Building a website is more than putting together some text, images and video with a couple of contact forms.
While that may have been okay 10 years ago, today’s website is about the customer experience, and to provide a great one, you have to engage your customer.
Another thing to consider is a recent survey which found that when asked to describe why they mistrusted a website, 94% of participants pointed to the web design elements as a reason.
So, not only does your content matter, but your design does, too.
So, how do you make sure that your startup has an engaging website for your audience?
Make a Plan for Your Website
Who are your startup’s target customers?
Before you begin designing your website, make sure you know your audience.
Then, you can tailor your content including text, video and images to appeal to this group of people.
For example, if your target audience is young mothers, make sure your site design and imagery appeals to them and not older males.
Customize Your Landing Pages
Think of your website as a group of landing pages with a specific purpose. That might be to get site visitors to sign up for your email list, buy a product or service, download a white paper or contact you for information.
To engage your visitors, make sure your landing page works with its referral source.
For example, if you have a pay-per-click ad running with a link to your website, make sure that landing page matches the ad with the same headline and imagery and that it gives the customer what was promised.
Or, perhaps you created a blog post and are linking to it through social media. You want the same images in your social media post as are in your blog post.
To engage your visitors, you have to give them what they expect to get.
Break Up Text
The last thing you want on your website is paragraphs of 10-20 sentences or a wall of text.
Your website users don’t have that kind of attention span, and it’s hard to read big blocks of text on a phone or computer.
Make use of headlines to break up your text sections. Then, keep your paragraphs to 2-4 sentences to make them easy to read and further engage your audience.
Have a Clean, Mobile-Friendly Website
One of the most important things to consider when building a website is that it is mobile-friendly and responsive to screen size.
To really engage your audience and not frustrate them, you want your website to resize seamlessly regardless of the screen size. In other words, you want your smartphone visitors to have as great a user experience as your desktop visitors.
In addition, you want your website to be clean. It should have plenty of white space so it’s easy to read and navigate.
Speaking of navigation, before you launch your site, ask some of your friends to navigate your site. Ask them how easy or difficult it was and make the appropriate changes.
You want your navigation to be intuitive.
Use Video
According to one source, 75 million people in the United States alone watch online videos every day. Plus, when you embed videos on your startup website, you can expect to increase your traffic by up to 55%.
It pays to include video on your website as it is a proven engagement tool.
Post Content Regularly
Another must for engaging your audience is to provide new content on a regular basis.
Create a content calendar and make a plan for adding new content weekly or even daily. This could be in the form of blog posts, shared videos, and more.
New content is not only engaging to your visitors, but it’s good for search engine optimization.
To Conclude
It’s important to make sure that your startup has an engaging website for your audience.
Your website is the pivotal piece of your marketing arsenal. You are continually sending potential clients to it from your print collateral, social media, paid ads, and other places.
You literally list your website address everywhere, and it is vital to the prosperity of your startup.
Pay attention to web design trends, use high quality photography and videos, create an intuitive navigation system, and make sure your website matches your brand identity for the greatest success.
Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your HR duties, finances, payroll and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.
Image: William Iven
