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Whether a website is an e-commerce site or a business site designed for customer acquisition, there are goal expectations. Companies may have goals around sales objectives, customer conversion, lead generation, dissemination of information, or any number of metric or user behavior goals. For any website to meet its objectives, it must be compelling, engaging, provide clear communication of navigation and desired user actions, be intuitive and simple to use, and must perform well from a functionality standpoint.

1. Visual appeal. A site’s aesthetics is the first thing the user notices, and first impressions are important. Pay attention to balance, color schemes, visual hierarchy, readable font and other aesthetics. Include quality images such as photography, a video, infographics, or animations to command attention, encourage user engagement, and boost SEO.

2. Intuitive navigation. Users who have to struggle to find where to go, get frustrated and often abandon the site. Ensure that navigation is clearly labeled, arranged by hierarchy, and visible at the top of the fold where the user expects it. Avoid hidden navigation such as hamburger menus which could confuse users and cause them to miss important areas of the website.

3. Clear CTAs and communication of desired user actions. It’s difficult to achieve objectives if you don’t inform the audience about what it is you are promoting. Whether focusing on lead generation, email list sign ups or pushing a promotion, utilize clear CTAs above the fold. Use contrasting colors and bold font as well as action verbiage to prompt user engagement.

4. Functionality. Functionality is among the biggest factors in user engagement, and without engagement, you cannot achieve your website goals. Use a quality hosting service to avoid interruptions and ensure good loading speed. Loading speed is paramount in user retention and should be kept to no more than two to three seconds. Websites should be mobile-responsive to capitalize on mobile device use. Most users access the internet via their mobile devices on a regular basis.  Regularly maintain your website to ensure that links are working and the site is otherwise functionally sound.

5. Trustworthiness. If a customer is going to disclose personal information, make a purchase or otherwise engage with a business website, they want to know that they are trustworthy. Doubt-causing issues such as lack of social proof, no responses to customer queries, lack of trust badges, and lack of customer testimonials deter business website from meeting their goals. Include security seals, a customer testimonial and question and answer section, and updated articles, blogs, and other content in the interface.

6. Make your website and its components shareable. Make sure your website is easily sharable to build brand awareness and drive traffic to the site. Include social sharing buttons on all pages, images, and content. Include titles, descriptions, and URLs for all images and content, and consider implementing a container-style design for easily shareable web components.

7. Optimization Optimization drives traffic, and businesses require traffic to survive. Ensure that the website is optimized by including goal-focused keywords in titles, URLs, headers, footers, navigation, and content. Maintain outbound links that provide additional user value, backlinks from reputable and relevant sources, and internal linking.  Add titles, descriptions, keywords, and URLs to all images and shareable content. Update content such as videos, articles, blogs, industry news, and more to provide value and additional SEO opportunities. Maintain the website regularly seeing to fast loading speed, clean coding, and minification when appropriate. Ensure that the website has an accurate sitemap for search engine indexing.

Avatar New York is an innovating, award-winning web design New York firm dedicated to providing clients with responsive websites that help grow brands and convert visitors to customers. With an expertise in web development, branding, cloud hosting, mobile app development, and CMS and e-commerce solutions, Avatar New York's top tier designers have the ability to create intelligent websites for any type of business.