5 TIPS FOR RESPONSIVE WEBSITE DESIGN
In order to decrease your bounce rate and draw in long-standing audiences, you must satisfy consumer expectations. Sounds simple? Well there are never-ending elements that can make the process complex.
Technology advancements have resulted in a society that relies on instant gratification. Consumers expect more than they first did when the digital era began, at a faster rate. If you don’t provide users with what they are searching for, they can simply click out and find it in the next Google result.
User experience (UX) and load times, as well as providing the information searchers are looking for, are main contributing factors to convince users to not only stick around but click your Call-To-Actions (CTA’s). It’s these magical moments that generate leads and the resulting profit.
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What is user experience (UX)?
User experience covers the entirety of the customer’s journey on your site. An extensive range of elements cohesively work together to satisfy the consumer’s expectations.
From the very beginning to the moment they leave the page, the solution to their problem should be clear, in a pathway that is aesthetic and simply makes sense. Here are some areas you can focus on to improve the UX and therefore enable response website design and development.
1. Incorporate high-quality, relevant imagery
When people arrive on your site, they will have an instant reaction. It is your website design that initiates this reaction. Choosing visuals that are in theme with your brand yet have some level of variation will please the viewer’s eye.
Don’t be scared to use white space. Your site shouldn’t be too jam packed or it will have the opposite effects. It’s all about balance.
2. Intuitive navigation
Woman happy with responsive website design and development
This part is crucial for the UX. Remember, you are speaking to an audience that is used to instant gratification. If at any point in the customer journey, the customer has to actively search for answers or CTA’s, this will significantly impact your bounce rates.
The navigation should be easy to follow by being intuitive to the user. Just like we read left to right, or expect a CTA following valuable information to easily allow us to get to the next step. The information should be in order.
While it might be tempting to have a website that breaks new ground creatively, most users prefer navigation that is similar to other websites they use. This means keeping logins, search bars, shopping carts, logos, store locators, etc. in the same areas as most other websites.
3. Mobile responsive website
Recently, the number of users accessing information through phones has surpassed the number accessing sites through a laptop. It’s well past the stage where a mobile website design is an addition. It’s part of the package you need to succeed. A necessity, one could say.
If your site isn’t easy to navigate from a mobile device, members will bounce out of your site, increasing your bounce rate. It’s a no brainer, to compete in the current market, you should focus on making your website mobile friendly.
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4. Usability Testing
The best, and often easiest way, to check your websites UX is to ask the users. Usability testing can find out if there are any ‘pain’ points in your website and can be as simple as getting a few friends or family to perform common tasks on your website. If you can watch them while doing this – even better.
Once the users have explored your site, ask them how easy they found it accomplishing tasks, what they liked and what areas they found could be smoother.
You will be amazed what insights you gain from running a few simple tests.
If you’re not sure your website’s UX is up to scratch, we can perform a UX audit on your site and give feedback on how to improve it.
5. Add Call to Actions (CTA’s) effectively
Put it this way, without CTA’s strategically placed on your website, you are only providing information to your target audience. Your aim is to generate valued leads through CTA’s which your target audience can click on, whether that leads them to a contact form, a sign up form or more.
Some viewers are at the stage where they know they want to click further and are searching for CTA’s. While other times, your placement can encourage visitors to click further even when they weren’t intending to when they first entered your site. Either way, the strategy you have in place will directly result in leads.
The key is to ensure the CTA’s stand out visually from the remainder of the content, by inserting them as distinctive buttons in the website design.
The WebCo’s team of expert web designers have decades of experience learning the tricks of the trade to get your site to stand out from the competition.