You can’t judge a book by its cover… but you better believe that people will judge your company on how well your website is designed! There’s more to design than simply aesthetics; your website’s layout, navigation and ease of use is all tied to how you’ve designed your website. Here are a few trends and rules to keep in mind for 2017:
Your website MUST be responsive
75% of all web use is used on mobile de vices as of this year. This is up 15% in just 2 years! What does this mean for your website? If you want to be relevant to your audiences, a mobile responsive website will be necessary for 3 reasons:
- We rely on our phones as the “first line of access.” The internet is at our fingertips in a matter of seconds. A brand’s website must be mobile responsive because that is where we are most of the time –on the go and expecting our phones to support us with whatever we need to accomplish.
- User experience is what leads to earned or lost sales – According to a recent study, 85% of people state that a mobile website should be as good as or better than their desktop version.
- It improves SEO ranking – Google ranks sites based on a number of factors, including site speed, optimized pages/images and mobile responsiveness.
More Video
It is taking over the internet. Video will account for 80% of global internet traffic by 2019, and marketers are already increasing their budgets for video production in response to this growing trend. Outpace your competition and connect with your consumers on a deeper level by including video on your website.
Content Personalization and Automation
Personalization has long been important for companies engaged in e-commerce, but now content personalization has become accustomed and expected by website visitors from your brand’s online presence and who they engage with. Personalization, along with marketing automation technology, on your brand’s website will allow you to deliver content that addresses their unique needs and interests at every touchpoint.
User-Friendly is Key
According to Kissmetrics, 47% of people expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less; old, outdated websites have a tendency to take longer to load. Plus, if your website is difficult to navigate and you have content buried in pages where it won’t get found easily, you’re damaging your overall user-experience. Both load time and navigation are a big part of your website’s overall performance – making sure they’re efficient and up to speed will result in visitors spending more time browsing your website and coming back for more.
Your Website Must Match Your Branding
New products and packaging are commonplace for innovative companies in the fresh produce space, but has the look of your website kept up with your company’s growth? As the “face” of your overall brand, it’s essential that your website provide a consistent experience, look and feel compared to your other brand assets.
Collect Data
If you aren’t sure what a conversion rate is for your website, then this probably applies to you. Websites have come a long way and can now serve as useful tools for marketers to gather data on their visitors that will allow them to make more strategic decisions and provide valuable information back to their sales teams and the C-suite.
Are you willing to take the time to make sure your website visitors have the best experience with your brand that you can offer? If you’re not sure where your website stands or if you know it needs a facelift, our website assessment can help. Contact us to learn more!
{{cta(‘d1134a5b-cbc9-4393-bf41-9d908066cf5b’)}}
