As the digital landscape continues to evolve to the Web 3.0 model, websites are still incredibly relevant. When you’ve created a brand, the company website is still one of the first points of engagement. When visitors land on your website, the goal is to get and keep their attention long enough to follow through on the call-to-action prompts. The percentage of people who leave quickly without taking action is called the bounce rate. The goal is to get the bounce rate as low as possible. In order to decrease your website’s bounce rate, utilize site design through these five tips.
Improve Website Layout
Your web design may be one of the most important parts of your website next to the content. If it looks chaotic and unattractive, it’s going to be easy for people to get visually flustered and leave the site the moment it loads. The location of the call-to-action buttons, as well as the navigation, is an important way to showcase that your site is up to date. In the past, vertical navigation menus were the standard, however, if you have vertical navigation today, it is likely that your site will look out of date. Not only does this increase your website bounce rate, it can also make your business seem out of date as well. Instead, use a hamburger menu or a horizontal navigation bar. Your menu layout should include with a maximum of seven primary links, however the fewer the better. For example, if you are a service-based company and offer a variety of services, then it may be better to have four primary navigation links; one link being the home page, one about page, one contact page, and one service page. This is what users expect when visiting a website and when you meet expectations, they are more likely to continue on your page instead of clicking out of it.
Use Brand Colors
Instead of trying to catch users’ attention with bold and bright colors, use color psychology to your advantage by choosing colors that are inviting and visually enticing while also showcasing your branding. Make sure there’s enough white space in addition to the colors you choose. When a website looks clean and fresh, you’ll have a better chance of drawing the eye and keeping a person engaged. In addition to keeping things fresh, consider current website color trends and what people are used to looking at. In the late 90’s early 2000’s, the brighter and bolder the colors, the better. However, more recently, it’s better to have neutral colors with small bits of colors that match your branding. For example, making white the color behind the main content such as paragraphs of text is ideal. Not only is this a clean design, but the white background also makes it easier for users to read the text. In short, make sure that the colors you use on your website makes it as easy as possible for users to digest the information you have to share with them.
Design Your Text
The text is one of the most important aspects of your site design. The text is what conveys the most information and thus it should be carefully designed. Avoid the temptation to write large blocks of text. In fact, it’s best to break up the font into smaller paragraphs. Don’t include a long page of size 12 font. Most people will see a ton of words and leave. Instead, break up the text with pictures. Make sure to diversify the sizing of the font as well to differentiate between headers and paragraph text. In addition, consider a maximum of two fonts so that the design is concise and not too busy.
Provide the Right Information
If you’re running a clothing e-Commerce brand, provide adequate information about the clothing. Take great photos with good lighting. Consider hanging the clothing on a mannequin or a live model in order to help the customer understand how the clothing looks on a body. Provide measurements for each size along with the fabric materials and more. Consider using videos to showcase the product from all angles. The more you’re able to provide informative content that keeps the customer’s attention, you’ll decrease your website’s bounce rate.
Always Check the Links
For search engine optimization purposes, it’s great to develop a practice of linking content internally to other pages of your website. However, you’ll need to regularly check the links to make sure they work. When the links don’t work, this looks unprofessional and can cause a potential customer to move on to a brand with links that work.
Create a Mobile-Friendly Design
While laptops and desktop computers still have their place, a lot of people spend a significant amount of time on their mobile phones. During the 2018 holiday season, almost 40% of all eCommerce purchases were made through mobile phones. Knowing this, always focus on improving the quality of the web design from a mobile perspective. Whether they’re scrolling through content on your page or making a purchase, make the process as easy and seamless as possible for someone to operate from their mobile phone.
When you really study the psychology of why people do what they do, it’s pretty common for people to follow through on a particular task because it was the easiest choice. Think of Amazon’s one-click strategy. When the credit card is already on file, it’s really easy for a person to quickly make the purchase. By getting behind your customer’s psychology and utilizing these tips, you’ll increase your chances of effectively using site design to decrease your website’s bounce rate.
