Building a website is not only crucial to your business’s online presence. It’s an absolute must!   

Unlike before, when companies solely rely on brick-and-mortar sales and leaflet marketing, businesses today are aggressively working hard to dominate the digital space. Companies left and right are competing to win customer’s attention.   

Why?  

The digital space is your best bet at establishing a successful online business.  

Because of this very competitive transition, it’s not enough to build a website for the sake of having a website. In fact, there is an art to web development that can drive more traffic, boost your sales, and promote customer loyalty if applied to your business.   

Are you interested in discovering key website elements for your business?  

Read on.  

Website Page Loading Speed  

Congratulations, you now own a website! You’ve managed to produce enough content for your audience, but you’re still not seeing enough traffic you expected.  

You may want to look into how fast your website loads.   

In creating a website, speed is a critical factor that needs addressing. In fact, there are thousands of articles with helpful information about optimizing your website’s load speed.   

Website load speed affects your traffic more than you think it does. In fact, a website that loads five seconds or longer may lose 20% of its traffic.  

That’s a substantial number of people you could’ve turned into loyal customers.  

Website speed affects two critical elements: 1) search rankings and 2) bounce rate.  

Google’s search engine algorithm prefers fast websites. You can have a higher chance of ranking on Google’s top page if your website loads for two to three seconds or less.  

Bounce rate pertains to the percentage of visitors that a website gets but instantly navigate away from the website after browsing only one page. Faster load speeds mean a lower bounce rate, which translates into more users staying on your website to consume your content.  

As a rule of thumb, optimize the speed of your website by compressing large files and images. This can help ensure your website loads not longer than three seconds.  

Responsive Design  

Did you know that more than half of the web’s traffic comes from mobile searches? Websites these days must be designed for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. And if your website is not optimized for mobile use, you’re missing out on a significant amount of traffic.  

It is also vital that your website supports multiple browser platforms, like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and yes, even Internet Explorer.  

Some of the benefits of a responsive website are:  

• Reach wider customer base  
• Improved conversion rates
• Search Engine Optimization  
• Consistent design and branding across different platforms  

User Experience  

The overall look and feel of your website are also important factors that help maintain traffic.  

The principle of a great user experience (UX) design is simple: you need to make sure that users are having a great time visiting your website.   

This means ease of access and navigation, legible texts, using relevant and engaging images in your content, and placing a call to action in strategic areas.   

UX design is jumping into your audience’s minds to understand what will enhance their experience whenever they click on your website. The more value you provide to them, the more trust they’ll have in your business.  

Search Bar   

It’s safe to say that not all of your traffic has the time in the world to navigate every nook and cranny of your website to find what they’re looking for. This is why it’s essential to include a search bar or button to allow for easier access to all the relevant content your users are trying to look for.  

Subscription Offers   

Speaking of call-to-actions, offering subscriptions is a great way to engage your customers.  

When visitors subscribe to your newsletter, you’re able to keep in touch with them in a more personal way. This allows you to create offers specific to your user’s needs. At the same time, subscribers will have a better means to interact more with your business.  

In creating subscription forms, make sure to craft a call to action that’s short and genuine, so users won’t find it spammy.  

Takeaway   

The digital space is the future of any business. As companies transition into the online sphere, business owners need to understand that having a website is not enough. Since most of your potential customers will contact your business predominantly online, you need to translate quality service into your website. Website speed, mobile-friendliness, UI and UX, accessibility, and personalized newsletters can set your business apart in today’s very competitive digital space.