Web design has gone a long way in the last ten years, and a lot has changed. Being present online has never been more important. Every business owner of today needs a website to create the necessary momentum. Websites are simply a part of our online personalities.
Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, running a business, starting a blog about education or something entirely different, you need a website. People use websites to find information, make purchases, learn about things and simply live their everyday lives.
If you’re running a business, your web design becomes your top priority. It’s the first thing your potential prospects see, and it’s what makes them interested in your brand, products, and services.
Depending on how functional your website is, you’ll build a huge base of loyal customers or get lost in the process. Online business is a highly competitive environment, so here are some of the most important functionalities you need to keep in mind.
1. Mobile-optimized
In a world where almost all consumers are mobile, you need to have a responsive, mobile-optimized website. That means that your website needs to provide the same user experience, regardless of which device online users are using.
Most importantly, it needs to provide the same content, as that’s one of the essential things that guarantees great user experience. The best thing about having a responsive and mobile-optimized website is that it can double your traffic and get you the results you need.
This is where knowing your potential prospects and current consumers can be of good use to you. Let’s say that your consumer-base prefers to view websites on their mobile devices. Well, optimizing your website for mobile responsiveness should be your number one task.
2. User-friendly Navigation
It’s not just about having the best looking, most functional website in the world. If your visitors can’t find the information they’re looking for quickly, they’ll lose interest within seconds. That’s why navigation comes second here. The entire user and customer experience is based on how functional your website navigation is.
Easy access, the ability to move through the content quickly, intuitive navigation, these are the things to worry about. It’s better to have fewer well-organized items on the menu, as this makes it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Make your navigation easy and always use descriptive titles.
3. Call to Action
Since you’ll want your visitors to take clear actions, you can push them in the right direction by providing a call to action button. It’s a short combination of words that leads to immediate action. The action can be “click here”, “call now”, “download here”, “shop now”, and so on.
This is especially important if you’re running an online business, as that’s how you help your potential prospects make a purchasing decision.
Call to action buttons require an effective visual design and clear navigation. Without these functionalities, your CTA button might lead potential consumers to a dead-end.
4. Chatbots and AI
The success of your online business depends on customer experience. That means your business website has to be customer-centric. It needs to provide a great first impression, grab attention, and convert an online user into a loyal consumer.
To provide exquisite customer experience that’s intuitive, you need smart technologies like a website chatbot and AI.
They can help create a customer experience that exceeds expectations, increase conversion rates, and turn online users into loyal customers. What’s really interesting about chatbots is that they are constantly evolving and becoming smarter.
AI, machine learning and natural language processing allow chatbots to learn from every interaction with your consumers, aiming to provide better user experience with each next interaction.
On top of all that, a smart and user-friendly bot-building platform like SnatchBot allows you to build your own business-specific chatbots. You can use these as a marketing tool, to automate certain tasks, improve web and user experience, and support navigation.
Brand-specific chatbots and AI help you provide each website visitor with a personalized user experience by catering to their exact needs.
They can greet your visitors, offer navigational tips, and provide responses to their inquiries. A website chatbot can even start conversations, solve problems, send multiple responses, and provide impeccable 24/7 customer support. It’s no wonder that most industries believe that AI and chatbots are the future of business and marketing.
5. Social Media Integration
Regardless of what you need a website for, social media is where it’s at today. This goes especially if you’re running an online business. Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, all these social platforms offer billions of online users, which you can convert into your customers.
Promoting your presence on these networks is an essential part of your marketing. Modern consumers prefer digitally savvy brands, so the more social media channels you use to promote your brand, the better.
Modern consumers use different social channels, and you can reach them easier by integrating their preferred social media platforms into your website. It’s also a great way to build your following, improve your brand’s footprint on the net, and boost your SEO. Social media keep your customers engaged, and it helps you build brand loyalty and trust.
Using social media to maintain your content and engage with your consumer base is an excellent way to build trust between your brand and consumers. Here are a few useful social media integration tips:
- Provide media coverage links on a regular basis
- Make sure you promote logos of your prominent clients
- Keep track of social media followers and showcase it clearly
- Use only top-class quality visual content such as images, videos and so on
- Never use pre-made templates, as it makes you look cheap
Keep in mind that your website is the first thing online users see when they get to your landing page. You need to make it functional and user-centric if you want to get results. Your content, design, mobile support, and navigation will make or break the user experience.
