Your Website – What Matters and What Doesn’t

Everyone who’s part of your business has an opinion on what needs to be on your website and what doesn’t. No doubt, you’ve heard plenty of perspectives. But what really matters and what doesn’t? What are some of the measurable things that make one site a better resource than another?

Research shows that it takes just milliseconds – less than the blink of an eye – for a visitor to decide whether or not they find your site appealing. From there, you have just 2.6 seconds for their eye to land on the area of your site that influences their first impression. Translation: Your site better make people happy, and it better do it quick.

What Matters

• A Good Design – 94% of first impressions are design related. It turns out that “good” designs deliver a simple interface that feels familiar. Don’t be like everyone else, but don’t rock the boat either.
• Fun to Read Content – If your site is just endless text you will lose your reader. Break it up with feature blocks, bullets, graphics and other ways of “chunking” the content so it’s more manageable.
• Mobile Friendliness – Your site absolutely must look good in all devices. If you are still working off a non-mobile or separate mobile site, it’s time to ditch it. 62% of companies that designed for mobile devices reported an increase in sales.
• Easy to Find Contact Info – Your forms should be simple to fill out and contact info readily available. No one should have to spend even 1 second figuring out how to get a hold of you.
• Examples of Your Products or Services – If you are selling widgets, show them in high def and point out all the benefits. If you sell a service or experience, get customer stories and testimonials front and center.

What Does Not Matter

• Your Industry Logos – You’ve worked hard for your credentials and certifications. Kudos. But does your customer really care? (Hint, they don’t.) Most industry logos aren’t even known to the general public so you are better off explaining the benefit of your certification or membership rather than displaying an unrecognizable logo.
• A List of Everything You Have Done, Ever – The goal of a website is to get customers interested enough to reach out and do business with you. It’s not a place to tell your life story. (That’s what your vanity press autobiography is for!) Give customers a quick sense of who you are and what your business stands for. Keep it short and sweet.
• Everything on Your Homepage – You know all that time you spent stressing over exactly what to feature on your homepage? You could have spent a good chunk of it catching up on your favorite 90’s show on Hulu instead (X-Files anyone?). Your homepage needs to give that great first impression like we talked about above. Though it’s tempting and all too easy to do, don’t overload it. Remember that search engines index all of your site and for most sites the first page a typical visitor will see WON’T be the homepage.
• Industry Jargon and External Links – People came to your site to learn about you, not other sites you like. Putting other industry sites on your site just risks the chance your visitor gets distracted and leaves. Besides, your industry should be linking to you, not the other way around. Regardless of your industry, speak to everyone on a 6th-7th grade reading level. Don’t use your industry “lingo” – choose clear and concise messaging that anyone can understand.

This list can go on and on but the point here is that when thinking about what belongs on your site and what doesn’t, businesses (especially owners) too often get caught up on what they want on their website instead of what a visitor wants. Check your ego at the door and put yourself in your customer’s shoes and then work out what is best featured online.