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There are a number of different elements that can make a website look good, but how well it functions is equally as important. Of course, it’s necessary for businesses to design and build a website that looks high-quality and professional, but if a website isn’t designed for user experience (UX), customers will visit your site and abruptly leave. User experience represents how a user feels and behaves when interacting with a professional website. Web design companies use user experience to make websites accessible, easy to use and efficient at solving a customer problem.
A functional and easy-to-use website is essential for almost every business, especially those in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail sectors. Not only is it critical for businesses to optimise their website so that they’re discoverable on search engines, but they also need to engage users from the moment they arrive on their site. From there, using considered website features, customers go on a pre-planned journey towards a specific end goal, for example a purchase or phone call. The most successful and high-converting websites strike the perfect balance between modern web design and responsive UX, creating sites that have a premium look and are optimised for conversions.
Successful website design takes time, so it’s a good idea to start the process as early as you can, or factor in for delays and a sufficient amount of time for it to be completed. So that you can make user experience a priority in your next website project, here are the best website features that drive more conversions.
Trust & Credibility Features
Trust and credibility are important to consider in website design as they help customers have confidence in your products or services, often encouraging them to finalise a purchase or take a desired action. There are a number of different website design features that can be beneficial in building customer trust, and they’re often used by businesses in both B2B and B2C industries. Let’s look at an example of one of these industries and discuss why they help drive more conversions.
Bond Turner is a B2C law firm that specifically manages negligence cases, including road traffic accidents and multiple injury claims. On their ‘About Us’ website page, you will find a carousel of customer testimonials before you see any of the page’s content, alongside their ‘Excellent’ Truspilot credentials. Authentic customer testimonials are an extremely persuasive website feature as users value hearing what other customers have to say because it backs up any claims that businesses are making on their sites.
Easy & Efficient Navigation
It might sound obvious, but simplified navigation is essential for converting website users to business customers. It’s an area where many businesses go wrong, and this is usually for a number of different reasons. It’s no secret that website design is entirely subjective, and what looks good for one business might not work for another. If you choose a professional web designer, they will bring their own personal preferences and experience into how they design your website. That combined with your own direction and design ideas creates a site that might look great, but it might not be designed for easy and efficient navigation.
Some best practices for simplified navigation include a navigation or menu block that’s limited to 5 to 7 items, a logically structured layout, and the use of breadcrumbs so users can easily return to pages they’ve previously visited. Calls-to-action form the bread and butter of conversion-focused website design, and they’re also highly effective in creating sites that are easy to navigate. Calls-to-action should use simple, concise language and should be displayed in blocks that stand out from the rest of the site. This is often why you’ll see contact buttons in bright or bold boxes and used regularly throughout a page.
Final Thoughts
Designing a website successfully is both an expensive and time-consuming process – particularly when you’re not using the right professional help. It’s recommended to choose a website agency that understands user experience as well as modern website design. That way you can create a website that is business-ready but one you’ll actually see results from.