Having a website does not mean you simply have your website created and leave it alone. Depending on your business, you might routinely need to modify your website so it is user-friendly and appealing to visitors.

Change The Layout

Trends in website layouts change, often annually, or you might feel like your current layout is outdated. One of the easiest improvements you can make is updating the layout, especially for your homepage. If you have as simple business website, consider changing your homepage to have tile layout, instead of a traditional main menu in the header. You might include as many tiles as you have pages on your website with each linking to their respective pages. Adding tiles with pictures or other graphics can enhance the visual appeal of your homepage. A slider on your homepage is another popular feature that can work for basic and ecommerce websites. You can use your slider to highlight a new blog post or featured products you sell. If you choose to incorporate a slider, keep it simple with no more than three or four images.

Add Video

Video is a popular media format, which can be seen on different social media platforms as pre-recorded content or live-streaming. Including video on your website can add interest to existing content. Depending on the type of business you have, you might want to change static information about your business into video format. For example, a short video clip on your website about who is behind the brand and what drives your business can add a person touch, especially for small businesses. Other types of businesses that might have written content on a blog might choose to supplement with relevant, short videos. Be mindful of the bandwidth and storage space for videos so you do not slow-down the user experience. Additionally, do not have videos that begin to play automatically, which is often annoying or disruptive.

Be Analytical

Analytics for your website is crucial for website and business as a whole. The analytics about your website can give you a clue to how well your website is doing, which can prompt changes. Your audience is unlikely to tell you about features of your website that are unappealing, unless it prevents them from accomplishing a goal like making a purchase or accessing the website entirely. In some cases, your audience might simply abandon your website in favor of another business.

When analyzing your website performance, you might want to look for specific indicators, such as pages that have an abnormally low visitor rate or features on your website that seem ignored. This could indicate your navigation makes certain items or content difficult to find or features are in obscure locations of your website. When you make updates to your website, keep an eye on your analytics to identify whether a recent change is improving or hurting your website.

Making improvements to your website design requires a combination of knowing what is working and not working for your existing website and which, if any, trends make sense for your business.