Our best opportunity to stand out in a competitive market is a branded website that makes a positive first impression. Web design, to put it simply, is complex. A website’s purpose is its available and accurate representation of a business, product, or service. When built upon four pillars: the user, content, experience, and optimization your website will work harder and more effectively than any sales team at selling your product or service while also generating trust.
4 pillars of a user-friendly website
- Pillar 1: User
- Pillar 2: Content
- Pillar 3: Experience
- Pillar 4: Optimization
pillar
1
User:
Person with a problem looking for a solution
At any time, visitors to a website can immediately uncover details about our business, such as:
- Who we are
- What we do
- Where we are located
However, many small business websites today miss out on making an impact because the list above lacks critical information, like:
- Who we serve
- How we serve them
- Why we care
Q.1
Who do you serve, and why does this matter?
Due to advances in online technology, today's customers are more distracted, skeptical, knowledgeable, and have greater expectations. Today’s savvy consumers don’t care about what you’ve done; they care about what they’ve done and are looking for solutions. Trusting that you are the solution is successful marketing.
Q.2
Who is your user?
A user is a person looking for information online. A user-friendly website understands who that person is and features information that answers their questions. In the early days of the internet, web designers knew little about internet users. Very little was measurable, making every decision an educated guess.
Knowing who our customer is will inform us about what is relevant and valuable to them. We can also use analytics to learn more quantifiable information about our customers, such as their location, what device they are using, how they found us, and what page they landed on.
pillar
2
Content:
Your solution to the user’s problem
Many small business owners innocently fill the pages of our websites with information about ourselves, our accomplishments, our services, or our products. We mistakenly broadcast, “look at what I do and all I’ve done.” Consumers aren’t interested in what we’ve done but are looking for solutions to their problems.
Messaging such as, “I know what you need, and this is how I can help,” is more compelling and influential. While both approaches communicate our expertise, the latter communicates empathy and connects with our customers, personally.
Q.3
How do we create relevant content?
The first step is to know the overlap of our customers’ goals, needs, and desires and how that overlap relates to what we offer. Then we define and target our messaging through imagery, tone, and focus. If your website doesn’t answer your customer’s questions, hold their attention, or worse, can’t be found, it doesn’t do anyone any good.
Take, for example, a landing page for a family law office which features a video panning a wall of degrees and certificates. This video certainly communicates expertise but misses the opportunity to address their client’s needs. Instead of a gallery of certificates, a video capturing the emotions of a father winning a custody battle is much more meaningful and impactful. Emotion-driven creative content is our specialty at Creatively and Co.
pillar
3
Experience:
How users consume information
It’s been over 40 years since Xerox released the first graphical user interface (GUI). Since then, marketers and web designers have studied how we consume information online leading to a field of study focusing on patterns of behavior called User Experience (UX) design. Increasing online consumerism and business along with advancements in smart technology led to the development of design standards called User-Interface (UI) design. UX strongly influences UI and vice versa. Both are equally important for a user-friendly website.
User-experience Design (UX)
UX design considers how users interact with and respond to an interface, service, or product. The more time we spend online, the more accustomed we become to the placement of online elements and how they function. How we navigate and use features – the search bar, for example, due to its importance, is usually prominently positioned on the top-right corner of a page. When a button or link doesn't behave the way we expect, we get frustrated, negatively impacting our experience.
Negative user experiences are common with older websites that are antiquated and unresponsive. We all know the frustration of looking up information online only to come upon a dead link, navigation that isn’t clearly defined, dropdown menus that disappear when we move our cursor or content that is difficult to read. Most especially frustrating is looking for vital information like the elusive ‘contact customer service’ link.
User Interface Design (UI)
UI design is the systemization of visual elements like fonts, buttons, and links on a website or app. In UI consistency is key. Consistently styled components help visitors know what is expected of them and will generate trust through brand alignment.
Q.4
Is your website easy to use?
Well-designed user interface (UI) contributes to a positive user experience (UX).
Q.5
Is your website easy to use?
Customers purchase from businesses that appear legitimate. Branding gives legitimacy to our product or service. Consistency in a tone of voice in our copy, style of photography and graphics, color scheme, and typefaces further validate our branding efforts. This matters to potential customers. A well-designed and branded website can immediately communicate additional information about our business, such as our:
- Values
- Professionalism
- Expertise
- Trustworthiness
- Status
- Longevity
“Branding is a profoundly transformative process – it changes how our clients perceive our business and how we see ourselves.”
pillar
4
Optimization:
How a users finds information
Imagine potential customers needing our product or service but are unable to contact us because we don't appear in their browser’s search results. Many small business owners are unaware that their website's lack of optimization renders them invisible to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Optimization is necessary for three primary functions:
- Search queries in search engines
- Page load quickly
- Viewing on mobile devices
Q.6
Can your website be found on Google search?
Optimization is the O in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Our website page titles, image descriptions, and copy need to feature searchable keywords otherwise our website will be lost. Creating original content in response to our customer’s needs is what Google asks of us. However, we can’t simply create great content; it must be optimized for Google’s bots to search and understand. When done well, we become like a preferred child – getting to ride in the front seat of the search results page.
Q.7
Does your website load quickly?
A website that loads quickly is crucial for a positive, user-friendly experience on desktop and mobile. Updating outdated websites, optimizing image sizes, and simplifying code can reduce web page loading time.
Q.8
Can your website be easily read on a smart device?
The iPhone changed the world by changing how we purchase, do business, and handle our daily tasks. Today, 50% of online traffic worldwide uses mobile. The shift to mobile devices changed how designers approach web solutions and is termed 'mobile-first'.
Q.9
Is your website mobile-friendly?
Today, all websites must be responsive for smart devices. Google now punishes sites that aren’t mobile-friendly. In other words, you definitely won’t get to ride in the front seat – you won’t get to ride at all. Optimizing your website to be easily read on all devices is critical to doing business in a mobile world.
“The care demonstrated in our online presence equals the perceived value of our product or service.”
Does Your Website Matter to Your Customer?
A website gives your business legitimacy and offers much more than a digital brochure. Improvements in any one of the following areas will increase your company’s perceived trustworthiness and can translate into increased engagement or sales:
- Content that addresses your customer’s needs
- Branded for recognition
- Formatted to be easily read
- Optimized to be easily found
There remain many local businesses whose online presence is a Facebook page, a Yelp rating, or a non-responsive HTML website. Modern websites function as a measuring tool to capture and quantify vital information about those looking to do business with us. Without a website, could we be missing out on valuable information about our customers?
As business owners who care about serving our customers, we can communicate this care through a professionally branded website developed with the customer in mind.
Are You Confident In Your Brand?
We've compiled a checklist of 10 must-haves every brand needs to make a meaningful impact.
10 Branding Principles
