10 Reasons Why Your Website Matters
In this digital age, it's natural to assume you need a website for your business without understanding why. Read on to discover some fascinating statistics on the importance of your website and its UX and UI design.
Once upon a time, some 30 years ago, there was a world without Internet. Gasp! Those were the days of low rise jeans, Britney vs Xtina (we love them both) and Yellow Pages. When you would be knocked off chatting to your mates on MSN when your parents received a fax. Fax machines! What are those?!
Fast forward to 2024. Low rise jeans are making a very unwelcome comeback, Selena vs Hailey is the new pop rivalry (not taking sides; support women y'all) and the Internet has replaced the Yellow Pages. Gone are the days when you'd thumb through your local copy to find a plumber; now you just type "plumber near me" on Google to see who can fix your leaky tap ASAP.
With this rapid development of digital presence, most business owners know they need a website in replacement of a spot in the printed local directory. So they treat it as something on the to-do list, and move on when they have some semblance of a working site. But most people don't understand why a good website matters, or, arguably more importantly, how impactful a bad website is to their brand. Most people don't truly understand just how invaluable good design, intuitive user interfaces and high quality content is.
If you're one of those business owners, where you are on the fence about spending your money on improving and optimising your website, here are 10 facts and stats about the importance of your website that hopefully will sway you.
#1: 75% of people judge your company's reputation based on your website
Think of your own experience. If you're looking for an electrician nearby, you compare two websites. One has a well-thought-out design and structure, with professional language, clear call-to-action such as a legitimate contact email address and contact form and client testimonials. The other is riddled with spelling and grammatical mistakes, a messy design and a dodgy looking Hotmail address. Who would you pick to fix the wiring in your house? The first one, of course.
Good design inspires trust. It shows that you care enough about your business to take care of all details, no matter how big or small, and contains all the information needed to make an informed decision on whether or not to purchase from you.
#2: It takes 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website
We are now a society of impatient grumps. We gawk in disbelief if a company doesn't deliver our order the next day because we're spoilt by Amazon Prime. We leave websites if they take longer than 4 seconds to load because we assume it's not working and thus not trustworthy. We can get answers to obscure questions instantly with a click of a button. With all this instant gratification, it's enabled us to make decisions faster too, for better or worse.
So it's no surprise that users make up their decision about a website in under a second. Under one second! Basically, as soon as your page loads, the customer has formed their opinion about your website. Add the previous fact that the majority of them use that opinion to judge your company's reputation, it highlights the need to design a homepage that is captivating and informative but not overwhelming.
#3: First impressions from users are 94% design-related
This is largely down to the fact that we can process images faster than words. 60,000 times faster, in fact. You can have the most amazing content, but if it's not laid out in an aesthetic way, you won't be able to hook your visitor in to read all that content you've written. Couple this with the fact that they make up their mind about your website in under a second, and that that opinion forms their judgement of your company's reputation, it's clear that you need to ensure you have a good website design that hits all the key UX (user experience) checkpoints.
This is not to say content isn't important. High-quality content is what informs your visitor to make an informed decision and become a customer. Think of it this way: hook them in with your design, reel them in with your content.
#4: 88% of users will not return to your website if they have a bad user experience
We've all been there with a bricks and mortar store or restaurant. If you've had a bad experience, the chances are you won't return again and give them a second chance. You might even tell your nearest and dearest to steer clear of that establishment.
The same goes for a website. If your website takes too long to load, or the links are broken, or the navigation is confusing, it creates frustration in the user, and, given our growing impatience in general, they will leave and likely never return. They might even tell their friends not to visit your website and use your services. So it doesn't matter if you have the best cookies in Nottingham or you're the most qualified Spanish teacher in Devon, you would have lost that potential customer and others because they didn't even get to try your product.
In the Marketing Funnel, the Loyal customers and Advocates are the most precious, because they mean recurring revenue and free word-of-mouth advertising. So if your poor design has resulted in them not returning, you're losing out on that precious customer base that is invaluable to any business.
#5: 57% of users will not recommend your website if it isn't mobile friendly
Hark back to the days of the dial-up modem. Who remembers the incessant dial tone and beeping as your computer inched towards Internet connection? Those were the days when the only way to access the Internet was with a computer, and then later, the laptop as well. But these are all devices with a landscape orientation. As a result, most programmes and websites were--and still are--designed to fit these screens, where it is wide rather than tall.
Then technology and the mobile phone industry skyrocketed together, and now we can access the Internet on the go. Even just 10 years ago, desktops dominated website traffic. But fast forward to today in 2024, mobile traffic can sometimes be the same as desktop traffic, or even overtake it. Behaviours on each device are admittedly different, and we're still adapting and learning, but it is quite clear that mobile is here to stay, and so it needs to be considered as an integral part of a website and not an after-thought.
Why all this fuss? Our phones have a portrait screen, where it is tall rather than wide. So that poses an issue with traditional website designs. If they are not responsive (in other words, they don't respond to the type of device being used to access the website), they do not show up well on mobile screens, which are essentially the opposite orientation to the desktop. And no matter how powerful our phones are, we tend to still design and do more complex tasks on our laptops and desktops, meaning it is quite easy to forget or neglect the mobile design because it's not front-of-mind.
#6: 60% of consumers abandon purchases due to poor website user experience
We've established that bad design can lead to frustration. We've also established that humans are impatient. So if you couple that with the fact that a purchase means a customer has to part with their hard-earned cash, you have to make the process as smooth and easy as possible so they don't abandon the process. If it's difficult to checkout, or if there are too many steps, the inconvenience of the process will cause a customer to just abandon their cart, and you lose out on a sale.
