The link between website design and customer retention
The link between website design and customer retention is strong. When visitors come to your website, they have a goal in mind, and your website should help them accomplish it. If they don’t like the website, or if they find it difficult to use, the visitors will leave. While they will not look at every technical aspect of your website from an angle of a web designer, their inner feeling will evaluate everything the eye sees, even on the subconscious level. That is why every little detail counts.
An interesting way to look at the connection between web design and customer retention is through some web design mistakes and how they affect customers.
Too complex websites push away clients
When a user connects to your website, they want a smooth experience. Most of all, they want to easily navigate the website to find what they are looking for. Website complexity directly affects their experience. But, how can you tell if your website is complex?
The number of website elements
The first thing to look at is the amount of “clutter” on your website. How many elements can the user see when they visit your home page? Are all those elements necessary, or are they just filling in empty space?
The use of unconventional navigation
Second, where is your menu located? Is it at the top where the user will expect it, or did you move it elsewhere? Also, is it hidden, and do they have to hover over a specific part of a website to get the navigation menu to show? If this is what your navigation looks like, you need to improve it today.
Poor color combinations
Another form of complexity is using too many colors or colors that aren’t contrasting. You are playing with your visitors’ eyesight, making the website hard to look at and process what is happening.
Mixing typographies
Imagine reading a blog where the title uses one font, the article text another, and then you have a third font showing customer comments. That looks like a giant mess that will only confuse the readers.
It would be best to decide on what typography to use and be consistent with it throughout your entire website. It is correct that you can mix some fonts, but you should not overdo it.
No visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy means the user can clearly tell what visual element is more important than the rest. For example, if a website sells furniture, the product page should have the main product and similar products. The image for the main product should be the largest, and it should take the center part of the screen, while everything else should be out of the main focus.
Using low-resolution photos
Website loading speed is essential for your business, and one of the elements that affect it the most is large images. Users don’t want to visit a slow website, and you might be tempted to use low-resolution photos to remedy that problem.
However, that is a mistake. All images must be clear, high quality, and of the correct size. What you can do is use tools to optimize image size without losing quality. Also, you can keep images on a CDN server instead of your website. That will substantially improve the loading speed.
Outdated design trends
If you are not researching the latest design trends, you will likely use something outdated. Even if you had a beautiful website a few years ago, things have changed, and your website design needs an upgrade.
Research competitor websites and analyze how they look compared to your website.
“Invisible” CTA buttons
Maybe the most prominent design mistake is creating CTA buttons and burying them between unimportant elements on your website or shoving them somewhere out of the flow of information.
The CTA button is responsible for all of your conversions, and if the users cannot clearly define it and use it, they will leave the website without making a purchase.
Improper use of whitespace
Whitespace on a web page is a potent element if appropriately used. The amount of whitespace can tell a lot about the quality of a website. If you have a lot of content on your pages, the content should be separate by whitespace but in such a way that you can clearly see the borders. Otherwise, your content will overlap through the whitespace, making things messy and hard to follow.
Too many ads
Ads are an excellent way to make money online. However, they should never be the star of your website. Websites with too many ads often feel spammy.
By decluttering your ad space and only leaving a few ads, you create some breathing space for other elements to shine. This is also a critical space if you wish to improve your Google ranking. Google wants more valuable content and fewer intrusive ads.
Inconsistency between web pages
There is a reason why all web pages should have a similar template. That is how you create a sense of familiarity for your visitors. If you make every page different, that will only confuse anyone who looks at your website. It would feel as if they were looking at multiple websites simultaneously. Furthermore, it will be harder to navigate the pages because every page will have something new.
The link between website design and customer retention explained
Here are a couple of additional things to have in mind when discussing web design and customer retention:
- your website needs to be responsive and optimized for mobile devices;
- do not use too many dropdowns in your navigation;
- your website needs to be accessible; that is a requirement today;
- be mindful when choosing the font size, or the website will be unreadable.
As you can see, many elements define the link between website design and customer retention. Website design needs to be flawless. That is the only way to create a fantastic customer experience and ensure your clients return for more!
Author Bio: Nick Djurovic
My success in the field is an uncanny product of having a Bachelor with Honors in Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, and Psychotherapy. With all these skills under my belt, I turned my focus to understanding and mastering Programming & Developing, as well as improving other processes. In 2019 I co-founded Digital Dot, a digital marketing agency based in New York. I adore WordPress and I’m dedicated to a loving relationship with search engines and social networks.
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