In our previous article we have defined the main concepts regarding user experience: User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI). An important part of both terms, is the design of your website. The design of your site actually determines how visitors experience the website.
Even though it is getting easier and easier to design a website, there are many important things to consider. Companies such as Wordpress and Wix make it easy to design Web sites with standard templates. Still, as a business owner, it is better to have a custom design created. Your brand must exude originality and quality. A standard website does not meet this requirement. Wondering what factors are important? You can read about that here.
Corporate identity
Every good website always has its own style. Consider the use of color, logos and illustrations. Every brand wants to convey a certain message. This can be sustainability, but also humor or a particular expertise.
Sebastian Smeenk
Business developer
The best brands have a unique approach. Every little detail must fit together well. Do your lyrics strike a humorous tone? Then this should be felt all over your website. Logically, the rest of your design fits well with this as well. Using specific colors can help empower your brand. Colors have a big impact on people’s brains. This means you can make people experience feelings with a particular color. And that’s exactly what UX and UI are all about.
Take, for example, the colors red and black. Both colors are widely used by major brands. Both affect our brains differently and bring out different emotions. Red is seen as the fiercest Of all colors when it comes to emotions. It is used for warnings (road signs), as well as for love. When red is used for products, it often represents action and confidence.
Black, on the other hand, exudes something else. According to the color psychology it is not even considered a “true” color. People’s affinity for black varies from person to person. In some countries it is associated with death, while in consumer products it conveys quality and status. Consider a kitchen: the difference between a white and a black kitchen. What looks more qualitative?
So within web design, the use of colors in your corporate identity also plays a big role. Think carefully about what your brand should convey, as well as what your company stands for. Once you have established this, you can determine what colors your corporate identity should include.
Copywriting
Online, you use the written word to entice customers. You want to tout your product and have several resources to do so. The proper use of language is very important here. Copywriting basically means “selling something on paper.” Where a salesman in a store uses his voice, you do so on the website using good language.
In addition, texts should also be written using SEO. SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a technique where you use specific keywords. Google’s algorithm categorizes search results based on these types of words. If your text meets these words, chances are your site will rank higher in Google’s rankings.
Texts on a website written by an SEO copywriter are written, generate more visitors and have higher conversion rates. Using good SEO words is more likely to get visitors to your website. If the texts are then also written according to copywriting principles – short, easy, and persuasive – you have a formula for success on your hands.
Using good copywriting can be the deciding factor in the success of your brand. According to Ray Edwards, an American expert in the field, the use of copywriting largely determines whether a brand succeeds or fails. Good copywriting can determine the difference between zeros and millions. This component is often overlooked by entrepreneurs. A product can be as good as it is, without the right copywriter, a product is doomed to fail.
Sometimes entrepreneurs write their own texts for their products or brands. However well-intentioned, it is always better to have an experienced copywriter do this. Every word and sentence matters.
As in a newspaper article, the reader should be immediately drawn into the story. The use of difficult words and formal colloquialisms makes a text unreadable. This is where people drop out. So a product description should be smoothly and easily written.
What often works well is to address the reader directly and point out the benefits of a product. This way, something comes to life and the customer can see the usefulness of a product.
Minimalism
It may sound crazy, but with less you have more. This applies to many things in life, but especially to the Internet. Cramming a web page with text and images is not difficult. The art is precisely in the brevity.
People’s attention spans are dwindling. Because of social media, we are bombarded with messages, photos and pop-up notifications every day. The brain can only process a limited amount of information. Web pages should therefore be short and concise.
Think about the essence of a web page. Are you selling a product? Keep descriptions and images to a minimum. It is fine to have multiple photos of a product. Just make sure they don’t all jump into view right away. Provide the ability to click through. And also for the description, keep it short and to the point.
Clear navigation
Just like a clear walking route in a store, a Web site should be uncluttered. It should be immediately apparent to customers where the assortment is located and where the contact information is.
This is also an important element during the ordering process. Wordpress Also calls this “breadcrumbs.” These are subtle references at the top of the page that indicate where the customer is located. For example, the ordering process may consist of four steps. At the top, it then shows where the customer is in the process. Very convenient and clear!
