Having a successful website is more than having great graphics and design. One can have a very attractive website, but if it’s not beneficial for the user, then it could be a waste of time and money. And the user will most likely do business elsewhere.
With this in mind, the following things must be done to ensure the site will be equipped with what the users want on the sites:
1. Easy Access– They don’t want to have to go through several pages or deep down in a page to find what they need.
2. Convenience– The ability to use a mobile device quickly and easily as well as on desktops/laptops. Also, when it comes to mobile devices, they want to be able to use it via portrait or landscape, and they want to be able to rotate the picture and adjust the picture to where it can have a larger or smaller view. And furthermore, users are normally using mobile devices when they are on the go. Thus, just wanting the areas for browsing and checking out if shopping. Other than that, they may want it for the account screen to pay a bill quickly and easily. They usually don’t want a whole portrait, unless they request to switch to the whole desktop/laptop viewing which is normally provided upon clicking on the appropriate link.
3. Confirmation/Receipt– Even though payment history from credit/debit cards, PayPal, and banks show receipt of payments, it’s important to get a confirmation or receipt number/page for one’s records, just in case. It can also be sent to the user’s email and text messaging for one’s records.
4. Updates sent to email/text and easily visible on site– Updates on important policy changes or upcoming promotions are always great, and this shows that the company value their customers.
5. Promotions that are easily acceptable to apply– It’s one thing to get notice of promotions, but it’s pretty frustrating when there is technical difficulty in applying the promotion code.
6. Visible guarantee/warranty not written in fine print– Fine print is a big bother for users in this busy society. It shows how companies really care about their customers when applying clear visibility about guaranties/warranties. Customers really appreciate that. They would be encouraged to continue business with the company, and they will be encouraged to tell family and friends about the company’s great business and customer service.
7. Quick start and important info not bogged down in fine print– With customers’ busy schedules, it’s important to make it more convenient for customers to easily display quick start and important information. It shows the customer that the company values them which in turn, encourages them to remain their customer.
8. Easy Tracking Status of Orders– Customers should always be able to track orders easily and quickly. And, for even more convenience of tracking, the tracking number should be sent via email or text upon the first creation of the tracking number.
9. Easy and direct account summary and transaction history– As previously stated, convenience and easy accessibility are crucial to maintain happy customers.
10. Reward/Loyalty Points (if applicable) – Financial institutions, flyer miles and lodging, and some shopping outlets use this type of program which do encourage more business with customers.
11. Speed and No Crashing– Nothing is more frustrating to users when dealing with a slow and crashing site. They want to shop online without hassle. A site can have all the pretty web design and graphics in the world, but if it has a slow connection, or keeps crashing, the really attractive site is worthless.
12. Easy access to great customer service – This goes back to convenience and easy accessibility especially when there’s a problem. It’s bad enough that customers have enough to deal with, than to add even more frustration when dealing with hard to reach and/or substandard customer service.
13. A safe and secure site– With all of the cyber hacking and identity theft going on, customers need to feel secure in knowing that the site has great encryption and other safety devices, such as secure socket layer (SSL). SSL is a well-known and reputable encryption service.
Other Facts to Note
http://conversionxl.com/10-useful-findings-about-how-people-view-websites/ – the first two photos under number one.
When creating your site, there are other key things to realize. For one, when customers look at sites, they normally look left to right on the screen. Having said this, they tend to look at the upper left to upper right, and then the lower left to the lower right on the screen.
This aspect alone is very important, so the site’s information can be positioned accordingly- the most important information in the top left to top right of the screen. And the least important is posted in the lower left to lower right part of the screen.
Other things to note include the usage of larger, high quality print, and better imaging. It’s important to use a larger font with highly visible prints for linking to areas or pages that the customer desire, such as the checkout page, payment page, account summary/overview, and the desired department page for shopping. Also, it’s important to have high quality and relevant photos, instead of cheesy, stock ones.
Other than that, the following are also important to keep in mind when creating a site:
• Users spend approximately 6.48 seconds focusing on the company’s logo before moving on.
• Users spend approximately 6.44 seconds viewing the main navigation menu before moving on.
• Users focus on the search box for just over 6 seconds.
• Users spend approximately 5.95 seconds viewing the sites’ social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook.
Take note of the things discussed in this article whenever you are going to create or modify your website.
