10 Tips for the Perfect Customer-Focused Website

Let’s cut to the chase: your website is not just something that’s nice to have. It’s your digital storefront, it’s your brand’s hype squad, and it’s possibly the best salesperson you’re ever going to have. 

If your website isn’t making customers feel seen, heard, and served within seconds of landing, then you’ve got some work to do. The website that you have available for your customers to look at should be one that is easy to use, easy to collaborate with and one that is not confusing to look at, which means it should reflect your branding with perfection.

We’re going to go straight into some of the no nonsense tips that you need to create a customer focused website that converts delights and makes your competition sweat.

Image source: Pexels

1. This is not all about you. We get it, you’re very proud of your business, and so you should be. You’re proud of how far you’ve come and you know exactly where you want your business to go and you’re making the moves to make that happen. However, if your website is not up to scratch, you’re going to find yourself failing. Your website is not your online diary and it’s not something for you to feel proud of in the sense that it looks pretty. This is for your customers! You need to stop talking only about how awesome you are and start thinking about how you are solving their problems and how you can show it. Focusing your homepage and your services pages on what your customers need and how you can help them is what they’re looking for in terms of their experience. You should use languages such as you and your, not just we and our.
2. Keep your design updated. First impressions really don’t matter to customers and the last thing you want is for them to Click to your website only to be met with some 2006 Microsoft Word art level design. In fact, modern website design isn’t about being flashy, it’s about being clean and user friendly and fast. Not only that, it needs to be mobile.Because without mobile optimization, you’re going to fail. Your fonts need to be reasonable, readable, consistent, and visually beautiful. It should feel like your brand, but better than that. White space is actually your friend when it comes to your website, so don’t clutter the place up like a yard sale.
3. Make navigation stupidly easy. If your visitors need a map and a flashlight to find your contact page, your website is a failure. You’re going to lose customers before you even get started if they can’t even find the search bar. The navigation bar should be crystal clear and it should be kept simple. Each website page should be clearly marked, and your call to action should be able to Scroll down the page with ease. Drop down menus shouldn’t be messy, they should be logical, and you should never hide the important stuff behind giant imagery. If you wouldn’t scroll right the way down to the bottom of a web page to get some information, you shouldn’t expect your customers to do that either.
4. Make sure it’s loading fast. We’ve all done it: we all click away very quickly from a website that doesn’t upload in 2 seconds. Your customers are going to do the same thing and you have to think like a customer if you want to impress them. You need to show them that you are in their shoes and you appreciate their time and that means fast loading speeds are not negotiable. Making sure that your slow loading pages are combated quickly is going to help your website to be on its best foot forward.
5. Make your calls to action clear. You should not make people guess what to do next. If you want them to book a call or buy a product or subscribe, tell them and be loud about it. Call to actions should be bold and obvious and they should be everywhere that they need to be. There shouldn’t be any hiding out at the bottom of the page like a shy toddler. Add little personality with it because wording like “make my life easier” sounds way more fun than “submit form”.

Image source: Pexels

6. Show off those testimonials. People trust people and when it comes down to it, nobody wants to be the first to try a product or service. We all do it. We all look for reviews when it comes to buying products or going on holidays. Sprinkling your website with client reviews and star ratings, case studies, and even video testimonials can really offer that social proof that people are looking for. And try not to clean.Up your comments too much on social media. If there’s someone calling you out for something on your website, show how you answer those questions and allow those comments to stay up. If people can see that you’re the kind of business that responds, they’re going to keep coming back to you.
7. Be obsessed with mobile optimization. People are stalking your site from their phones while they’re waiting for coffee, or they’re avoiding awkward eye contact on the train to work. If your site isn’t responsive on mobile, it’s game over for you. Buttons should be tappable, fonts should be readable, and layouts should flow like a dream.
8. Add content that actually helps. The content on your website should serve your customer before they buy from you. Put yourself again in the customer’s shoes and decide what kinds of blogs you’d want to read off your website. There should be FAQs guides and ideally some video sound bites that show people how to use the products. It’s a good way to have value packed content that builds trust, because trust equals conversions.
9. Let your personality shine. The website doesn’t have to be boring just because it’s professional. If you’re a bold and quirky owner, then have a bold and quirky website. Make sure that you inject some humanity into it because a little sass goes a long way.
10. Don’t forget to update it. We’re not going to divulge too much on this tip because it’s self-explanatory, but updating your website regularly and keeping it secure is so important if you want your business to flourish.