By Allemande Berryman | 01/24/2018 10:05

Websites are one of the most important marketing tools of this generation. If your business doesn’t have a website it’s nearly impossible to expect lead generation, client retention, or brand awareness. Your website is the heart and brain of your marketing body. Whether you are building a new website or revamping your current one, you will want to apply the most up-to-date “best practices” detailed below.

10 Tips to Rebuilding Your Website to Convert More Customers in 2018 and Beyond

1. Remember Your Audience

From the beginning of brainstorming to the release of your new webpage it is key to keep your target audience in mind. Ask yourself:

• Who are they?
• Are there several audiences you would like to address?
• What are their similarities/differences?
• What do they care about?
• What do they know about you?

2. Simple User Interface (UI)

When it comes to designing a website, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with including all necessary information. However, if the user interface (UI) is not simple people will not stay on your site no matter how informative it is. Ensure you have a simple UI by having:

• A user-friendly site that is organized logically
• Appealing colors
• Consistency throughout each webpage

3. Logo on top left

This point is relatively self-explanatory. It was found by Orbit Media that, in a study of the top 50 marketing websites, that 100% had a clickable logo in the left corner of every page. This is where users will expect to see your logo and so it makes good sense (for branding) to put yours there as well.

4. Proper headings and metadata

Every heading of every page should be relevant to the content displayed there. Metadata (used to describe individual pages on a websites) should then be detailed with keywords for SEO purposes. In order for your website design to incorporate metadata, plugins that at-minimum allow manual insertion of title tags, h1 tags, and meta-descriptions in addition to page tags must be used. For example, if your website is being built on WordPress, you will want to consider the SEO Yoast or All-in-One SEO plugins.  

5. Main Navigation Links in Header

It is a website design best practice to have your navigation links, including “About Us”, “Contact Us”, “Blog”, etc., at the top of each page. It is also handy to have these navigation links in the footer in order to optimize user experience (UX).

6. Social Media Icons in Footer

It’s also a good practice to have your social media icons in the footer along with the navigation links that allow users to visit your social network profiles. This way, people can easily and efficiently connect with you on all platforms.

7. Value “Above the Fold”

When people land on your home page or other important landing page (for PPC, etc.), you want one of the first things they see to be what value you offer. Prominently display the value you bring to visitors “above the fold” or before the scroll-down on your web page.

8. Page Optimization

A study by akamai found that if your webpage takes longer than 3 seconds you could be losing about half of your visitors! Optimize your website for minimum load time by:

• Compressing images
• Minimizing JavaScript and CSS
• Revaluating plugins
• Enabling compression

9. Device Compatibility

What’s more frustrating than a webpage that isn’t lightning fast? A web page that doesn’t function across all your devices. Make sure your website is built with responsive mobile design, which will make it compatible across practically any device, including the smartphones and tablets your prospective customers/clients use.

Do you want to see if your current website is optimized for mobile page speed? Type your URL into this Google testing tool. If you don’t get a passing grade, contact us immediately.

10. Strong Call-To-Action (CTA)

Last, but not least, is to be sure that throughout every piece of your page there is a clear and strong call-to-action (CTA). Without a CTA, a visitor may come and then simply leave. Having a strong CTA could make the difference between a visitor and a customer.

A CTA doesn’t always have to mean the purchase of a product or service. It may encourage visitors to visit a high-conversion page, download a white-paper, provide an email, or sign up for an e-newsletter. Whatever your goal, is a CTA is necessary.

Your website is your virtual “brick-and-mortar”. It should reflect who you are as a business and a brand. With these 10 tips under your belt you’re well on your way to digital marketing mastery!

Find out more about Strategis Consulting and our website design services here, feel free to contact us anytime for a FREE consultation.

After earning her degree at Simon Fraser University for New Media Journalism and Editing, Allemande has become an accomplished writer and editor. She is also certified in strategic social media marketing. Allemande fluently identifies the channel and content mix that is precisely right for your business and audience, conducts in-depth analytics for continuous improvement in your audience engagement and generation of sales leads, establishes KPIs and related metrics, and prepares meaningful reports that you can quickly action. Connect with Allemande.