46.1% of people say that a website’s design is the #1 criterion for discerning the credibility of a company
(Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab)
Last year, web design took a step in the right direction, especially for inbound marketing. With the continued rise in mobile devices and mobile marketing optimization, it is evident that design going forward will become more sophisticated. This complexity presents a great opportunity for brands who want to grow leads, customers, and improve the overall user experience.
Below are some things to keep in mind to make sure your business is taking advantage of these opportunities.
Value Proposition
Create a clear value proposition that is able to answer; what is it, who is it for and how is it useful/helpful. If your value proposition requires a user to think about what it is you are proposing you need to revaluate. While a large amount of information can be helpful and even important for conversions, the first thing you need to do is draw the user in with a clear and compelling value proposition. So what makes a good value proposition?
- Clarity
- It states how the proposition is different than others
- Communicates concrete results a customer will get when they move forward
Here is a great worksheet that you can use when developing your value proposition.
Video That Tells a Story
Videos and images are great ways for brands to communicate their story in an appealing and captivating way. Digital Sherpa found that videos increase a person’s understanding of your product or service by 74%. Whether this is embedded onto the website itself or shared through social channels, it engages users, enhances your brand’s story and when done correctly, makes for great user experience.
Simplicity
A design trend that can be seen especially on mobile devices is simplicity. Designers are now removing all the unnecessary elements during the design phase in an effort to improve user experience and to clearly communicate the brand’s message. This move to “flat” designs has eliminated many design decisions that most websites already have such as background colors, number of images, and complex layouts. By having a simple design, brands are able to clearly tell their story, communicate a clear value proposition, and have a great user experience on any device.
Hamburger Menus
Responsive web design has been around for some time and the elements within these designs continue to get better. As these elements push forward we are starting to see a design that takes what works on mobile devices and implementing them sitewide. One example of this is bringing app-like and responsive menus to the entire site, not just mobile devices. Brands are implementing vertical menus on either the left or right side of the page and some sites are even using what is called a “Hamburger Menu”. This menu style is the 3 “bars” that are usually situated at the top left or right of a site. When clicked on, the menu is shown.
Performance and Speed
Recently designers have been mindful of the need to make sites load faster and use less bandwidth. They are aware of not only the varying network speeds but also the size of their files and sites. By keeping these factors in mind, sites are being designed to improve user experience, reduce bounce rate, and improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
Personalized User Experience
In addition to designers thinking in terms of load time, they are also taking into consideration advertising experiences and customizing them. Designers are using websites cookies to make pop-ups work more effectively and personalize the overall user experience. Sites that sell gifts are a great example to showcase this. Their core customer is an office manager or small business owner looking for items for either their clients or employees. This kind of decision is not one that is made the first time that person visits the site. By taking advantage of website cookies and personalized user experience design, you can make sure that the experience for the user picks up right where they left off on each return.
Conclusion
Web design is becoming more innovative and effective when trying to grow leads and make for better user experience. Look at your own site and determine if each design element is created in a way that will bring you, customers.
