Does your business website frustrate visitors? That may be hurting your rankings.
Businesses fuss a lot over content when it comes to SEO management with blogging and whatnot, and rightfully so. Content drives traffic on the internet. Good content brings visitors to your Website because Google algorithms return search results based on the content they provide. But what also drives internet traffic is Website usability.
In today’s world of instant everything, it really doesn’t take much to frustrate someone enough to bounce (leave the Website after viewing only one page) after only a few seconds. Good Website usability addresses those frustrations by providing easy access to that content people are so crazy about.
Pages that take too long to load, don’t load properly, or don’t load at all send visitors packing like bedbugs in a roadside inn. Yet some of the slick Web designs businesses create run quite counter to tenants of good user-friendly site construction.
Home Pages that launch with big, flashy banners burying content down the page or on another page entirely causes users to hunt for the information they need. Pages that drag because of the over abundance of large photos or videos only serve to frustrate a potential client or customer.
Keep in mind that Google is fully aware of what elements of a Website’s performance send Web users searching for a better resource online and penalties that hurt your business’ organic ranking certainly follow when these elements are part of your Website makeup.
Ensure your site’s design doesn’t hurt its chances of landing on page 1 of Google Search by providing a quick and easy to content that tells us exactly what your business does. Provide links and menu options that clearly show where to find segmented information on your business’ services, rates and contact details. Customers shouldn’t have to conduct an expedition to find out your service areas, or click on a series of successive buried links to determine if your business provides just the service they’re looking for.
Ensure your photos are between 96 and 120 pixels so as to ensure they don’t weight down the load time on your site’s pages. And if there are a ton of nested pages (as in the case of many e-commerce sites), provide a helpful sitemap or breadcrumbs so that people will be able to get back to key pages without getting lost in the process.
You can certainly create a beautiful Website to showcase your brand, but do so with the user experience in mind and it will pay in droves with more users who not only stay on your site to find the information they are looking for, but who convert to customers or clients of your brand.
If you have questions about creating a user-friendly Website designed for higher conversions, call Proctor Digital Web Consultants at 773.245.7226 or email [email protected]. We love helping small businesses successfully build their brand visibility online.