Having a visually pleasing website was considered a luxury half a decade ago. Not anymore! We now live in a digitalized world where even your bank’s website treats you to a (hero image or video) no matter how useless they are.
This is because every business understands the value of first impressions. Especially when 94% of first impressions are tied to design. As mentioned before, every business knows that. This means that most probably every business is trying to make their website more visually appealing. By solely focusing on the design aspect of the websites, most businesses forget what their visitors are looking for. That is optimal user experience.
You can have a website that is 10 on 10 visually and creates a great first impression. But these impressions can quickly turn to negative experiences for your visitors.
You need to understand that beautiful websites alone are not enough to achieve online success. This shift is being driven by multiple key factors. These factors highlight the importance of aspects other than the visual appeal of the website.
Let’s look at these factors and understand why having a beautiful website isn’t enough anymore.
Key Factors Driving The Shift In Website Design
You are excited to launch your shiny new website. Now, you are eagerly waiting for a flood of traffic and conversions. But the reality hits when your website doesn’t perform as expected. This means that your website is merely working as an attractive face for your business.
Now the question is, how can you make sure that your website works as intended and leads to higher conversion rates? Simple, you can do that by answering the following questions;
- Is your website taking forever to load?
- Are your visitors able to determine the purpose of your website?
- Is your website easy to navigate?
- Can your visitors easily get what they are looking for?
You can answer these questions by catering to the following factors that are driving the shift in website design.
1- Usability Over Aesthetics
There is no doubt that aesthetics of a website is important in providing effective first impressions. However, the sweet spot is balancing the usability and aesthetics within a website. By only focusing on the aesthetics, you are swaying away from providing value to your users. That’s the foremost reason why the conversion rates on your website are low.
By focusing on usability, you can make sure that your website serves its purpose effectively. This means that you have to reduce clutter from your website. Making it easier for the visitors to navigate their way through the website and support their journey towards their desired destination.
When talking about usability, you must understand that usability is the extent to which a visitor can accomplish a specific objective using a product. The product, in this case, is your website. By creating a balance between the aesthetics and usability of your website, you can make sure that it provides an effective user experience.
This is how usability can positively contribute to the overall user experience of a website.
Makes It Easy To Use
Usability can lead to ease of use through systematic usability testing and user testing. This testing focuses on evaluating the website’s interface and functionality. Usability testing helps identify any gaps or issues that may prove to be an obstacle affecting the overall user experiences.
In usability testing, interactions between real users and the website are observed to understand identify any areas of confusion for the users. These insights can help businesses make sure their website adds value through every interaction. Leading to higher conversions and customer retentions.
Increases Customer Retention Rates
Usability directly influences how effective a website is in meeting user needs. Businesses can get helpful insights through user research; these insights can then help understand the user preferences. Keeping these user preferences in mind when designing a website can greatly increase user satisfaction. Leading to higher customer retention rates.
Offers Reliability
Reliability is a crucial factor in enhancing user experiences. When you focus on usability, you also embed professionalism and reliability in your website’s framework. A well-designed website with user friendly interface makes it easy for the users to interact with the website.
This ease-of-use fosters trust and creates a more reliable professional image for your business. When you offer a reliable experience, this reduces user frustration, cultivates a positive brand image, and increases user engagement and loyalty.
This is why focusing on usability can help make your website cut it, even in this highly competitive digital landscape.
2- Content Is King
So, you have a website that offers the perfect balance between usability and aesthetics. Now what? Is it enough to make sure your website serves its purpose? The answer is no. There are multiple other factors that contribute to why beautiful websites don’t cut it anymore.
One such factor is the content you use on your website. Websites that rely more on their visual appeal often ignore the importance of content. If you want to make sure that your website effectively serves its purpose, you need to focus more on content.
This is because high quality content is as much responsible for attracting and retaining visitors as is usability and design. Search engines like sites with fresh and relevant content. This makes it crucial for businesses to keep updating their website.
As a business owner, you already know how important digital marketing is for business success. And content is at the forefront of every digital marketing strategy. This means that if your website has outdated content and information, it’ll not only affect SEO but also negatively affect user experience and engagement.
You must understand that content is what empowers visitors to take action. So, it is crucial for you to maintain up-to-date and engaging content on your website. Here are some ways you can use content in your website to increase user engagement and conversion rates.
- Use numbers and words with negative/positive annotations in your headlines to grab attention and evoke emotions. Make sure to address your audience’s pain points in your copy.
- Use clear and easy to understand CTAs. Remember, CTAs are what will guide your audience to take desired actions. Actions such as signing up or making a purchase.
- Content doesn’t have to be only in written form. You can use diverse content formats, such as blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, and podcasts. Using high quality and diverse type of content encourages visitors to engage with your brand.
- Tailor your content based on user demographics. This leads to more personalized experiences for the users, which ultimately increases user engagement and conversion rates.
- Use social proof in your content. Highlight testimonials and reviews, it can boost credibility and encourage prospective customers to convert.
3- Mobile-First Websites
As of 2024, over 7 billion people worldwide use smartphones. And did you know more than 50% of website traffic comes directly from mobiles and smartphones? 58.21%, to be exact.
This means that if your website is not optimized for mobile phones, you might lose the ability to capitalize on all that traffic. The numbers and stats stated above mean that you should not only focus on the visual appeal of your website but also on its functionality.
You must make sure that your website adapts to different screen sizes. Websites that can do this are called responsive websites. Mobile first websites are not only crucial to provide a streamlined user experience, but also to ensure they are easily indexed by Google.
Yes, you heard it right. If you want your site to be indexed by Google, you must ensure it is responsive and adapts to different screen sizes. This is because Google now uses its smart crawler for mobile-first indexing. If your website is not responsive enough, it can negatively affect your SERP rankings on top of user experiences.
4- Simplicity Is Key
A study from Google revealed that simpler web designs are more likely to offer better user engagement and higher conversion rates. So, even if you want your website to be a visual masterclass, it is crucial for you to make sure to keep it simple.
Keeping it simple means that your website must not have;
- Complex design with excessive animations
- Slow page load times
- Distorted information
All of the factors listed above directly lead to higher bounce rates. By focusing more on simplicity, you can ensure that users are easily able to navigate through the website and find what they are looking for without any distractions.
5- The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side
You need to understand that the grass will always be greener on the other side for your users. This means that, if you are not able to meet their expectations or needs, they’ll quickly move on to a better user experience.
You must make sure that you have the greenest glass of’em all. And “grass” means user experience. In the highly competitive digital landscape we live in, businesses that invest in usability, regular content updates, and user-friendly experiences will always outperform those solely focused on aesthetics.
Users are always aware of their options and will take no time to make the switch to a business offering better user experiences.
We Can Help!
You now know why beautiful websites are not cutting it anymore. If you agree that merely a visually appealing website isn’t enough, then you are on the right path. We at Los Angeles software developers understand your needs. All you have to do is leave us a message and our experts will make sure to create a website for your business that is not only appealing but highly functional as well.
