Businesses must use every advantage available to them to stay relevant and competitive in their Industry. Businesses could get away with more in years past, but modern technology-driven by advanced computer systems has made certain features or services a near requirement if a business wants to be successful. Certain industries have even more expectations from customers as any business that primarily functions online is expected to have a robust and well-designed website. Software development companies are expected to have a stable and informative website that is superior to a company website for a business not involved in technology. The business website for a software company acts as a central hub and marketing tool so it must meet the highest customer’s standards to be fully effective. Below are a few ways to design a website geared for a software development business.
Easy to Understand
Software development can be an incredibly technically dense topic. Most software is developed to solve a specific problem, meaning the explanation of a piece of software can delve into niche topics a layperson may not understand. It can be tempting to explain a piece of software in detail, but overloading a customer with too much information is counterproductive as 30% of people will leave a website that contains overly long content. The key is to find the balance between under-explaining a product leaving the customer confused and over-explaining a product that will overwhelm a customer. Only include information about your software that a customer must know to fully understand your software and limit the amount of hyper-detailed information for the best results.
Most website visitors will not scroll down the page with most visitors only looking at 28% of a page’s content. Since most visitors don’t read the entire page, it is important to feature the most important information “above the fold” or before a visitor would need to scroll down. Quickly and concisely list the key features and benefits of your software above the fold to entice readers to continue learning about your product.
Formatting
Formatting also plays a role in ensuring a customer is not overwhelmed by information. No one wants to read a massive block of text without line breaks. Separate paragraphs by topic and subtopic to break up a large text wall. Use graphics to explain points when possible to add visual interest and keep customers engaged. White space is also key to properly formatting website content, especially technical specifications, prices, and key features. Put the technical specs, price, and feature list of your software on a white background to ensure the information is not overshadowed by poor aesthetic design. Busy patterns, bright colors, and image background may look interesting, but they can make reading text more difficult. The goal of your website is to sell the software you have developed, so your website design should never compete with your product for attention.
Call to Action
No matter how well you describe your software, if you do not include a call to action and an easy path to purchase, many readers will never convert to become paying customers. Include a bold, relevant, and obvious call to action button or link where customers can easily click to be taken to a purchasing page. The button should contrast the color of the background so a reader’s eye cannot miss it. Place call to action buttons in logical places; a button to purchase software on your home page will likely be ineffective as a visitor has no idea what that software does yet. Connect the call to action button copy to the page it is placed on to reflect the customer’s current progress on the path to purchase.
Extensive Testing and Maintenance
No matter how well-designed your website is, if the site does not run smoothly, visitors will quickly leave. Before you launch a new site or page, test it extensively for potential issues so once customers reach the page their experience is never interrupted by technical problems. Optimize your website for all platforms, especially mobile, to attract visitors across the board. Even once a site or page launches, it will require consistent maintenance as links can break, code can glitch, and a myriad of other issues can occur if a site is not monitored. A stable and properly functioning website is of the utmost importance for a software developer as a poorly made website reflects badly on the company and its products. Even though software development and website design are different fields, customers will question the quality of your software if your website is sub-par.
Designing a website to promote or sell software your business has developed is a unique project. The technical nature of software can make content tricky to balance between not enough information and too much information. With careful content consideration, efficient formatting, and consistent technical testing your website can boost the appeal of your software encouraging more customers to try your products.