Users
You must be able to put yourself in the shoes of visitors and customers. Knowing what interests people and what they want to see will largely determine how a Web site is set up. To find this out, a web designer must carefully identify the client’s requirements.
To properly identify the type of customer, identify who the target customer is. In marketing terms, this is also called Buyer Personas mentioned. These are fictional customers with different characteristics, which you can use to test your website, web shop or product. For example, are these cat owners? Then it is important to know what their needs, tastes, and typical customer behaviors are. Using a customer profile, you can test a Web site. Keep in mind what the customer is looking for and whether this is findable.
Using a customer profile, you can create a customer journey map make. This is a visual presentation in which you detail all of a customer’s interactions with your product. This allows you to go through the website step by step and identify where your website is lacking. It is also possible to use a test group. Have acquaintances around you go through the website and ask for feedback.
As a website designer, you will have less of an eye for certain things. As a designer, you make subjective assumptions. This means assuming that certain things are correct and logical. For a client, this will be different. By enlisting the help of test users, you will find out how your website is perceived by future customers. These test users should match the Buyer personas created so that you know exactly how your target group experiences the process.
Mobile interaction
The format of your website should be suitable for any device. We spend most of the day on our phones. Often more than on a laptop. Orders are also increasingly being placed via mobile. So a website without a mobile format, is a no-go.
So your website must be suitable also for iOS and for Android. This means that your web pages should have multiple designs. Also consider different screen types. Regardless of the benefits of a mobile website, it is important that everything works properly. Research shows that seven out of 10 mobile users call off a purchase. The reason makes one wonder: in most cases, customers want to complete the purchase but fail to do so due to technical problems. Think web pages that don’t load or data that doesn’t display properly. The mobile browser has a lot of potential, but it must be well designed.
The touchscreen of the mobile browser brings other benefits as well. Products on a touch screen can really be brought to life. By experts, the seen as one of the pluses over the desktop. Images in sharp format and possibly rotatable via a 3D design bring products to life. This can lower the barrier to ordering a product.
Conversion
A brand must sell products or services. The website or web shop are often the appropriate channel for this. In the end, it’s all about how many customers actually place an order. It’s called conversion.
Conversion literally means converting leads to customers. The moment than a large proportion of your visitors order something, then this is a good sign. It means that your website works well and that people walk through it easily. Conversion is therefore something that companies should always keep in mind.
A platform like Wordpress provides access to a variety of measurement tools. This allows you to see exactly how visitors convert. You can see exactly what page visitors come to and where they drop out, for example. That way you know exactly what you need to improve and on which page people leave the website.
An important term is conversion optimization. This means you do everything in your power to turn a lead into a customer. You provide optimal conditions to convert leads to customers. Here, it is precisely important to know where customers leave the website. With a tool like Google Analytics, you can track all of this.
Call-to-action
Most web pages offer something. A product, a free e-book, or a newsletter subscription. With specific buttons, you can call customers to action. When offering a product, place the familiar “Add to Cart” button. Or even better: a plus sign with an image of a shopping cart.
With call-to-action buttons, it is important that you use the right words. The trick here is to properly incorporate the benefit of the action. For example, are you offering a trial period of a particular service? Then use “Start your free trial” instead of “Start now.” With this, you emphasize the benefit of the product.
Personalized webshop
Does your website have a web shop? Then encourage visitors to create an account. With an account, you can give customers recommendations for certain products. Based on previous search behavior or orders placed, you can show customers content by is relevant to them.
After all, large e-commerce parties do this too. Think for yourself about your last visit to a digital Web store. Chances are pretty good that you will be shown products that you were actually interested in. This works quite effectively. After all, customers are only more likely to order something again!
Too much information?
Just goes to show that there are an awful lot of things marketers need to pay attention to. Marketing a brand well is not easy either. Fortunately, Dusver has the necessary experience with websites and web shops. User Experience and User Interface are our expertise. So if you have any questions about building a website, feel free to contact us!
