How to Build an Engaging Website

Remember when websites were just something that was nice for a business to have? We do too, although it seems a long time ago now. Today, building an engaging website for your business isn’t optional. It’s an essential part of doing business in the modern world.

Websites give customers a first impression of your business. They can even be 24/7 salespeople with practically no overheads. Better still, your website never shows up late or sneaks out for an extra coffee break.

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about building a website that attracts and engages your customers.

 

Understand your target audience

It’s a little hard to appeal to your customers if you don’t know who they are. To reach them, you first need to understand them. For example, if you sell winter jackets, would you open a store in Darwin or Tasmania? Naturally, you’d choose the location where there’s the biggest market for your jackets.

Building your website is no different. What problems can the website solve for your customers? How does your audience prefer to consume content? Understanding what your customers expect when browsing online for your products and services allows you to design for conversions.

 

Define clear goals for your website

Once you understand your audience, you can start defining some clear goals for the website. Not all websites serve the same purpose, after all. Yours may be there specifically to sell products. It could be to generate leads and drive phone calls to your sales team. It might be to simply position your company as an industry leader and boost consumer confidence. Perhaps you want it to act as a round-the-clock salesperson.

Or, with really, really talented website developers, your site could achieve all of the above. These goals are important to map out before you start, because they determine what else you might need, such as CRM integration or APIs to link your site to third-party software.

Whatever you want your website to do for you, clearly define before you design. Now there’s a catchy slogan.

 

Focus on User Experience (UX)

Have you ever landed on a website and thought, “Where on earth is the menu button?”

We’ve all been there, which means we all understand our next step is to go straight back to Google.

Ensure your website’s navigation is simple, logical, and intuitive. Don’t use complex menu structures – keep it simple so that customers can easily find what they’re looking for.

Even better, make sure you’ve got plenty of clear CTAs. That way, your website guides customers easily where they need to go, and importantly, where you want them to go – such as a contact form or product page.

 

Make your site mobile responsive

Ok, we know what you’re going to say. Practically all websites are mobile responsive these days. And you’re right!

That’s why it’s even more crucial for businesses to ensure their websites work well on mobile devices. If, for some reason, your site gets jumbled or becomes difficult to navigate on smaller screens, it’s a dead giveaway that your website is outdated.

Not a good look when you’re trying to market yourself to customers.

Depending on which stats you use, mobile search is quickly overtaking desktop as the most common way for customers to find products and services. This further highlights the need to make sure your website is mobile-ready.

 

Prioritise loading speed

Attention spans aren’t what they used to be. Let’s be honest, where blockbuster movies were once the most popular form of entertainment, people now prefer 15-second social media reels to keep them busy.

Needless to say, the modern customer doesn’t want to wait around for anything. They want information delivered on a platter, and fast, or they’ll go elsewhere. So, if your website is slow to load, your customers will head straight back to Google.

Work with experienced web developers to ensure your pages are optimised for fast loading.

 

Focus on valuable content

Words for the sake of words are not what your customers want to see when they land on your website. They want clear, concise content that provides the answers to their questions.

Ensure that key information is clearly displayed on your site. Whether it’s pricing, service areas, product details or whatever your customers are looking for. One thing’s for certain, not many website visitors want to read an essay about your company’s history. They want to know what you can do for them, and how to make it happen.

The other side of your content, however, is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This is the process of tailoring your website’s content to suit certain search terms that your target audience is likely to use. So, always consider the balance between optimising content for search engines but also making it appeal to humans.

 

Use strong calls-to-action

We know, we already mentioned CTAs, but they’re important enough for their own section.

A call-to-action basically tells your customers what to do. But not in a pushy way.

The best websites use CTAs to guide customers to a certain result, whether it’s signing up for a mailing list, creating an account, purchasing a product or filling out a contact form

However, to be successful and keep your customers engaged, CTA’s need to be clear and well-positioned.

 

Use visual elements effectively

Let’s not forget, we’re talking about making your website engaging here. That means you’ve got to think about what might catch your customers’ attention.

Incorporating visual elements such as images, sliders, videos, infographics and more can make your site more engaging. However, make sure you don’t overdo it. Too many graphics can not only make your pages look messy and confusing, but they can also slow your site down.

   

Need help building your ideal website?

Much like Rome, a great website isn’t built in a day. But you can definitely get the process started today by having a chat with the experts at Otto Digital. We specialise in finding the right technology to support your unique business, and that includes a highly functional website. From websites to custom software development, we’re the team you can count on. To discuss your needs for a purpose-built custom website, contact us today!