Make Your Website A Joy For First Time Visitors

Posted Jun 1 '20; Updated Nov 1 '24

Have you ever found it so hard to navigate a website that you just decided to leave? It often happens due to poor design. Your website is the backbone of your digital marketing strategy. If your audience finds it hard to use, you'll lose traffic and potential customers. Our Edmonton website design company can ensure a great user experience (UX) with the following pro tips. Contact us to learn more. 

Speed Optimization 

One of the most annoying web design concerns that sees users leave is slow loading. Most users won't wait for a sluggish webpage.
A leading cause of slow page speed is large file sizes. Compress your images before uploading them to your website. Use a lossless compression tool to avoid ruining the quality of the pictures. You can also search online for tools specialized to compress JavaScript, HTML, and CSS files. 

Whitespaces

While congested words and long paragraphs are acceptable in novels, website users aren’t fans. Good website design leaves whitespace around text, images, and other elements. Whitespace makes your content more legible, open, and much easier to read.  With some breathing room around your content, users can view all the elements of your webpage at a glance. It can also play a role in marketing if it is consistent with your branding. 

Use Personalized Images 

Images not only make your website more visually appealing, but they are crucial to growing your website traffic. They grab a user’s attention that text alone just can’t compete with. While low-priced stock photographs are available online, it's much better to create custom images unique to your business. Today, people can differentiate between generic photos that they have seen somewhere else, and original, personalized images. If you use stock photos pulled from online, the audience may judge your business as uninteresting and hollow. Web design with original photos inspires users to interact with the site. 

Responsive Web Design

With a plethora of device models available from different manufacturers, website design experts must consider compatibility when creating sites. Users should be able to access and navigate your website regardless of their type of device. Otherwise, you'll lose traffic. Another reason to insist on responsiveness in website design is that Google penalizes sites that aren't mobile-friendly. With poor ranking on search engine result pages, your webpages will have less visibility and low click-through rates. 

Well-Formatted Headings

What your website visitors are looking for should drive your content and its titles. A vital website design tactic to observe is including relevant keywords in your headings and content. It guides your audience to the right pages when navigating your site, as well as giving readers natural stopping points, instead of scanning through content that all looks the same at first glance. 

Also, search engines prioritize headings when scanning your pages more than the rest of the content. Using HTML heading elements consistently makes your website more searchable. 

Fix 404 Errors 

Users get irritated when links or images return 404 errors. A 'page not found' message disrupts the customer's journey through the site and makes them consider checking alternatives. Perform a web design audit to trace and eliminate such glitches. 

Better UX, More Traffic 

Every internet user wants a smooth experience when interacting with websites. You must create compelling content that provides solutions, make it eye-catching, and maximize your website's user experience. If your website is struggling, we can help! Request a free website audit from Smart WSI Marketing, your Edmonton website design company, for more leads and better conversion rates.

Lynne Motkoski, Marketing Strategist

Specialty: Online Marketing Strategies
Education: MA Communications & Technology, BComm [U Alberta]
Author: The Online Marketing Handbook for Busy Entrepreneurs (coming soon)

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Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.

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