By James White
When it comes to Internet marketing, many people get so caught up with how to bring visitors to their site that they forget about what to do with them once they arrive. Since traffic isn’t all that useful unless it can be converted into leads, registered users or customers, you want to ensure that every visitor has the best experience possible.
If you’re interested in improving your site but simply don’t have time to go through the process of a complete redesign and overhaul, the good news is that’s not necessary. Instead, there’s plenty of low-hanging fruit that you can knock out. And even though the changes may not seem huge, they’ll have a significant cumulative impact.
To get a better idea of what usability changes you can handle on your own, here are three options for getting started:
Break Up Content
Having lots of useful content on your site is definitely a good thing. The only problem is if most of that content is in the form of big blocks of text, the majority of your visitors may click away before ever reading any of it.
Luckily, there’s a simple remedy to this common problem. All you need to do is break up your content into shorter paragraphs. Include images or graphics to get your point across. And since usability studies from different sources have all shown that online readers do a lot of scanning, use subheadings so they can get the key points before diving in any farther.
Make Everything Easy to Read
Small font sizes can look cool and sleek. And while you want people to think that your site looks good, it’s even more important that they’re able to read your content. If you’re currently using very small font sizes on your site, strongly consider updating your CSS style sheet to utilize larger fonts that are easier for people of all ages to read.
ItÂs especially important that all your tabs and links are obvious that they link to another relevant page. Easy to read font also means color consideration. Create attractive contrasts with your text and background but remember not to go too crazy. Lime green or similar bright colored backgrounds will turn people off to your site. Use calming colors that reflect the style of your brand.
Rethink Your Navigation
There’s a chance that your site may already have the perfect navigational structure. If that’s the case, feel free to give yourself a pat on the back. But the reality is most sites have room for improvement. Even if there’s not a major problem, small tweaks can make it easier for your visitors to get where you ultimately want them to end up.
If you’re not sure where to get started with this change, looking for patterns in your Google Analytics data can give you an idea of how visitors are getting around your site and if there are any parts of your navigation that don’t fully address your visitors’ habits.
Another way to decide on navigation is to look at websites you like. For example 12 Palms addiction rehab center has an excellent navigation system that only goes three layers deep and their interlinking is perfect.
If you have the money or talent to go big, Coca ColaÂs revamped site is a great example to follow if you are looking to push your content marketing. For more e-commerce sites, check out Empire CAT for how they organize and group their products without having the site cluttered.
YouÂll notice in all three examples, there is a simple and clean feel to the design. It also has just a few links on the homepage to help you get started finding what you want. Study your favorite sites and then apply what you learn to your own.
