I Have A Website, Now What? Web Design Advice To Keep Traffic Flowing
There are billions of websites floating around the internet. Good, bad, and ugly, they’re all vying for traffic, attention, and money with something that they hope sets them apart enough to gain traffic. The traffic is totally there, too, and most times it doesn’t know where to go.
Google, perhaps you’ve heard of the search engine, gets more than 63,000 searches every second of every day. With millions of results given in under a second, there’s a lot to choose from. When people do make a choice, there are certain things that keep them on a website and things that drive them away. Let’s look under the hood and see what’s what.
Intuitive web design
That’s marketing and web development speak for: people automatically know what to do and where to go on your website. Many sites, when initially designed, the person building them has a great understanding of how the website will work. What they fail to understand is that they don’t really matter, they’re trying to get a chunk of those 63,000/second searchers to know. Most of those searchers aren’t web developers. Simple, elegant web design that people aren’t confused by will keep them there. You should never have a website where visitors don’t know where to go or what to do.
Follow the tech trends
An effective website in 2001 would be laughed at in 2018. Technology trends in web design change and move at an even faster pace now, making you responsible to be mindful of those changes. They’re often subtle. One of the most common web design flaws now is not making a website mobile responsive. Computers are barely being used to make quick searches, while smartphones are ruling the field. When a site is designed with only computer users in mind, that choppy user experience translated to a mobile device will cost you many an annoyed visitor.
Engaging content
Content marketing is key. Yes, you have to make content that’s relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach and the product you’re trying to sell, but if nobody is interested in reading it, it doesn’t matter. Engaging, thoughtfully crafted content is the soul within inspired web design. Once you’ve made the tech shine and run like a dream, fill it with things people want to engage with. Most importantly, keep that content flowing. Make people want to return and be stoked for your new content. Repeat visitors always bring new followers.
Websites are easy to kill, but we don’t want to scare you. They’re even easier to keep well maintained, it just takes more thorough cultivation. Take a look at yours today, consider these points, and design accordingly. Before you know it, you’ll be back in the game.
