Navigate With Ease - Why Easy Website Navigation Is The Key To
Repeat Business
Although there are many experts who claim to know what makes a
website successful, upon researching one would find that almost
every expert would agree that navigation has a large part in the
formula. Easy website navigation is the key to repeat business.
There are thousands of websites out there floating around. Not
every one of these websites is successful and that is mainly due
to the website structure itself. If you want to create a website
that is structurally capable of leading to repeat business, then
you should consider these tips during the creating and building
processes.
Easy website navigation needs to begin with the design of your
website. Before your website is published on the web, it should
be finished and able to be easily navigated. Don't wait for the
problems to present themselves through use to figure out what
works and what doesn't, especially if you are running a web
business. There is simply no room for needless error when it
comes to your business. The first thing to remember during
initial design phases is that your website should be so simple
to use that an eleven-year-old child should be able to figure it
out. It is unlikely someone that young would ever be conducting
business online, but many adults need the simplicity on
websites. You should also keep it simple enough to run on even
the slowest computer you can imagine someone owning. Not
everyone has the fastest and newest computers around, so you
will need to keep that in mind. If you only design for the
highest forms of technology, you will likely loose quite a few
potential customers.
When it comes to the actual design, try to use things that are
easy to the eye. Pictures and graphics work really well, as long
as they are not too large or complicated. If you are using
photos, make sure you use thumbprints that can be clicked upon
to reveal a larger image of the photo. The thumbprints will load
quickly for those with slower connections, but also allow the
option of seeing the image in larger form. Consumers would much
rather gather information from pictures on the web than by
reading boring text. A good rule is to offer a majority of
images, with a little text mixed in.
When adding content to your site, there are a few things you
should not do. First, you should not repeat common information.
If you assume your audience is ignorant, they will likely be
offended. Second, you should not repeat information from other
websites with the same subject as yours. This will only make you
look uniform and basically convince consumers you have nothing
unique to offer them. If they can get the same deals at another
website, they just might take their business there. Be sure you
are adding valuable information and products on your website.
Consumers are intelligent and want to be treated as such.
When trying to figure out how to link each page to another, you
will need to keep an "obvious" state of mind. This means that
any place that you feel you must type "click here" should be so
obvious that even without the actual words "click here"; the
consumer should feel that is what should be done next. Designing
your site with predictability in mind is a great idea. The more
comfortable the consumer feels with the site, the better your
business will be and the more repeat business you can expect.
When the customer "knows" what will happen next, they will
automatically feel comfortable. Surprising customers is not
usually a great idea, so make sure everything works as it
should. Place links in appropriate places so the viewer does not
need to search endlessly for the link to the next page.
Lastly, remember to avoid backgrounds and colors that distract
from your products and website in general. Never use anything
blinking in your site design. Blinking ads and content are
annoying to everyone that uses the internet and can even cause
medical problems in some viewers. Repeat business will not exist
if you use content that is difficult on the eyes or it annoying
to viewers. To get people to come back to your website, you need
to create a place that can be navigated with complete ease. Make
sure that all links are checked daily to ensure that your
website is running as smoothly as possible. Also, be sure to
have all of the "kinks" taken care of before you even publish
your site online. Do these things and you are sure to have
repeat business.