#7: 61% of people say that if they don't find what they need within 5 seconds, they will go to another site
Talk about impatient! Before, when websites weren't as sophisticated and there weren't as many out there, people spent time scrolling and reading until they found what they want. Nowadays, if people don't find what they're looking for in 5 seconds, they will seek the answer elsewhere.
Good website design includes strong navigation, so your first-time visitor can hover and see exactly what services or products your business offers. So even if your website is very content heavy, you can segment your website into sections and make them accessible on your navigational bar, so your visitor can quickly scan the navigation, find what they're looking for and click to read, rather than surf through your website to find that one bit they need.
#8: 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load
This is a great reminder that you should not overstuff your website with unnecessary tricks and animations, as every gimmick requires a bit of code to be read, deciphered and executed, so if your website is ladened with a lot of images, videos and animations, it can really slow down your page's load speed. And with people being less and less patient, you want to ensure your website loads to showcase your amazing products before they bounce off.
#9: Website users spend 57% of their time above the fold
Above the fold is essentially the top of the webpage, and is what is visible to the user without scrolling down. You will notice that a lot of big websites use a banner that takes up most of the space above the fold, or they will include their top stories, products etc in this space. This is because this is what is immediately visible to the visitor and tells the story of what your website is about. If it resonates with the customer, they will continue to scroll and navigate through your site, but that initial first impression is what will hook them in.
Therefore, it's no good if your strapline or key selling point is buried at the bottom of the page. Make sure you use your webpage real estate in a logical and efficient way, by showing the impatient visitor what they want as quickly as possible.
#10: 91% of unsatisfied customers don't complain about their bad experience
This may seem unrelated to website design, but hear us out. This means your website could create a bad user experience but nobody will tell you about it. They just simply leave, never visit again and tell their friends not to either. This is like word-of-mouth advertising but in reverse. Therefore, it is imperative that you invest and investigate what makes a good website to ensure you are proactive in catching out any UX and UI problems before they occur and interfere with customer conversion.
So then what makes a good website?
KISS: Keep It Super Simple
At Mpowering Solutions, we are huge advocates of the KISS concept, so much so that we've got a blog series named after it! But the concept applies to web design. You may be intimidated that you can't execute fancy animations or scroll effects, but you know what? Simple, clean and functional beats out complex, cluttered and confusing.
Think of the biggest and most successful websites out there, be it Amazon, ASOS, Next, Apple... They have thoughtful navigation, helpful segmentation and easy, intuitive user experience to help customers get from A to B as quickly as possible. But most importantly, they are actually very simple. There are no or very few fancy animations and gimmicks. Because they understand that well-designed simplicity is accessible to all, and overcomplicated fuss can actually be off-putting to some.
If you want to revamp your website but don't know where to start, our Website Assessment is a good fit for you. We assess your existing website with our 15-point checklist to ensure you are on par with industry standards, and we will also give you advice and proposals on what to improve to make your website as attractive and informative as possible.
(We are aware what KISS actually stands for, but we don't want to call anybody stupid, because there are no such things as stupid questions in our eyes)
Be the customer
One piece of advice I always give is to shop your own website. Many business owners create their website, breathe a sigh of relief and move on, and don't actually navigate and stress-test their own site. By playing the role of the customer, you can see first-hand if your website functions the way you want it to, and if there are any hiccups or pain points that hinder conversion.
Some helpful conversion tips are:
Don't overcomplicate your website structure. Reduce the number of clicks your visitors needs to execute before they get to their desired page or product. The more clicks they need to make, the higher the chance they change their mind and bounce off
Ensure clear call-to-action. Whether it's a checkout button or a contact us form, make sure it's clear to users that that's what you want them to do. A good test is to imagine your website is in a different language. Do you still understand which button or link you're meant to click?
Include useful information. With online, you don't have a shop assistant or an associate onsite to talk through and convince the customer to convert. Make sure you provide all the necessary information for them to make an informed decision.
If you want more tips on CRO (conversion rate optimisation), have a look at our KISS guide to CRO. Alternatively, we offer a CRO Audit to help identify how your webstore can be improved to increase conversion and sales.
Think of the letter F
The Nielsen Norman Group did a fascinating study about how people read and scan web content, dubbed the F-shaped reading pattern. Essentially, the human eye scans first in a horizontal movement (top of the F), then moves down to read in a second horizontal movement, this time a bit shorter (the F's lower bar), and then down the left in a vertical movement (the F's stem). Of course, this is a generalisation, and different user intentions result in different reading patterns, but it's a good one to bear in mind when designing your website.
Some of the tips include:
Keep your most important points in the first two paragraphs
Use headings, subheaders and other formatting methods to break up large pieces of text
Use bullet and number points to highlight key callouts
Cut out unnecessary content: the longer the text, the more the casual user is inclined to skim
Bear SEO in mind
SEO might seem like it's all about the technical elements and for the benefit of Googlebots and web page crawlers, but good SEO execution actually benefits the human user as well. SEO is more than just keywords; it encourages practices like breaking down your content into headers, subheaders and other formatting hierarchy, creating a good user experience to keep visitors on your website for longer, making your website more accessible to screen readers and visually-impaired visitors, and much more.
SEO is not a one-and-done piece of code; it's an ongoing effort to maintain your website. But more importantly, it's not difficult. If you want to learn more, give our KISS guide on SEO a read. However, if you would like some assistance and guidance on it, we offer SEO Audits to help identify areas of improvement on your website.
Whatever your website queries or problems, we are here to help. At Mpowering Solutions, we are dedicated to small businesses, and will give you all the time and attention you and your business deserve. Get in touch with us to see how we can help you with your digital journey!
