Photo by John Schnobrich

Originally Posted On: https://phillipwmarketing.com/web-design/10-website-revamp-tips-best-practices-for-2020/

 

It’s freaking 2020, and getting a website up and running is easy that almost anyone can do it. But what is not easy is creating a perfect website. So you’re on the verge of a website revamp?

Even expert web designers and online marketers will tell you there’s no such thing as a perfect website, and that much is true. Still, it doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your website design for functionality and give visitors some goddamn heart-warming cyberspace experiences.

Yes, website design matters. Did you know that it only takes 50 milliseconds, i.e., 0.05 seconds for visitors to form an opinion about your site and decide whether to browse further or leave?

The cyberspace is characterized by rash judgments and blink-of-an-eye decisions based on how visually appealing your website is. Everyone is on the move. Therefore first impressions matter!

Website design also affects your credibility and conversions and marketers are all familiar with the following statistics: 9 in 10 Americans don’t trust brands with a poorly performing website.

In a SOASTA survey to determine the impact of CyberSpace experience on brand performance, 88 percent of 2,044 adult American respondents said they would not trust brands with poorly performing websites.

In fact, they confessed to harboring negative feelings about brands with a poorly-performing website: 75 % said they would be annoyed, 69% would be angered, 12 % would feel disrespected by slow-loading pages.

For businesses, what these statistics mean is that websites are more than just a bundle of related multimedia content under a single domain. It’s your sales pitch, a presentation of the business idea, an invitation for internet users to take a look at your products and services.

How your website is designed, therefore, impacts your credibility and, thus, brand performance.

Websites can no longer rely on mental-stimulating content only; the design is key to capturing internet users.

Otherwise, what is the use of having the best content if no one reads it because your website is inconvenient?

(By the way, this is the perfect time to mention…We design beautiful websites. It’s what we do. We can redesign yours too. Affordable prices, great customer service. We’re pretty awesome. Get in touch.)

The good news is, the advanced machine learning and sister-like technologies have made it easier to analyze internet user behaviors and come up with tips on how to improve their cyberspace experiences.

Different industries prefer different website designs.

But in 2020, there are a few standard rules you should follow to give your website the best appearance and functionality.

Here are the tips you should keep in mind when considering a website revamp:

 

1. Declutter the Homepage and Landing Pages to Revamp Your Website

Sure, for a blog post, you want to say much, and that’s okay because the information is the new currency. But filling your landing pages and homepage with text is another matter altogether and it’s the surest way to scare internet users away. 

When it comes to the homepage and landing pages, just tell your story in a few words. Otherwise, internet users are going to feel like you are overselling.

 

2. Use Dynamic Landing Pages

Content vs. context marketing, know your internet marketing jargon, and the tools at your disposal to put the ideas at work. When it comes to the internet business, content is king, but context is queen.

Content marketing generates lead by capitalizing on internet users’ needs for information and making that information available. But context marketing makes use of consumer interests, hobbies, browsing platforms, etc. to serve content at the right time hence making it hard to ignore.

One of the ways to achieve context marketing is by use of dynamic landing pages that fine-tune the message displayed based on internet users browsing history.

According to a survey by periscope, adding this touch of personalization increases conversion rates by 9.2% (on desktop devices) and 25.2% (on mobile devices).

 

 3. Instead of Telling, Show 

What does it mean to hear that YouTube is the second most visited engine after Google?

It means that now more than ever, internet users are consuming graphical content more than text.

Among the 18-34 demographics, YouTube has outperformed cable networks. Videos and images are more engaging, memorable, and share friendly.

Videos also contain more content: Did you know that a 1-minute clip is equivalent to 1.8million words?

So, visitors have been bouncing off of your site after just a few seconds? Revamp your website by engaging them with graphical content instead and keep them for longer on your site.

For example, instead of just writing how your product works, use images, or shoot a video demonstrating the goddamn thing.

Graphics help internet users consume more content. Videos have been revealed to up conversion rates by about 86%. But keep in mind that not all graphics are created equal.

Here are the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to website graphics:

Do’s and Don’ts on website graphics are upload easy-to-follow graphics that are short, helpful, and with a clear call to action.

Additionally, remember to make your graphics engine-friendly: Avoid excessive graphic library documents, keep videos shorter than 2 minutes, research your keywords, and include video transcripts tags and subtitles.

 

4. Revamp and Streamline the Navigation on Your Website

Make your website navigable because, as I asked before, what is the use of having great content if no one reads it because your site is unnavigable?

