Design a More Effective Website to Capture and Retain your Visitors Design a More Effective Website to Capture and Retain your Visitors

Design Tips to Create a More Effective Website

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Maximize your web site potential with the right website design elements to encourage audience engagement, traffic and conversions. When you create a more effective website you will be able to create a greater level of persuasion so that users will not only stay on your site longer but you will also have a better chance to entice them to return. Return visitors often become buyers and fans and they will return again and engage different elements of your site more often. Using the right tools, themes, colors and navigational layout is a good place to begin when starting to plan and layout your website.  If your website is attractive and functions well then your chances of gaining more exposure will be improved.

Use Tools Like Website Builders or WordPress
When you use a top of the line site builder like RvSiteBuilder, which is free with your hosting account at JaguarPC, or a platform that offers more plugins, apps and development features such as WordPress, then you are on your way to creating a high quality website. Site builders allow you to see your layout, plan your design and test the functionality of navigation and links before you upload it and make it public. If you are ready to start creating your website look with themes and templates then search for ones that are not only attractive but ones that also have layouts and features which will best benefit your product, service or message.

Fonts and Content
When you begin your project you will need to add written content and photos and decide on a font. These are all elements that will be used to convey the information you want to get in front of your visitors. Fonts and typography can attract the eyes and the user’s attention to the areas where you want them to fall most often. Try to stick to common and professional web fonts. Arial and Verdana are trusted fonts that are easy to read and have become a standard that denotes professional work.

Overall the length of content for descriptions and base names of categories and links should not be much longer than 45-72 characters. It is important for the sequence of information that photos and content are laid out without distraction. It can help to break down longer content into bullet points and images if you need to fill in content gaps. You can also chuck things into groups of three or four to allow for better viewer retention of information over the “wall of text” syndrome. This is an especially good tactic for important information that you really want visitors to see and act on. Include the tactic for your calls to action and your content structure. If visitors find what they are looking for easily then they are bound to stay longer on your site or blog which creates a
better potential for a return visit.

Photos and Graphics
Using pictures and graphics is a great way to enhance your message and showcase your products. The web is more image driven than ever these days. Well placed and attractive photos will keep your users engaged. Make sure you optimize your images so that they load fast. Use images that enhance your content messages over placing photos on your site that are pretty but don’t convey your overall message. Use ALT tags and image descriptions so that your photos as well as your content and your overall site index well on the search engines. ALT tags are especially important for images that are used as navigation buttons or links. Images are best used to draw attention to certain areas or messages on our website. While you may want to substitute a photo for text or content, be aware that this practice could leave your visitor confused and cause them to bounce from your site. A good blend of thoughtful content and well optimized images works best.

Color
Choosing a color theme can be one of the tougher decisions you have to make when you are designing your website. An odd background color with a bright font color could send your visitors away screaming. Color can influence moods, create emotions, and attract attention to certain areas and features of your site. The easiest way to make sure that your colors don’t offend is usually to choose a very light color for the background, and a very dark color for the text. If you aren’t the creative type or you don’t have the patience to try multi color combinations then this tactic will keep your colors in line to make sure that visitors can read the information that you are presenting. . Go easy on the eyes. Pair your colors well. Don’t use bright colors that tire the eyes. Don’t put two strong colors together.  A pleasant color scheme without harsh background or font colors will give your uses a better experience and allow them to stay engaged longer. Compound and anagalous color schemes should send you in the right direction which ever method you choose. Both respect balanced color possibilities which present the best prospect for your site’s color choice success.

Navigation: Keep It Simple
If users don’t understand the layout and navigation of your site they will leave over trying to figure it out. When users leave your site after only a few moments then generally your site has not achieved its goal. You want to attract visitors and keep them on your site so that you can have a better and longer opportunity to achieve the overall objective or goal you are trying to hit by having a presence on the web. Don’t let your efforts be in vain. Keep it simple. Important links are best placed in prominent places such as at the top where most look first. Use three or four navigation bars and then break those down more specifically with dropdowns or other advanced options. Site navigation should be intuitive and attractive. Information needs be accessible from all parts of the site including the footer. The end of your website page is a great place for a site map so the user doesn’t have to bounce back up to the top. Site maps also have good SEO value as well.

Page Load Speeds
One of the most important factors in the ability of your website to be productive is that its loads fast. Your layout should be optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds to load. Even if your design is stunning, if it takes too long to load then a user may leave before they ever even see it. Optimize your photos for size and resolution, make sure your navigation isn’t cluttered with heavy or dynamic content. Ensure that your layout templates and themes are optimized to load quickly and efficiently. When heavy dynamic content and photos that aren’t optimized they can slow or bog down your website which means more than likely that users will leave over wait for the site to fully resolve.

Responsive Websites
Responsive web design is a term that is becoming fairly common. More and more people are checking websites and looking for products and services on their cell phones. Responsive websites will function and properly display well across all types of devices, most importantly, mobile devices. You need a responsive website to make sure your marketing strategies, agendas and products will hit markets across all types of devices. Mobile devices are becoming a standard method to access the Internet. Don’t wait to catch a market that is online with a mobile device through your website that isn’t optimized for that niche. You will miss them. Make sure your site is being displayed to the world on all devices. If your site isn’t responsive then you are missing up to 30% of the users that could be on your site and that number is growing daily. It only makes sense to start a new site and make sure it is responsive or to convert your site to responsive designs as soon as possible.

Social Media
When you use links to your social media channels on your website you are improving your odds for potential interactions, impressions and ultimately sales. Visitors that are not engaged on your site or aren’t ready to use your services or purchase your products may click over to social media where they will still be involved with the promotions, advertising and blog post along with other items you use on social media. If they leave your page via social media they are apt to still watch and follow you. Make sure the channels you link in are active. Social media changes fast and it helps your website overall if you keep it looking fresh with the newest social media buttons and icons. Social media buttons can make your site more efficient when they are able to keep your message and sales tactics active and in front of others.

Be sure to keep up with the latest trends, elements, functions and tactics to keep your website fresh and in front of as many as possible. A website can get outdated and lose its appeal quickly. Use features such as blogs and twitter feeds along with new fonts, content and images to keep users interested in your website. When at a loss, contact a professional. Not everyone is equipped to handle the details of creating and designing a website that can best benefit their own business, e-commerce store, blog or personal site. The overall cost could be much greater if you have a site that is unattractive, difficult to navigate and fails to keep visitors on the site. Professionals know more than a few tricks to make your site more effective. A few small revisions and tweaks can make a big improvement in your conversion and engagement returns. You may find when you spend a little time on modifications for your website, you can attain positive results.

 

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