Your website is immensely important to your company's digital presence. Without a website, or one that engages and interests visitors, you are going to experience far fewer conversions. What can really help if you're having problems with this is to begin looking at your website from the customer's point of view. This can be difficult for business owners to do, however, as you can't offer an objective perspective. Luckily, however, there are several options you have if you want to look at your site from the customer's point of view.
1. Customer Surveys
The best way to get an idea for how customers feel about your website is to simply ask them about it. This is a great step to take if you suspect your website might not be working as intended or you are gearing up to redo it. It can also have the added benefit of customers feeling more inclined to provide testimonials for your website as well as leave reviews online. Carefully plan and draft the questions in the survey so the answers you get will have the most helpful information. For example, you can ask customers about their first impression upon arriving at the site or whether they feel something is missing from a particular page. You can offer them incentives to take the survey, such as discounts, freebies or other things. With customers, you won't want the survey to be as long or detailed as with test audiences. If it gets too long and complicated they're likely to stop and not complete the survey.
2. Test Audiences
Informally get some people you know, or hire test audiences, to peruse your website and fill out a questionnaire about it. This is a great way to get an early third party opinion on your website's design and ease of use without breaking the bank or having it go live just yet. It can also be a great tool for diagnosing issues with your new website or discovering ways in which you can improve it before it ever goes live. Like with customer surveys, you need to carefully plan out the questionnaires to get the most out of your feedback. Test audiences can be better than customer surveys because you will likely get a greater spectrum of opinion, and the questionnaires can be more in-depth. For example, you could give your test audience specific tasks to accomplish like submitting a contact form or finding information on a particular product, and then ask them to describe how easy or difficult the process was.
3. A Professional Web Designer
Professional web designers, like those at Web Development Services, know what goes into making a good website. If your business can at all afford one, you should strongly consider it. They are going to be able to design easy to navigate interfaces, use colors and images that mesh well, make the website visually attractive, and not overload a visitor with too much information and much more. They will also test the site thoroughly to ensure its functioning properly before launch. There are even services that can not only design you a website, but do all sorts of other services for your digital brand, including mobile optimization, app development, branding, evaluating user experience and more.
Definitely check out your competitors' websites as well as think about your own preferences when browsing online. What traits do sites that interest you the most share? Make a list and work on incorporating those elements into your business's own site while still making it your own. Ask existing customers or test audiences what they think of your site and hire a professional web designer. With all this in mind, you'll be able to create a website your customers love.