From creating authenticity, to converting more sales with your site, here’s how to get better results with your website in 2017…
Authenticity in your Brand
With more and more websites looking the same as website design becomes streamlined with themes, it’s more important than ever to do away with stock photos and Provide your own, personal imagery.
Customers and users today seek authenticity from the brands they use. Stock pictures of corporate people smiling just won’t cut it anymore. One way businesses are increasingly making this happen is through illustration.
“Illustrations are fantastic, versatile mediums for creating visuals which are playful and friendly and add an element of fun to a site. Talented illustrators are able to create illustrations which are full of personality and tailored to match the tone of the brand, something which brands will be striving for more than an ever in an increasingly crowded marketplace.” – Zazzle
Check out Dribble to see the latest in styles and trends with illustration. Another way to personalize your site is with a photoshoot of your team. Professional photoshoots are the wonderful, but don’t discount the power of taking casual photos and videos of your team with your smart phone. People love real people, and fun, casual shots on your social media can make your clients feel connected.
Moab Gear Trader uses fun, playful illustration that captures their brand and stands out from stock photography
Design for Conversion
Your website “conversion” is how successful you are at getting your viewer to do what you want them to do. Whether it’s buy your product, register for your webinar, or sign up for your newsletter, 2017 is all about designing for successful conversion. But how to do that? Here are the nuts and bolts:
- Make your message clear when folks land on your HOME page (hint: big, bold type). Then make everything around what you offer really obvious. Mail Chimp’s giant message, “Easy Email Newsletters”, leaves no question as to what they offer.
- Have a Call to Action, and test it. Your Call to Action is that graphic and wording that should be on your every page, driving your viewers to do what you want them to do on your site. “Call to Book Your Appointment”. Try it different ways, with different words, different graphics, and find out what viewers respond to best.
- Have a clear headline and test that as well. Consider including a free trial, a percentage saved, or offering some sort of benefit on why they should take action NOW. Be clear, and avoid words or phrases you’d see in junk mail folder.
- Keep forms very short, and any sign up very simple.
- Test, test test, to see if what you are doing works. And always ask your customers how you are doing.
Read more about getting better conversion rates from your site here: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/what-converting-websites-do/ … and be sure to scroll to the bottom of the article for the list of tips.
Users still don’t want a lot of content … provide “snackable” content on scrolling pages
Clean web design.
Search engines need at least 200 words per page to be effective, but users still don’t want a lot of content. The solution? Have snackable content on scrolling pages for great results.
Let your layout shine by providing great content.
“The arrangement of design elements within a given structure should allow the reader to easily focus on the message, without slowing down the speed of his reading.” – Hermann Zapf
People visit sites for their content. Design’s purpose is to provide the content in a delightful way.
Responsive web design.
Responsive Design is a website that looks good when viewed on any size device from phone to desktop. This is now essential for every website, as more people are now viewing sites on mobile devices than desktops. You can see how yours cuts the mustard here: https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly
Big Bold type
Think, inspiring copy. If you have an important page, give your main message some real estate. Your words will be heard, and it will be fun to read. (see our Moab Gear Trader website design, above) The world is fast, and big type is powerful, and more likely to be heard.
Flat Design
Flat design is just a simpler design without all the shading that was so “in” a few years ago. It’s a cleaner look that makes it easier for users to navigate, because it’s crisp, and the loading times are speedier. Best of all, simpler typography makes it friendlier and more inviting to read. Here’s a good read by speckyboy that has great visual examples: https://speckyboy.com/almost-flat-design-web-trend/ .
Personalization
Know your visitors and speak to them, conversationally. Gone are the days where your biography was written in third person. Now you get to tell your readers about yourself in a conversational tone. Like having your team photo on your site, the reader begins to feel they already know you, before they speak with you. This helps in developing an element of trust, which is essential for your client relationship, and ultimately sales. Follow your viewer’s behavior on google analytics, and see where they like going on your site. Then provide in-site links to your own pages to keep them there.
Email me here to talk about updating your site with any of these great trends for 2017!
Have a wonderful New Year!!
The post How to Get Better Results with your Website in 2017 appeared first on Dayzign Graphics.
