Free Web Development Tips from your local Auckland, NZ Commerce Web Design Agency

Online shopping continues to surge in New Zealand, with Kiwis spending $1.5 billion online in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025), which is 7% more than the same period in the previous year. Over 1.7 million Kiwis (approximately 38% of the population aged 15 and over) shopped online in Q1 2025, an increase of 3.5% (56,000 people) compared to Q1 2024 (source NZ Post Business IQ).

As consumers increasingly look online for products and services, optimising your digital presence is crucial. When your target audience visits your website, the design must provide an impressive user experience to encourage conversion. Improving your web design and site optimisation leads to higher rankings in Google and other search engines.

Give us a call to discuss your personal site and get free advice on how it can be improved to increase your conversion rate.

Here are some essential web development tips from The WebCo.

1. Enable Seamless Navigation for User Experience (UX)

The first key area to analyse is whether your website navigation is instinctual for your target audience. If users struggle to find Calls to Action (CTAs) or answers, your web design needs amendment.

A useful way to assess this is through:

Usability testing

This involves multiple users performing a test run through your site, reviewing both computer and mobile compatibility. Simplicity is key for landing pages. The main goal is to communicate your message clearly and ensure each page directly relates to its meta title, description, or Google Ad information.

While focusing on keyword packing might bring in more users, they may not be valuable. If they click into a specific page and find it unrelated to their search phrase, they won’t convert, instead increasing your

Bounce rate

A high bounce rate (visitors leaving after only one page) signals to search engines that your content may not be relevant, potentially impacting your search ranking.

Example: If a user searches for “best noise-cancelling headphones” and lands on a generic “audio accessories” page, they’re likely to leave quickly, increasing your bounce rate because the content wasn’t specific enough.

2. Ensure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly

Mobile devices have long overtaken laptops and computers as the primary device for online queries. In New Zealand, mobile devices accounted for 64% of all online spending in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025). Therefore, if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be missing out on a significant portion of your potential audience and sales opportunities.

Source of information: NZ Post Business IQ – “Is strong growth signalling better times?” insight for Q1 2025.

Mobile compatibility tests should be undertaken to review your website’s mobile optimisation. Making subsequent changes can become more complex, often requiring professional web designers. Given that Google uses mobile-first indexing, a responsive design is paramount for SEO in 2025.

3. Content is King, Context is Queen for SEO

While design is important, if your content lacks quality, you cannot effectively engage your audience and drive conversions.

When reviewing your website content, ask yourself:

• Does the content layout, size, and font enable easy readability?
• Is the content succinct and grammar-free?
• Does it seamlessly flow towards CTAs when audience members need them?

Faulty content directly undermines your site’s credibility and audience trust , making sales impossible. If you’re not a content writer, hiring a freelancer or a NZ digital marketing agency for their content service is crucial.

Remember, “Content is King. Context is Queen”. For SEO purposes, when you use keywords, ensure you include surrounding contextual words that give the keywords their true topical meaning. Search engines look for this context when crawling your site.

The WebCo’s copywriters can do a free evaluation of your site content to see if it’s up to scratch. Contact us here.

4. Undertake Regular Website Checks for Errors

Errors, 404s, and other issues are unavoidable over time. It’s crucial to perform regular checks using tools like WebCEO, which scan your site and provide instant feedback. From this feedback, web designers will need to implement changes, prioritising errors that have a larger impact on site optimisation. Troubleshooting is often involved, as technology can be complex. The WebCo offers support packages to assist you when things get out of your depth. Addressing these technical issues promptly improves user experience and prevents negative SEO impacts.

Improve Your Site’s User Experience (UX) in New Zealand

User experience quite literally sells. Think of your site as a digital shop. If potential customers encounter a messy store with slow service, and a competitor is nearby, they’ll choose the competitor. Your website must cater to continually evolving user expectations before customers even consider spending their money. Here, we will delve into top tips for user experience relevant to the New Zealand market.

Optimise Design Layout for Enhanced User Experience

Brutalism is in. You might be wondering what brutalism is; it’s essentially minimalist design that prioritises user experience.

Consider a website that looks aesthetically pleasing with many cool gadgets, yet it’s difficult to find CTAs or information. The audience might think it looks cool but will click away because they can’t easily access what they’re searching for. Those on the site merely out of curiosity won’t be convinced to go any further.

Cut the complexity and keep it simple. While any web designer aims to reduce unnecessary clutter, brutalism takes it further by instantly giving the audience exactly what they want.

Example: A brutalist web design might feature clear, prominent calls to action, simple navigation with intuitive labels, and minimal distractions, guiding the user directly to their goal without overwhelming them.

Speak to our Auckland web designers for advice on your site design here.

Avoid Bombarding Your Audience

Annoying your website’s audience will simply encourage them to leave and find products or services elsewhere. Automatic pop-ups, music, or other elements that distract from what users are actively searching for will cause frustration and require undesirable extra clicks. Users today have less patience and significantly shorter attention spans, often scrolling through search results rather than settling for the first site they click into. Therefore, avoid such annoyances and cluttered design to improve your UX.

Create Relevant, Engaging Content

Content must meet several expectations to be truly optimised. While perfection may seem unattainable, content is subjective, so having a checklist for each webpage will ensure effectiveness. You must speak directly to your target audience. Keep it as concise and clear as possible. The audience must receive relevant information in a logical and engaging manner. This applies to both the writing and the design/layout of the content. High-quality, engaging content is key for both user retention and search engine rankings.

Overall Site Optimisation for User Experience (UX) & SEO

Small, individual technical elements optimise your site to be its best version. Ensure your site speed is as low as possible, it is mobile responsive, broken links are deleted, and link texts are added. Site speed directly impacts the sales and conversions your site will generate. Given today’s users’ minimal attention spans, slow loading times will simply lead them to your competitor, increasing your bounce rate. This directly impacts your placing in search results. Implementing schema markup (e.g., for “Article” or “Local Business”) can further enhance your visibility in search engine results by providing more context to crawlers.