During the heat of COVID-19, the global pandemic caused lockdowns which forced people to stay at home and triggered a massive shift for people turning to the internet to get their needs. Consumers and businesses were suddenly pushed to turn to the digital world to accommodate social distancing and contactless shopping, causing the rise of the digital economy in 2020.
In fact, in an article published by Shopify, the global eCommerce grew by 25.7% in 2020, and it is expected that retail eCommerce will continue to grow in the upcoming years.
Companies then saw the importance of digital marketing and invested in campaigns. But to start a digital marketing campaign, a business needs to have a website and not just any website. It should feature the right elements that will convert online visitors into customers.
To create a website that converts, here are eight web design tips and trends from top web design specialists:
1 – Clean and Precise Website User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)
The user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are vital elements of any web design. User Interface refers to the site’s graphics and visual look. User Experience, on the other hand, includes the overall information architecture of the website, including its interaction, usability, and content strategy. Applying a good UI/UX design can significantly improve the user experience and customer satisfaction to help increase your online visitors and website’s conversion rate.
A great UI/UX web design is clean and precise. It should be minimalist and simple to make it easy for customers to see the products you offer while being fully functional and professional. Brand awareness is also another factor to consider in designing your website.
If you haven’t built your website, one of the best tips is to choose a popular website platform. Most of the known ones already have web design that are mobile-friendly and user-friendly.
Popular Website Platforms to Build Your Website
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Wix
- Squarespace
- BigCommerce
- Volusion
2 – User-Friendliness & Mobile-Friendliness
Google considers website user-friendliness and mobile-friendliness in ranking a website on their search engine page results. Online consumers prefer websites they can easily interact with and navigate. The main reason customers shop online is that it’s convenient, and if your website offers a hassle-free user experience, this coincides with what they want. If you provide what they are looking for, they will buy from your brand.
User-Friendliness
User-friendliness refers to creating and developing a website that makes it easy for online visitors to find the information they want quickly on any device. According to UpCity.com, 44% of visitors are likely to leave a website if they can’t navigate to the company’s contact info right away.
A user-friendly website will help your brand get new customers and grow your business.
Mobile-Friendliness
According to Search Engine Watch, nearly 75% of mobile users will revisit mobile-friendly sites. With more than 7.1 billion mobile users worldwide, your website must be mobile-friendly. A mobile-friendly website means that all of its content and features can be accessible on smaller devices like tablet computers and mobile phones. Your website’s text must be readable, links and navigations are all clickable, and the content is generally easy to consume on any mobile device.
Mobile-friendliness is even more important than before, especially since Google is implementing a mobile-first index on their search engine in the future. Once Google implements it, its search engine will predominantly use the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking websites. Although the date has been pushed back and delayed, it might happen in 2022.
3 – Improved Website Speed
Website speed plays a crucial role in getting online visitors to stay on your website and interact with your content. According to a 2017 study done by Google, as page time goes from one to three seconds, the possibility of bounce rate increases by 32%. Bounce rate is a marketing metric representing the percentage of online users who enter the site and then leave rather than stay on the web page. Google’s John Mueller supported this study when he published a tweet stating that the ideal loading speed should be less than two or three seconds.
A website’s loading speed is also considered crucial in Google’s ranking because search users don’t want slow-loading websites. In a research done by LoadStorm, one in four visitors will abandon a website if it takes more than four seconds to load. Not only that, another second delay can reduce a customer’s satisfaction by 16%. Those factors can significantly hurt your business and conversion rates, so you must improve your website’s speed.
Here are tips to speed up your website:
- Minify Javascript, CSS, and HTML codes.
- Reduce image sizes.
- Minimize URL redirects.
- Minimize any HTTP redirects from one URL to another.
- Check the website for 404 URLs.
- Reduce DNS lookups.
- Enable browser caching.
- Compress HTML and CSS files.
- Consider using a CDN.
4 – An Accessible Design
Web accessibility can give you a competitive edge over competitors who don’t include accessibility features. It refers to a website designed and developed for everyone, including people with disabilities. A site with an accessible web design addresses the needs of customers with disabilities.
Here are some accessible features to include in your website:
- Distinct color contrasts between your web background and texts.
- Add alt tags on your images.
- Add visible labels to describe what should be entered on form fields.
- Provide visual focus indicators that show up around links when using keyword navigation.
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Compliance
Another thing marketers should check with their design is if it’s ADA compliant. ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Under this act, websites must be accessible following a set of compliance standards.
There are four core principles to make your website’s ADA compliant:
- Perceivable
- Operable
- Understandable
- Robust
5 – Personalized Experiences
Creating a personal experience has improved customers’ experience, drove sales, and increased customer loyalty. According to Bloom Reach, marketers have seen an increase of 20% in their sales when using personalized experiences. At the same time, 77% of consumers stated that they have chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that provides a customized experience.
Personalization means creating an experience for the customers based on information the company has learned about them. From product recommendations on your website’s homepage to adding targeted marketing videos on your landing pages, you can create a personalized experience on your website to build a relationship with your customers. And by building a relationship, your customers trust you more, pushing them to choose your brand over your competitors.
6 – More Payment Options
Every customer is different, which means that their payment may vary. So adding more payment options to your website can help you reach more customers and improve your user experience. According to Worldpay Global Payments Report, the preferred method of 36% of all global online shoppers are eWallets (e.g., Paypal, AliPay, and WeChat Pay). The number is then followed by 23% of users who stated they prefer to use credit cards and 12% of consumers who use debit cards.
Interest-Free Post Payment Options
Offering multiple payment options can increase your conversion by a significant number. It also increases your website’s engagement rate as it provides convenience. Payment methods you may consider adding to your websites offer interest-free post-payment options. For example, there is Klarna, Shop Payments, and Paypal.
CryptoCurrency Payment Option
Marketers should also start applying cryptocurrency as a form of payment on their websites. Bitcoin transactions, for example, have low transaction fees and offer faster processing compared to other international transfers. There are hundreds of companies already starting to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. Some of these include major companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, KFC, Subway, NewEgg, and AMC.
7 – Website Security
On average, around 50,000 websites get hacked every day, which is why any great website should have a hack-proof security system. Improved security keeps any cyber thieves from accessing and stealing sensitive information about your business and your customers. It also protects your business, brand, and website reputation to retain your customers and visitors.
Protect your website and your customers by using a domain Firewall for your websites such as Sucuri and Cloudflare. This firewall will filter your website traffic and will only allow real users and customers to access your website. Another great tip is to always back up all the critical files and data on your website. This way, your team will bring back your website and get you back in business if ever it goes down.
8 – Relevant, Engaging, and Relatable Content
As stated earlier, content strategy is part of a website’s user experience. Thus, creating content is very important to your website’s design. Quality content can attract the right audience to your website, engage them, and work on turning them into customers. Content refers to textual content and includes infographics, videos, case studies, blog posts, and ebooks.
To write compelling content, make sure to apply these three elements:
- Relevant – When creating content for the page, make sure that it is related to the product or services so your online users can easily understand the information.
- Engaging and Relatable – Present your content from a customer’s point of view so they can easily relate, which will push them to engage with your brand.
- Informational – Don’t write content that focuses on selling your product or service. Instead, provide all the information your target audience is looking for to make the right decision.
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Do your business need help to create a website that brings and increases conversion? Cybertegic is the top digital marketing company in Los Angeles. Our company develops and designs highly customizable websites to deliver the needs and wants of our clients and their customers. To inquire about our web design and development services, you can schedule a free consultation with us on our website.
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