What makes a good website? There are a lot of different factors that contribute to how effective a website is and the type of user experience it delivers. Some important factors are the website’s content, design elements, functionality, and the website layout to name a few. In this article we will look more closely at why website layouts are important and what you should think about when finalizing the layout for your website.
Why are website layouts important?
A study by HubSpot found that personalized call-to-actions (CTA) convert 202% better than basic CTAs1. Where you place your CTAs and what they say has a significant impact on how many visitors your website will be able to convert into customers.
Along with conversions, layout also has an impact on usability and experience. A good website layout makes it easier for visitors to understand the content on your site without feeling overwhelmed. Visitors can learn how a website will behave based on its layout. This can make it possible for visitors to intuitively know where to find the information they want on the website.
Since it has such a high impact on user experience, conversions and ultimately sales, it is a good idea to work with a professional to finalize your website layout. Consult with a website design company in Trinidad to help you create a high converting layout.
What to consider when creating a website layout
1. What do you want your website to do?
To ensure you build a website that brings you leads and business, you first need to determine its purpose. Understanding the goals of a website will allow you to prioritize content, CTAs and structures to drive users toward your desired outcome.
For instance, you want to use your website to:
- Sell products directly to consumers
- Collect leads to build your own marketing list
- Share information about an upcoming event
There are three distinct goals you want to achieve. The next thing is to prioritize these goals. Selling products would be the primary goal, if the event is taking place soon then it can be considered the secondary goal, and creating your list can be the tertiary goal.
Once you have this understanding, you can create a layout that gives the most importance to the purchase CTA’s and highlights your products effectively. Information about the event can be shown in places where visitors are in their research phase or after they have made a purchase at checkout so as not to distract from the purchase journey.
2. Create your site structure and finalize pages
Once you are clear about the purpose of your website you can move on to the next step; creating site structure and finalizing website pages. The following questions can help you decide what pages your website will have.
- Will each goal get its own page?
- How do you want to display your products?
- Does the website require category pages?
- Do you need to have a contact-us page?
- What pages need to be there to share mandatory legal information like the website’s privacy policy?
Once you know what pages will be part of your website you can create the site structure, menu structure and nest pages as per their importance. For instance, if you have different product/service categories, you can nest individual product pages under the main category pages.
In order to create an effective website structure that is both user friendly and search engine friendly, it is advised that you work with an experienced website design agency in Trinidad.
3. Do your research and find out what you like
You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Once you know what your site structure is going to be, invest time in research. Look at websites from your competitors in your industry as well as websites that have been recognized for good design practices even if they are not in your industry. Take notes of what you like and why? You can share this information with your website solutions and services company. This will allow the designers to understand what you like from different websites and incorporate those elements into a high converting layout that works for your business.
If you are looking for a website design and development company in Trinidad with the right skillset and expertise to offer you the best website solutions, contact WebFX. We provide design, development as well as digital marketing services and have been working with businesses in the Caribbean for over a decade.
Source:
- Jan 2018, J. Vocell, “Personalized Calls to Action Perform 202% Better Than Basic CTAs [New Data]”, HubSpot, [available online], available from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/personalized-calls-to-action-convert-better-data [accessed Feb 2022]
