Your website is without a doubt one of your most powerful sales and marketing tools. It provides visibility and access to potential new business and even informs current business of other services you offer. The competition is steep and ensuring you are following modern website best practices is essential to thriving in a today’s digital world. Here are some of our top website best practices:

Keep the Options Limited

Yes, if you have the capacity to offer a multitude of variations of your product/service you should absolutely do so, however your website may not be the place. In 1952, psychologist duo William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman researched the impact that the number of options presented to an individual and the time associated for them to make a choice.  The results: more options equals more time required for a decision.   Keep the options few and offer a customizable option to show that you are flexible and want to meet their needs.

Branding is Key

Your brand is your opportunity to showcase your business, culture, and products/services in an authentic way.  It’s often times a prospect’s first impression of your business, so make it a good one.  The ideal place to start with branding is forming a concrete understanding of the “why” behind your business, your values, and your long-term goals. Start there and then move outward to create something that truly represents you.  Need help? Branding is our jam, let’s talk!

Once you have a strong brand, keep it as consistent as possible across all mediums to ensure a seamless user experience.  Your website, social media, printed materials, PowerPoints presentations, and any other marketing collateral should all match.

Compress Images/Visuals as Much as Possible

Studies show that your website visitors are reading less and less, so visuals are more important now than ever. Visitors expect to be met with eye catching and impactful visuals that are delivered at lightning speed.  Compress visuals as much as possible to shorten the lag and wait time on your website pages.  A page shouldn’t take more than 2-3 seconds to load, if it does you risk losing that visitor.

Be Mobile-Friendly

Life is moving faster than ever before, which means that we expect everything in a mobile and accessible form.  Your website may look absolutely beautiful on desktop, but if you neglect mobile optimization and functionality, then chances are that you are ignoring the majority of your visitors. Don’t know where to start? We are total nerds for mobile optimization, let us help!

Keep it Human

When you are writing copy and choosing imagery for your website, remember to stay as genuine as possible.  It’s easy to fall into the “I’m an expert, so I need to sound like one” tone which detaches the humanity from your message.  People are emotional creatures and our decisions are largely impacted by how we feel. Keep it real in your copy, use photos that feel honest and have people’s face in them, and don’t overthink it.

Constantly Make it Better

Nothing in life thrives when left stagnant and your website is no exception to this rule.  Regularly assessing overall user experience, functionality, and optimizations of your website practices really shouldn’t be an option.  Your branding should be evolving with your audience so keep things fresh by switching up copy and visuals regularly for your visitors.  We recommend taking a good look and making updates/improvements at least once a month, even if they are small.

Staying on the cutting-edge of technology and marketing trends can be really intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.  Join the next evolution of website development and never fall behind with Vonazon!