5 Ways to Improve Your Website in 2023
Do you need help keeping your visitors from leaving your website? Here are some quick but effective tips to help improve your website and keep users engaged.
Are you noticing bounce rates on your website and can’t seem to pinpoint the problem? Have no fear; I’m here to help you with five tips to enhance your website. These tips will keep your website running smoothly and your users will be eager to come back for more. If that’s the outcome, we all win.
Why should you improve your website in 2023?
If you're new to making websites, you might not know about some of the benefits of optimization. By using your website to its fullest, you will not only be able to make more money from it, but you will also be able to make your website visitors and regular customers happy while they are on it. Alright, enough of the teases, let’s get into the five reasons you should aim to improve your website.
1. Think simplicity
I strongly believe in the power of simplicity regarding your website. With so many websites vying for your user's attention, it's essential to keep things as straightforward as possible.
Be direct
No one likes reading between the lines, so don’t make them.
I suggest avoiding vague taglines that don’t communicate key points from your website. Your goal with a website should be moving the user from a start point to a finish point. Avoid the sidequests and get to the point.
Make sure your website shows what you do well and what makes you different from your competitors.
If you can articulate this while limiting the amount of wordiness, you will successfully improve your website and outshine your competitors.
A great example of effective simplicity in action, check out maynardconsulting.net. This website showcases a clean and straightforward design with clear and concise messaging that immediately communicates the value of the services offered.
Remove complex design
When designing your website, it’s best to take a minimalistic approach. The goal is to prioritize functionality over aesthetics. You can reduce the risk of overwhelming visitors by taking out complex design elements. This will keep your users focused on your messaging and significantly improve your website.
Prioritize “Above the fold” content
If you can leave with one piece of advice from this post, it’s to be strategic with your content above the fold. This area is what a visitor immediately sees before scrolling (or flipping a newspaper page, which is where the reference derives from). Explain exactly what your offer is and who you are. The goal of this content is to immediately grab the attention of your user and give them a clear reason to scroll.
Never make your user come to your website and require scrolling to figure out what your offer is. The easier you make it for them, the more likely they will continue naturally to engage with your website.
We spent a good amount of time workshopping the copy on our homepage so it directly communicates the benefits of a strong brand and an email opt-in, all above the fold.
2. Make your website accessible
I need you to take a moment to look at your website from a new perspective. Today, more than ever, an accessible website makes sense. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also smart for business.
I’m not just talking about adding alt text to your images or using proper headlines. I’m talking about deeper ways to make your website easier to use, especially to those with permanent and temporary disabilities. Some ways that you can create a better experience for those who have visual or auditory impairments are:
Using high-contrast colors
This is often overlooked, but websites with high contrast are typically more user-friendly. Contrast should be apparent between backgrounds, images, and text. This can help anyone, but especially those who are visually impaired. You’ll need to play around with your content to see what works best for you, but remember that extreme contrast can also negatively affect your accessibility.
The typical recommendation is 3:1. You can read more about the benefits and suggestions of website contrast here.
Brand Therapy
180. 5 Ways to Improve Your Website in 2023
Phil and Lauren have a speedy chat about simple ways to bring your website into 2023. From making your website accessible to ticking off best practices, you’re going to want to hear these five recommendations.
Incorporate an accessibility plugin
A visitor should ideally be able to navigate your website regardless of one’s individual needs. I’m a big fan of adding an accessibility overlay plugin like Accessibe, which makes accessibility modifications based on a user's individual needs. With the interface, users can customize your website to their individual accessibility needs, including profiles like seizure-safe, vision impaired, ADHD friendly, cognitive disability, keyboard navigation, and more.
Accessibe also puts less pressure on me as the designer of the brand, enabling real-time changes depending on a user’s specific needs, without having to completely overhaul a brand’s design. In the end, we’re allowing anyone who comes across them to have a positive experience. These websites help create a more inclusive and diverse online space and provide a better user experience for everyone.
For an example of Accessibe in action, click the accessibility icon on this website (bottom left corner) to open the customizable widget, pictured below.
3. Use high-quality photography
If it were 2005, I’d let it slide if your photos were high-quality, but now there’s no excuse.
When you’re building your brand, remember that your images should be eye-catching, professional, and be able to accurately represent your brand. Not only do they provide visual interest, but they also play a crucial role in communicating your value proposition and establishing credibility with your audience.
I encourage my clients to show their behind-the-scenes photos to showcase their hard work. You can showcase different aspects of your company, which can take your audience on a visual journey. Don’t forget to also incorporate props that are meaningful to you, your industry, or your daily work.
Our client Custom Design and Construction used high-quality photos to tell their story. They did a wonderful job helping to create a more personal connection with their clients. You can see how everything together: visitcustomdesign.com
4. Call to actions
The ultimate goal of your website is to get visitors to click on something, fill out a form, etc.
Make your CTAs bold and easy to find
When designing your calls to action, make them bold and easy to find. Otherwise, your CTAs will blend into the other content on your site, and you’ll miss out on conversions.
At the end of the day, what's the point of having a website if you're not going to tell them what to do next?
Keep CTAs short
Another tip for CTAs is to use larger fonts and limit them to one or two words. Use these words carefully and try to incorporate some of your personality!
Some website design sites, such as Squarespace, have awesome features that you can highlight effects or underline to draw attention to your calls to action. Here’s an example of that:
The Maxady homepage, which is a brand by CliftonStrengths coach Colleen Delvecchio, features a highlight effect on a particular word to draw more attention to it.
Get creative and show off your personality
Don't be afraid to get creative and use different color shape sizes to make your calls to action stand out. This not only helps to increase your conversions but also to provide a personalized experience to your audience.
Follow best practices in web design
My final suggestions for improving your website are to be mindful of website best practices. These guidelines will help your user experience and can be more easily indexed by Google and other search engines.
Keep it simple
Name your pages in a way that is easily understood. Try not to get creative in the way you name them. Some straightforward examples are “Blog,” “Resources,” and “Journal.”
Order strategically
Typically I recommend that my clients have the pages organized in this order: Home, About, Services/Projects, Resources/Blog, and Contact. This order is very typical throughout all websites and makes it much easier for a new user to understand. This also helps Google to scan your pages to see the page contents easily.
Brand, brand, brand
Make sure your logo is in your header and footer and it is properly hyperlinked to your home page. This consistently helps establish your brand image to others unfamiliar with your company. However, as a best practice, ensure that your image sizing is consistent with Google. You can learn about the secrets of good branding here.
Final thoughts
Having a high bounce rate can be troubling, but it’s not the end of the world—you just need to take swift action. You can improve your website by making it more user-friendly with a few strategic steps. In the end, these changes will directly and positively impact your conversions. Design with simplicity in mind, make sure your designs are easy for people to use, wow your audience with high-quality images, and stay up-to-date on the best ways to make a website. If you follow everything I outlined in this blog post, you’ll have no problem keeping users on your website and eager to come back.
