When is it Time for a Website Redesign?

How Does Design, Layout and Usability Affect SEO?

Just what kind of impact does your website design have on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)? It’s easy to think of your layout and usability as totally unconnected with your search engine rank, but the truth is that all of these factors play a subtle but important role. Getting the visit is the first obvious step. But keeping the user on your site and encouraging them to browse your products is an essential part of SEO which will have a direct impact on your average time spent on site and therefore your search position. By following this simple checklist, you can be sure to use your design to maximise your SEO and chances of making that conversion into a sale!

No Second Chances for a First Impression – Establishing Trust

They say that a book is judged by it’s cover, but this is also true for your website and products.  Most people will have decided whether they feel comfortable purchasing from you within the first 30 seconds, before even browsing your site! First impressions are not only important to be taken seriously in your industry, but are especially important for businesses taking payments online. You are asking potential customers to trust you with their credit card details, and even the slightest doubt in a customers mind can cause them to look elsewhere. Be mindful of your industry, take a look at competitor websites in your industry. How does yours measure up? 

There are a number of neat ways you can further bolster your first impression. Could you include testimonials or positive feedback somewhere within the pages? Are you approved by any major dealers, trade organisations or perhaps have any awards, logos or stamps of approval which might be tidily included in the design of your pages? Perhaps you have worked with a particularly big client which the public might recognise. All of these devices can be used to give your website professional feel.

Behold! A Call To Action! Just How Usable is Your Layout?

Remember that your website is here to server a purpose – we want your visitor to pick up the phone or write an email and place an order. Just how easy is for them to contact you? Are your contact details clearly visible on every page? Remember that it is just as easy for a visitors to click back as it is for them to click ‘contact us‘ in the menu!

Navigation plays a key role in the usability of your site. You may view your website on a day-to-day basis, so it makes sense to you. But people have a very short attention span on the Internet, and the easier you make it for them to find what they want, the longer they will stay! Perhaps you could get a second opinion from a fresh pair of eyes that does not regularly view your website? Take all feedback very seriously!

Greater numbers of links between pages are almost always better to include than too few. If you discuss a topic in the text itself, don’t be afraid to include links to relevant pages when you use important phrases (even if these pages are already linked to from the navigation menu itself!). Think of your website as a shop, the more connectivity you have between paths, the better your traffic will flow. Do not rely exclusively on your navigation menu!

Avoiding Any Barriers

I often see people attempt to control this first impression with a ‘welcome’ page (or ‘splash page’) which is usually displayed before the homepage. It may seem like a good idea, but pages like these usually present an extra barrier for search engines to get around, and it moves your products one extra click away from your customers! Also, a lot of traffic will not enter your site from the ‘front door’, but will land on an inner page, making the whole thing rather pointless. There are some exceptions where this extra page might be helpful – multinational companies or businesses with multiple offices may wish to direct people to a particular branch or language website. Or perhaps just different departments of a very large company.

Bear these points in mind when next reviewing your design and you’ll not go far wrong. If in doubt, simply give your website to someone else to test and listen to their feedback carefully. As we enter 2010, I predict we will see a lot of new websites as companies prepare for the new year. If it has been a while since you last did some interior designing, perhaps now is a good time to consider a website revamp?