Sure, your website has all the information you want to share with your clients.
But it just seems so, well…boring. It’s not engaging or dynamic. Perhaps it looks dated or dull or like that English essay you wrote back in high school, the one with eight pages of padding out text.
Here are five ways you can help a website look and work better – which will keep your potential customers engaged with your site and help them learn more about you.
1. Have a clear call to action
A website is much more engaging for a visitor if we ask them to DO something.
There should be a clear button to click when they land on your home page. It should take them straight to your core offering, whether it’s a product to buy, an appointment to book, or a newsletter to sign up for.
But the most important thing is that we’re offering visitors a chance to take action. Buttons like this – all pointing to the same action – should appear often on all pages.
2. Break up long chunks of text
Paragraph after paragraph of text isn’t fun for anyone to read.
You need to break up your information so that it’s scannable. That means:
- keeping paragraphs short
- using lots of subtitles
- putting key information into lists where possible
- using lots of white space to keep pages clean and uncluttered, and help text stay readable at all times
You can also consider highlighting key parts of the text with colour boxes, pull quotes, or fancy fonts. Just don’t make it too busy; readability is always the most important thing, especially for all screen sizes.
3. Add some visuals
A picture is worth a thousand words, so don’t hesitate to replace or augment your information with a beautiful photo or two. Photos can break up the flow of a long section of text, and can be used in a variety of locations (left, right, centred) to create an interesting text flow that has movement.
Consider using pictures of faces wherever possible. Your clients want to see you and your staff; they want to get to know the people behind the business. And they want to see pictures of happy customers (even stock images of potential customers) to feel excited about your products and services.
If you’ve got access to a graphic designer, a great infographic or chart is another lovely way to engage your audience and really make your website stand out as something unique and special.
4. Use a variety of colours and fonts
Don’t be afraid of colour! Colour blocks add visual interest and help highlight important points.
Coloured text, as long as it is still easy to read, provides interesting breaks in the information flow and can help make headings and subheadings stand out.
Fonts are another great way to make quotes or headings jump out on a page and help keep your customer’s eyes interested. But keep it to two fonts maximum; more than that and your content tends to become an unreadable, messy jumble. Consider using different letter spacing and styles like italics and bold to get a wider variety of text faces without introducing a new font.
5. Add Animation
Parts of your website that literally move are always eye catchers. Consider using:
- videos or video headers
- statistic blocks or countdown timers that have moving numbers or chart graphics
- parallax images that seem to scroll behind text as the visitor moves up and down the page
- animations that guide the user graphically from section to section
Animations should always be used sparingly. They aren’t for every page; use them as a special touch on your home page and perhaps your main services page. Keep in mind that many animations don’t work well on mobile screens, and make sure you have an alternate design that loads well on tablets and cell phones.
Is your website boring? Time for a redesign? We’d love to have a look and give you our thoughts – contact us for a free quote.
