Web design isn’t just about how you want your website to look; it’s about how your customers want it to look. After all, your customers are the ones who are using your website. You need to ensure that the design and functionality of your website align with what your customers need. Web design can also impact your search engine optimization and how you rank on sites like Google; this is due to search engines putting quite a bit of weight on your website’s user experience.
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We will look at how to optimize your website’s design with your customer in mind.
The Impact of Web Design on SEO
Google and other search engines have become more advanced in reading and ranking websites. They want to provide those using their search engines with the best results, so they need to start thinking like their customers. How Google ranks a website is still based on keywords and other technical Search Engine Optimization tactics; however, they put a lot more emphasis on user experience. And user experience ties a lot into web design. Those who offer web design services now have to be both website gurus, and marketing and SEO experts to integrate the two.
Google’s AI component has become more sophisticated in recent years and has started to think and read websites more like humans. Search engines look at all the components of your website design, such as your content, photos and videos, page speeds and more.
If you want to ensure that your website ranks well on search engines, you must design it with your customers in mind (and not for the search bots).
How to Optimize Your Website Design for Consumers
Your customers should be at the forefront of your mind when laying out your website. Your customers get the most use out of your website, after all.
Now you need to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What do they want to know about your business? What graphics, fonts or colours would they enjoy? Do they like to consume information through videos?
You can even develop customer personas if you don’t have actual customers to survey. Think of your ideal customer’s likes, dislikes and roles. By understanding your customers, your can optimize your website design for them.
Essential Techniques of Web Design Optimization
There are a lot of factors to web design, from the look of it to the content and functionality. Here are some essential techniques to keep in mind to optimize your web design.
A Consistent Design Across All Web Pages
Your homepage is probably one of your most important web pages, but once that page is designed, your other web pages may become an afterthought. Therefore, your website must have a consistent design across all pages. You don’t want them clicking on a service or product page and feeling like they landed on a completely different website; this will confuse them and cause them to potentially leave your website.
Include consistent imagery, colours and fonts across your whole website to keep your customers in the loop.
The Faster, the Better
With the advancement of the Internet, there has become an expectation that websites need to be fast. Therefore, page speeds should be a consideration when designing your website. The faster your pages and graphics load, the happier your website visitors will be. Search Engines like Google know this and will reward your website with higher rankings.
One way to ensure that your website remains fast is using images that aren’t too large – they may slow down your website.
Make it Mobile-Friendly
Over 90% of those who browse the Internet use their mobile devices when visiting websites. Therefore, it has become more important than ever to have a mobile-friendly website. Your website design should be responsive on almost every device; this means the images and content rearrange themselves based on the size and type of screen it is displayed on.
But it is not just your website visitors putting more weight on mobile responsiveness; Google now indexes the mobile version of a page first. So, if you want to rank better online, it is important to have a mobile responsive website that works.
Make it Easy To Contact You
Life is already complicated enough for your customers; don’t add trying to figure out how to contact you to that long list. Instead, make it easy for them to contact you. Even take them by the hand and guide them through the process. The easier it is for your potential customers to contact you, the more likely they will follow through.
Include a clear and obvious call-to-action (CTA). Your CTA should be an action that is clear and easy to follow. “Call Now” or “Request a Quote” are examples of a call-to-action. As well, design this button to it is easy to spot.
You can even include the 3-4 steps a customer has to take to get to the successful outcome of doing business with you. For example, they have to call you to set up an initial consultation meeting. Your team then sets up a customized service plan for them, and then, boom, success!
You should also ensure that your Name, Address & Phone Number (NAP) are consistent and easy to find throughout your website. It is a best practice to include your NAP in your website’s footer or what we sometimes call the junk drawer.
Use Concise Messaging
People generally skim website content versus actually reading it. Therefore, you have a very short window to hook them and have them stick around your website for more. This is where your oneliner or positioning statement comes into play. Your oneliner is just that – one to two sentences that identify your customer’s problem or pain point and how you provide the solution.
You should apply the same principle to the rest of your content. If you overwhelm your website visitors, they will give up and leave your website. Be concise with your content and give them the important information first, and if they want to find out more, they can visit another part of the website.
How to Determine User Intent?
User intent plays both into your website content and search engine optimization. When it comes to SEO factors, user intent is sometimes even outranking keywords. Search engines are giving websites that address user intent a better ranking.
Addressing user intent also helps attract more quality leads. When someone is looking for a solution to their problem, they will be more likely to stick around when they find the solution on your website.
But how do you determine user intent? You can’t read minds. Well, what people type into search engines can reveal a lot about what they want. So utilize Google Search Console to look at the terms that drive a lot of traffic to your website.
You can even ask your existing customer directly. In a survey or interview, you can find out how they found your website and what it was about your website that made them stick around.
Essentially you want to gather what to include on your website right from those who use it the most – your customers.
Now, to address user intent on your website, you should create content and titles that match what they type into the search engine. Your website and its landing pages should answer the question that those visiting your website are asking.
Best Practices for Menu Bar Optimization
There are many factors to consider when trying to optimize your website design for your customers. First, you should consider how the content will be laid out. The content determines your website’s content hierarchy on each page and what page categories you need to provide. Create a hierarchy of what pages you want customers to visit the most. However, you should limit the number of clicks your customer has to make to find the page they need. Simplify the number of clicks to find information to increase user experience.
Your customers should be able to easily find the information that solves their problems. A high bounce rate from your website could indicate that your website visitors are not finding what they need when they land on your website. They need to go somewhere else to find those answers.
Another tip to cut down on the pages listed on your navigation menu is eliminating the homepage link. It has become common practice to link back to the homepage with your logo.
Then comes the actual design of your navbar. The design of your menu should align with your website layout and branding. There are different kinds of navigation menus, including,
- Drop downs
- Double menus
- Hamburger menu bars
In the end, even though it is your website, the design, content and functionality should address the needs and intent of your customers. They spend more time on your website than you do anyways. Plus, Google and other search engines emphasize websites that provide a positive user experience.
So, if you want your website at the top and your customers to hang around longer, optimize your web design for them.
Author Bio:
Kaitlynn Rice
Kaitlynn has been writing in different capacities for over 14 years in various industries, from oil & gas and agriculture to health care and beyond. She is comfortable communicating brands’ messaging to best convey their services and what makes them unique. In addition, she is well versed in integrating SEO into content to help businesses rank better online.
The author’s social account – Linkedin
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kaitlynn-rice-62487113b