Your website may have looked fine a decade ago but much has changed. User expectations are higher than ever before and simply engaging any web design team to create or ramp an existing website will not do. The onus is on you, the business owner or contracted individual, to review any newly created website and make sure that it incorporates these important Denver web design techniques for 2016.
1. Functionality
The user experience is of primary importance. Viewers need to find the information they need easily and be able to checkout with as few limitations and clicks as possible. This is essential when dealing with the shorter frustration threshold of the millennial generation, but applies to any audience.
Ensure that:
- Contact information can be found easily on every page. No one needs to hunt and peck for direct email and phone information. Make it easy for prospects to become a sales qualified lead and contact your team.
- All links work and broken links are removed or replaced by active ones. Links that prompt error messages reduce confidence in your website and any offers.
- Secure payment gateways continue to be a mainstay for payments and address the traditional credit or debit card route, but offering PayPal and Apple Pay options, as examples, are good ways to offer your audience additional payment options. Apple Pay works well in a growing number of Apps and may be worth looking into if your organization will include a personalized app for Smartphones and Tablets.
Make it easy for viewers to research information themselves and take the necessary next steps toward conversion.
2. Responsive Web Design
Your website needs to be easily viewed across smartphones, laptops and tablets. Google has made responsiveness a priority in web design as they make 2016 the year that they will use responsive web design as part of how they calculate your organization’s SERP.
Your site needs to be optimized to view well across devices. What looks perfect on your desktop may appear cut-off when viewed from a handheld device. Decisions need to be made on how to display side menus and how to adapt any hover features to a touch screen environment.
Loading time is a concern as well. Milliseconds of waiting for images or graphics to load can turn off a prospect. Graphics, images and video need to be able to load lightning-fast on their device. Review how your visuals play across devices and fine-tune as necessary.
3. Video
Video needs to be mentioned as one of our top Denver Web Design Techniques for 2016. People are attracted to movement and connect emotionally with others via video. Video is a simple way to get prospects to know your organization and build trust. It also helps you to qualify prospects as they click and view. An analysis of behavior can help you nurture them through to conversion with related and useful information. Video increases the time spent on a page view and can be formatted to be shared with a viewer’s own circle, increasing the potential reach of your efforts. Google touts video as being a necessary component for an organization’s mobile marketing strategy, stating:
“Mobile viewers are in fact more likely to watch, share, and feel connected to ads and branded video.”
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Increase your online engagement like never before with these top Denver Web Design Techniques for 2016.