The greatest design sin is making multiple browsing windows available but with no easy way to move back and forth between them.

Multiple pop-ups are annoying. The same is with ad-covered content

Search engines reward websites with reliable navigation and logical flow of content.

For easy navigation, put a logo on your homepage, and a structured menu in the header of the site. Search boxes on the homepage are great, too; they help users locate items quickly.

And don’t forget an easy-to-use map to give users a quick look at your site’s layout.

To help users move up and down a web page quickly, provide vertical navigation. But for a more clean and modern design, guided navigation is the way to go.

Guided navigation leads visitors to sections of the site by asking them questions and gauging intent from their answers.

 

5. Maintain a Logical Flow of Information

Ensure that content on the site is arranged clearly.

No one wants to spend time exhuming leads buried in the final paragraphs of blog posts.

Remember, it only takes 0.05 seconds for internet users to decide whether to proceed on your website or use the back button.

Most of these judgments are on how your site looks visually.

Simplicity and familiarity are vital, so stick to conventions and draw attention to sections of the webpage by applying color, contrast, spacing, and size to your work.

Part of a successful website revamp is maintaining a clear information hierarchy by providing breadcrumbs that make it easy to navigate the pages’ XML tree.

Lastly, remember no one likes an ocean of continuous information, so use white pages to declutter and avoid overwhelming readers.

 

6. A Website Revamp Should Also Focus on Safeguarding User Data

Visitors love it when you show that you value their privacy.

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal is 2 years behind us. However, we are still shocked at how the company we trusted with our information could breach that trust at such a significant level.

User data privacy is the current trend in online marketing and website design.

Avoid suspicious activities such as asking users to fill in a lot of forms on your site, malware-carrying phishing ads, etc. guarantee user privacy and data safety using SSL scrips on those lead forms.

You can even make yours a McAfee secure website.

 

7. Avoid Unwanted Pop-ups

Yes, we know you make money from ads, but must the ad cover the content? Must you also allow a sea of pop-up ads and unwanted redirects?

Come on, lovely, don’t be that guy.

Unwanted pop-ups and redirects that leave visitors confused on which page they were browsing are damn annoying.

Thank God for the back button, internet users won’t tolerate that.

 

8. Get Rid of Excessive Graphics, Redundant, Old and Irrelevant Pages

If you have been experiencing higher bounce rates than your competition, consider increasing your website speed.

Causes of slow-loading pages include broken links, heavy pages due to excessive graphic library documents: dense images and long videos, etc.

Fix these issues and transfer the website to HTTPS to reduce your bounce rate.

You can use image compression algorithms to encode dense images with fewer bits.

These will not only lead to fast-loading web pages but also make the image more shareable and more convenient to store.

 

9. Making Your Site Mobile-Friendly is a No Brainer for a Website Revamp.

Data from Alexa rankings show that 8 out of the top 10 highly performing websites are optimized for mobile platforms.

According to a 2018 survey from Statista, 52.2 percent of internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

That means more than half of internet users want their web pages served on mobile platforms, and the trend is only going to rise, so don’t lose on these numbers.

A mobile responsive site is vital for both user experience and SEO purposes.

57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a brand with a poorly designed mobile site to their friends.

And Google algorithms are designed to allocate 70 percent of the top page results to websites optimized for mobile platforms.

 

 10. Utilize the Fold Well

Above the fold is the top half of the front page of a website.

It used to be a publishers’ favorite spot on the website real estate.

They would cram content, ads, contacts, etc. above the fold because the idea was that no one scrolled below the fold anyway.

However, with the advent of mobile devices, users learned how to search brand information on their own, and scrolling became a habit.

You no longer have to cram information above the fold. But still, the top half of the front page is relevant.

Here is where you do value proposition using headlines that appeal to the readers’ emotion and not just viral marketing gimmick.

Studies show a clear value proposition boosts conversion rates by 30%. But declutter and keep the headline minimalistic with a clear call to action.

The Take-Home? 

Okay, there you go lovelies, the internet world is freaking dynamic.

The technical fine-tunings that landed you on top of search results yesterday may not cut it today.

Search engine algorithms are now “perceptive,” so consider using the above tips to make your website functional and user-friendly.

If your interested in building a beautiful website for your business but don’t want to worry about all the technical stuff, give us a call.

We love working with small to mid-sized businesses. Our prices are affordable and we offer great personalized customer service.

Call (424) 221 – 5742 or contact us using the form below.