Today I had one of the worst website experiences I think I have ever had. I was doing some work with a client, helping them out with packaging ideas for retail sales. We needed to find a supplier who would design, manufacture and colour print plastic packaging. Doesn’t sound too complex does it?
Gobsmacked!!
Well let me tell you, it has been a major and gobsmackingly boring mission. I’m not about to name and shame but one website I visited focused almost entirely on the technical process of printing (even going so far as to enlighten me that the printing process hasn’t really changed in 500 years). After 5 wasted minutes I still have no idea if or how this business can help me with my problem.
This got me thinking about how many bad websites are in existence, and what you can do to make sure you’re not one of them.
Here are my top 10 tips:
Ten Tips
- Don’t sacrifice simple structure and great content for over the top design or an overload of technical data. Great design will interest your audience for about a nano second but if they can’t find what they are looking for in the first 10 seconds they will probably be gone, never to return.
- Make sure your designer actually reads your content – or make sure you have someone who is giving your designer a detailed briefing. If you pass content to your designer that includes little “Sidebar” snippets of information, the last thing you want to see on your website is a heading called “Sidebar”.
- Don’t include pointless information in order to look like you have a lot to say. Your website needs to let your audience know who you are, what you do, what you can do for them and how they can contact you. They have no interest in reading pages of information on your technical processes or the early years of your business founders.
- Do include the right information – if someone clicks on a link on your website they are interested in reading more. Don’t waste their time by linking them through to irrelevant information, or to a one liner that really doesn’t leave them with a clue about what it is that you do.
- Make sure you break up your text – it’s no fun reading 5000 words all in one big block. As time-poor readers we tend to skim online content so it’s important that content is broken out into short paragraphs or bullet points.
- Check that all of the links on your website are actually working. Once you’ve confirmed that they are, check them again. The last thing you want is for your customers to find what’s broken on your website
- If you have video or audio content make sure you provide accompanying text alongside the media so your content can be skimmed.
- Make sure your content is up to date. If you often change pricing or product profiles, triple check that this is updated in all areas of your website, including your FAQs section.
- Have a FAQs section – this is a great way for customers to self help and self educate and also allows you to write FAQs in a way that can help with search rankings.
- Don’t settle for ancient updates – if you have a news or blog section (and I recommend you do), then make sure it has regular updates. Nothing is more off-putting that to see that the last interesting piece of material on a website was posted 3 years ago.
Most importantly, remember that your website content needs to be SIMPLE, easy to follow and RELEVANT to you audience.
To find out more about creating great content for your website, call Pauline for a chat on 0400 514579 or email pauline@worddynamics.com.au