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The Internet Dark Ages
Remember the rush in the 90’s when every business owner wanted and needed to get a website thrown up on the Internet in order to compete and do business in the new digital environment.
Websites back then were…well, UGLY. It seemed they all had the standard header at the top, followed by a boxy, template look with a lack of flow down the rest of the page. There were way too many words on a single page, reading like a book with paragraph after paragraph of long, boring text. They shared a basic layout with nary a photo in site, except for the logo at the top, and blogs were not yet a “thing”. Technology was much slower, and there weren’t very many tools to design a website that made it easy to design and edit.
So let me ask you – is your website basic, boxy and boring, like 1997?
I’m pleased that web design has come a long way in the past decade or so. Internet speed has picked up in most regions, and beautiful imagery makes the user experience much more pleasant. Having video on one’s site is now in reach like never before, and the cost to create and maintain a website is far more reasonable than before.
Why then, do so many businesses still have websites that look old and unfriendly?
The Journey Back to a Fabulous Website
We at Wordflirt® recently gave our website a makeover, as we do every year or so. Things change constantly, and with the demands of helping our clients look good, we sometimes look a bit crusty ourselves. As I do with my clients, I like to include the following features that bring a website more cu
rrent:
- A wide, broad look across the page, beginning with a large image at the top, also known as a “hero” area. This captures the attention of the visitor, and usually contains a call to action.
- Responsive technology – this is a must for every website, because about 80% of website visitors these days are viewing your site from a mobile device such as a phone or tablet.
- Animation of features, such as counters, and flip boxes. These are highlight areas on the page, which move when you come to them, or hover over them.
- A parallax affect that makes a site appear to have layers so that when you scroll, part of the background image is still visible but moves with the text. I love this look!
- More images, less text. Sure, you want to give as much information about you and your product/service as possible, but we don’t recommend doing this on the homepage. Inner pages are a better place for more detail, and even then, it should be broken up into small paragraphs and images that represent what you’re trying to say.
- Social sharing is an absolute must. Google likes to see that you provide the opportunity to share parts of your website on social channels. Each page and post should have sharing links for all the main social media venues.
- Video backgrounds used cautiously. Video backgrounds on the homepage look really cool once they finally load. Therein lies the problem. Video, if not done properly, can slow the loading speed of the homepage, which can lead to two problems – one, your user gets impatient and leaves and, two, Google penalizes you for slow content.
- Contact information on every page. In addition to the actual contact info, we like to put contact boxes on most of the pages to make it easy for visitors to contact the website owner. In older site designs, you often had to hunt around for the contact information, making it burdensome.
Finally, a website should be intuitive, making it easy for the visitor to find what they need. If a visitor can’t find what they need, they will become frustrated and you could lose a lead.
I understand how difficult it can be to manage a digital presence for a business owner or team, and not everyone can have a technology employee on board. But my advice to you is to look at your website at least once every 18 months or so to make sure you still appear modern and relevant. Having a website is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” endeavor. It should always be growing and evolving just like your business.