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Batman and the 5 Elements of Good Web Design

Batman and the 5 Elements of Good Web Design

Bruce Wayne has a business website. It looks nice and gets a fair amount of visitors.

When it comes to converting that traffic into high-quality leads though, well, here’s what he's getting:

  • Nothing
  • Nada
  • Zip
  • Zilch
  • Zero
  • Crickets

That’s because his site doesn’t have the elements of good web design it needs to “seal the deal.”

Sure, it provides helpful information. And yes, it clearly explains his company’s products or services.

But it’s not convincing people to take the next step he wants them to.

Whether it’s to get in contact with him, download a free guide or something else, they’re just not biting (and he's not getting the WEB ROI he needs to finance his latest gadget, the Bat-Segway).

Fortunately, there are ways to make he (and you too) can make his website more appealing, more enticing and more productive.

Sounds like a job for Batman.

Usability is an element of good web design

1. Make it REALLY EASY for people to contact you

Batman is the world's greatest detective.

But even he can't contact a website which has no phone number, a clunky contact us page or a web form which isn’t easy to use?

It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. And it turns him off immediately.

(Look at it this way. You wouldn’t give out a business card with no contact info on it, would you?)

When it comes to your calls-to-action (CTAs), they should be clear and consistent with your business.

Here’s an example:

  • If you’re a new home builder, you’d want your main CTA to be something like Register for Our Upcoming Communities
  • If you’re a landscape supplier, you’d ask people to Get a Free Product Quote Within 24 Hours

A good CTA tells people what they should do and tells them what they’ll get if they do it.

If you’re still struggling to come up with a strong CTA, try it on some friends in a real-life setting.

What would you rather say to someone in person?

  • “Email me and I’ll get back to you with the pricing sheet”, or
  • “Submit”

Pretty obvious, no?

Fresh content is an element of good web design

 

2. Have a content strategy (and stick to it)

Batman loves watching movies about....himself.

So imagine your website is a movie theatre showing Batman 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No other movie gets played.

Eventually, people (and search engines like Google) will stop caring about your website because there’s nothing new to look at. It’s just Batman; over and over again.

And as cool as Batman is, it’ll become boring and get ignored.

A good element of web design always includes fresh content, whether it’s in the form of blogs, product updates, new images, case studies and more.

When your website gets updated on a regular basis, it tells Google “Hey, there’s good stuff happening here; make sure people can find this site easily.”

Think about it: Would you go to a movie theatre which never updates what they’re playing?

The same idea applies to your website: If it never changes, there’s no reason to come back to it.

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3. Make it easy to use

All of Batman's gadgets (besides being in the shape of a bat) are easy to use.

And without question, Google is the #1 search engine on the planet. But its algorithm formula is complex (not to mention top secret - even Batman hasn't cracked that code...yet).

Know what isn’t complex? How to use Google.

It’s a search bar with 2 buttons (Google Search & I’m Feeling Lucky). That’s it.

Your website needs to be easy to use. In fact, that element of good web design is a major part of search engine optimization (SEO) and lead generation.

Some of the factors which make a website needlessly complicated include:

  • Navigation menu that’s too big and confusing
  • Lack of SEO keywords (if you sell dog treats, make sure your website says “dog treats” and not “canine delectables”
  • Reliance on stock photos (people can spot them a mile away and they aren’t authentic)
  • Slow loading times (if your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, 50% of people will bail out on it)

One last thing: Even though videos are very popular, do not have them auto-play with sound when someone arrives on your site.

It startles people. (kind of like when Batman suddenly appears behind you).

The first thing they do is look for the mute button. If they can’t find it fast, they just close your site completely.

And they ain’t comin’ back.

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4. Think mobile first

Batman is reading this on his mobile batphone or tablet.

So he's in the majority.

More people surf the web and perform online research via mobile devices vs. traditional desktop computers.

Although it’s a smaller screen, it still needs to work well, load fast and be easy to use.

Otherwise, Google will penalize your website in the search rankings. Or worse, it’ll be listed as not mobile-friendly.

And because people are surfing the web on the go, they expect immediate results.

Remember in point #3, it was mentioned that a website needs to load in less than 3 seconds?

Well, when it comes to mobile, you can cut that time by around 66%. Your mobile website has about 1 second to load.

That’s it. One second. Anything else is too long and you risk losing visitors and leads.

Analytics is an element of good web design

 

5. See how your website is doing

In the Batcave, Batman has a super computer which tracks, well, anything and everything.

The great thing about your business website is you can measure the results and see exactly what it’s doing for you.

(Try doing that with a paper brochure or print ad. It’s nearly impossible).

Here’s some of the information available at your fingertips:

  • Traffic: How many people are visiting your website every day? The more qualified people you get, the better chance you have of converting them into leads.
  • Engagement: What are people doing on your site? Where are they going? How long are they visiting? Which pages capture their attention and which don’t?
  • Conversions: The most important element to business growth. How many people are doing what you want them to?

Here’s an example of what you can do with this data to improve your already strong elements of a good web design:

Imagine you’re a fireplace or HVAC contractor. You’ve got a page about system cleaning services which gets lots of traffic, long visit times but no conversions.

Your results tell you:

  • People like the page
  • It’s a popular page
  • Lots of time is spent on the page

They also tell you:

  • You might want to update your CTA
  • Your web form might be too long

Measuring results takes all the guesswork out of what you can improve on you website.

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Now that Batman knows the elements of good web design, he can update Bruce Wayne's website.

Just like Bruce Wayne:

  • You’ve got a great business.
  • And your website has so much potential to help take it to the next level.

It’s all about digging in, finding opportunities and making a long-term plan to keep it modern and updated.

(Like Batman when he's out fighting crime).

If not, you company (and your website) will get left behind.

To learn more, you can:

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