern websites evolve continuously. Coders refer to this as ‘progressive enhancement.’ It is an ongoing process where brands modify websites overtime as per the users’ needs. It is essential as 89% of consumers shop with a competitor after a poor user experience.

Website enhancement is a top priority for brands that want to retain customers. What is more challenging is the implementation of the enhancement parameters effectively. Read on to learn how it can be done.

How to Check If A Website is Optimized?

An optimized website strikes the perfect balance between both strategical and tactical aspects of a website. Strategy covers long-term user goals while tactics help brands to achieve short term user goals. For instance, directing traffic to a website is a strategy and driving targeted traffic involves tactics.

An optimized website is the key to a strong online presence, reliable information exchange, credibility and online growth. Brands can interact with users and understand what they need with a strategy supported by tactics.

Whether a website is optimized or not, depends on two factors:

Technology

This is the primary concern for websites as brands need technology that is flexible and reliable. A website needs to run on different devices with different capabilities in a seamless manner. Moreover, with features like virtual tryouts and bar code scanners becoming common, brands need technology that evolves with time.

SmileTrain, an organization that facilitates free cleft and palate repair surgeries to underprivileged children around the globe, needed a flexible and customizable website to create a more effective donation platform. They were unable to do so with their legacy CMS & CRM components. So, Drupal and Salesforce were the perfect integration choice for SmieTrain’s new donor management ecosystem. With the recent technology, they’ve explored new potential to expand their presence globally.

User Abilities

Technology is the base of a website. Picking the right technology that fulfills the needs of a brand is essential. The goals may differ but the focus for every brand website remains the same. Every brand wants users to engage and interact with them. When a website behaves as per user needs, leads move in the right direction.

For SmileTrain, this was the next important thing. They facilitate more than 128,000 free cleft and palate repair surgeries every year. They have also partnered with more than 1000 local hospitals in 85 countries to train surgeons and doctors. The audience interacting with SmileTrain was diverse based in different countries. This meant they needed a simple interface for anyone visiting their website. Users needed an easier way to donate and contribute to their cause. The technology we chose aligned with this approach and it was the start of SmileTrain's new customer-centric website.

7 Actionable Tips to Improve the Value of a Website

A website reflects what a brand is about and what it has achieved. It also helps highlight what customers can achieve when they associate with the brand. So, an optimized website should help visitors take advantage of unique features that offer more control, ease, and swiftness.

An optimized website is essential in 2020 for every brand. So, before everything else, brands need to implement actionable the following tips to enhance their websites.

Prioritize UI Optimization

Growing businesses need a powerful website that provides the same experience across all devices. This is where the basics of UI design come in. A responsive website that’s quick and easy to navigate provides clarity to users. Minimal main menus, accessibility, page speed and uniformity constitute the other simple UI optimization sources. Since Google also ranks a site on this basis, if a website is not UI optimized, it needs to be the first action item on the list of site optimization.

One of the vital characteristics of a great website is a strong SEO strategy. This is because Google still drives major traffic for all websites. A strong SEO strategy involves internal and external linking, keywords, metadata, sitemaps, and analytics. Not only this but SEO needs a brand to be vigilant and delete the 404s and malware associated with their website.

Utilize Content Effectively

A website is the first point of interaction between prospects and a brand. This means that a brand should promote content that their users want on their website. Considering buyer personas is a great start to create and publish website content. When a brand uses the right keywords, the right heading formats and buyer personas to create content, it drives results significantly. Some simple ways to deliver content effectively include segmenting key information with bullet points, using images and clear headlines. Also. make sure to remove unnecessary content such as complicated animations, pooled content, heavy images, and over-utilized colors from the website.

Employ Visible Call to Actions

A Call to Action should compel the user to click on the copy and find out more about a product, service or brand. This does not mean that a brand needs to offer clickbait to its users. A good CTA is clear, concise, and appealing. It gives visitors a way to connect with the brand. A call to action can be on a banner, button, a popup or anywhere on the website. Also, always review the landing pages for CTAs for better targeting and results.

Take Advantage of Color Theory and White Space

Colors surely cannot persuade a person to buy what they don’t, but they can speed up the urge among prospects. Colors incite feelings, emotions and reactions and it's universal. For instance, the red color increases appetite and incites passion, anger, love and confidence. The best color groups for websites include warm colors such as red, yellow and orange. Cool colors such as blue, green or purple promote trust, power and nobility. Neutral colors that invoke no emotion are usually not preferred by brands except the white color as it imbibes clarity and makes other elements visible when used consistently.

Manage Customer Experience Effectively

Customers are the most valued assets for a brand. So, websites need to value customers and enable a hassle-free experience for all users. So, adding a value proposition as the headline of a website with the brand mission can entice clients. Visible reviews and testimonials also add as motivators for prospects as they assess a company’s worth through them. Streamlining the checkout process for buyers also needs to be a priority for all brands. Contact options such as chatbots can also be kept handy to help customers in their journey.

Carry Out Regressive Analysis

Like most actionable tips, even website enhancement tips are incomplete without analytics. Constant analysis and testing of vital website parameters such as traffic, bounce rates and average site time is a priority when brands want effective results every time. Analytics help brands to shape their website as per customer behavior and direct conversions as they want. Features, design, or functionality can be improved when a brand understands what’s working for them and what’s not.

Dominate the Digital Marketplace with Customer-centric Websites

Websites are not just the face of an organization, but they are the primary salesperson now. They reflect a brand’s reputation and forms as the first point of communication. With attention spans reduced to a mere 3 seconds, websites have evolved into vital marketing mediums. It’s not just about the information now. It’s about the overall experience of customers on a website. So, brands that are looking to captivate their target audience need to implement the key tips mentioned above. Ensure to choose the right technology so that new features and functionalities can be added as per customer behavior. Explore Icreon's Customer Experience Solutions.