A website, no matter the subject, has a specific goal in mind be it making a sale or entertaining readers. Amazon is a huge inventory vendor, Pandora has music streaming, and we have business articles! But every website is different and it is crucial to make sure visitors have an easy time getting to the content they’re looking for. The harder you website navigation is the less likely prospective customers are to stick around or visit again. So on that note, whether you’re a blog trying to gain a bigger audience or wanting to sell more product, here’s a few tips to make sure your audience enjoys your website.
1. Go mobile
Make sure your site is compatible with mobile devices! This is a big one. From smartphones to tablets, people are checking things out on the go. You want to be sure your website is mobile friendly, meaning it’s easy to browse through with touch pad commands or the like. This will greatly expand opportunities for site users and allow you to reach more people with greater frequency.
2. Have good site design
The worst thing a site can do is have a disorganized collection of buttons, links and images. You want these things to be simple to find, whatever they are and you want to present information in the cleanest way possible. Some websites choose metro-styled minimalism while others create clever, engaging visuals. Whatever you choose, you’ll want your site to be consistent and simple to navigate.
3. Optimize for SEO
Search engine optimization is another big thing. How can you get visitors if users can’t even find you? Making sure that your website has proper keywords which can show up in search engines like google can be the difference between hundreds of new visitors or zero. While it is possible to link to your site via other means, you also want a natural progression of growth, of which is accomplished with SEO discovery.
4. Clickable images
What’s better than a line of text? An image! A user is more than likely to check out, say, “products for your cat” if it’s accompanied with a cute kitten image. A line of text just doesn’t look as streamlined and to some might even seem kind of suspicious. Images, animations and other things that help your site “live” will keep people more engaged overall, and give them an immediate sense of where it is they’re going.
5. Use one size fits all sitemaps
One last suggestion we’ll make is to have a sitemap. This is generally a page which contains links to ALL content on your site, or lets users know where what link goes to where. This gathering of info will give immediate access to the user who knows exactly what they are looking for.
Starting a new website or cleaning up your current one can be a difficult process. If you’re looking for more information as to how you can increase traffic to your site, Stratosphere Networks can help. Call us today at (877) 599-3999 or fill out our contact form.
