How to make your website perform better
September 8th, 2009
Making a successful website is about much more than showing your creativity and making it look good. Of course good web design is important, but equally important – if not more so – is content, and the way in which that content is displayed on the site. Even when a website looks glossy and professional, if it’s not easy for users to navigate it probably won’t do very well. Working in SEO you quickly come to realise how common these simple mistakes are, and the potentially damaging effect that they can have on an otherwise perfectly sound website. If you suspect your site could perform better here are some things you could look in to.
Use good copy on every page - Text and information should all be clear, concise and to the point as it is the only information users have access to before deciding to make a purchase. Customers won’t want to make a purchase if they’re not entirely sure of the product, whatever type of business you do. Just a small paragraph of well-written copy on each page will reinforce users’ belief that you know what you are talking about, and are the right person to do business with.
Take another look at your navigation system - Is it simple enough? Remember less is more. Not being able to find your way around is annoying enough, but with the rest of the web at their fingertips a lot of people are likely to turn elsewhere. Too much information crowded onto the page looks bad, even if the basic content is good. There are probably lots of different options you could choose to arrange your products, for example a holiday company might choose to organise their different holidays by destination, type or rating. But it is only confusing for the user to have so many menus containing the same links. A far better option would be to arrange the site purely by destination, with all the other information clearly displayed on each entry. Taking this simple step will make the site easier to navigate for users and search engines too.
Tags: SEO, web design, website improvement
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