If you run an online business, you will know how important your website is. A good website will make a strong impression on people, and it will also showcase all of the reasons why they should trust you as well. It will highlight the value of your offering, and it will encourage them to sign up for any newsletters you might have. With that being said, if your website isn’t up to par, you might not be getting the results you want, and the money you’re spending on marketing will be wasted.
Take Note of High Bounce Rates
One of the most obvious signs that your website is confusing new visitors is if you have a very high bounce rate. A bounce rate is when a visitor lands on your website page and then leaves without any interaction. If this happens a lot, there’s a chance your site needs some work. If you need to have a lot of elements on your site, you may not think that there’s a way to simplify this, but that’s not the case.
For example, if you look at the page for Slingo Games at Paddy Power, you will see that there are a total of 34 games. You can see the bonus and free spins information at the top, along with a clear list of the available titles, making it easy for users to navigate. Pages like this help to show that it is possible for you to have a lot of different elements on a page, without confusing the user. All you need to do is create a visual hierarchy and use white space to separate each element.
Another example would be Amazon, whose website has everything clearly organised with daily deals listed in the top banner. You can access a range of categories with a single click, without having to scroll down the page, and with boxes for items you’ve bought before. It’s efficient, even with lots of different options to choose from. Again, Amazon sells thousands and thousands of products, so if you run an eCommerce site, you can take inspiration from what they’ve done to prevent your site from overwhelming your users.
Unclear Navigation
Simple menus, like the ones you can find on this page at Flux Academy, are one of the best ways for you to reduce visual clutter. Try and walk through your site from a visitor’s perspective or even ask one of your employees to do it. Can they easily find what they’re looking for? You also need to give some thought to the language and graphics you are using. It may be that your offers are not presented using compelling language, or that you don’t have a clear CTA. If you don’t give thought to things like this, then your users probably won’t have any idea what you want them to do, and they won’t be able to take advantage of the sales you’re putting on because your website isn’t facilitating it. No amount of marketing will fix this, as the issue lies with your site.
Make sure that your users can find everything they need, and that it’s clear and concise. You don’t need to cut down on the elements you have, but you do need to make sure that they are presented well. You also need to give thought to your pages that have the highest bounce rate so you can pinpoint the issue at the source and actively deal with it. If you can do this, you can make sure that your site isn’t confusing your users and giving them a negative experience.
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