So, you have it all sorted outright. A great product. A professional website. You need to launch the site and orders will flood like a tsunami on your website. Your website will be overloaded with traffic and people will rush to place an order on it? Wrong!
Any unplanned thing cannot give fruitful results. Even if you have a million-dollar idea and you can create a website without a proper web design checklist, there is a chance that your website will not stand a chance in the digital world.
The competition is rough out there. If you are willing to succeed in the digital world out there, you must create a web design checklist before you start marketing or move forward with your business idea.
Here is a list of necessary items that can help you point in the right direction where it will be easy to generate sales and turn visitors into raving fans.
- Figure out a way to drive visitors
- First Impressions Count
- How can people trust you?
- High-Quality Product Images
- DON’T ignore SEO
- Impeccable Customer Support
- Is your website secured?
- Double-check all the links
- Is your Backup ready?
- The Checkout Page
1. Figure out a way to drive visitors
The goal of every business is to drive sales. If you don’t figure out a way to drive traffic on your website, then this might cause a severe problem later on.
The best place to start is by keyword research for your business. When you know which of the keywords are relevant to your audience, it is then that you’ll be able to optimize them for your business.
Next in the list is to study local SEO. Check out this comprehensive local SEO guide that can help you get a good grip on your SEO.
A company blog is another excellent way to earn the trust of your customers and at the same time, drive insane traffic on your website.
2. First Impressions Count
Do you know that a mere one-millisecond delay in loading a website can lose you precious sales?
Everyone these days look for a simpler and faster solution. If your website is taking too much time in loading, there is a chance that the user won’t engage with the site and move on to the next website.
Unless you hire a professional UX/UI service provider, there is not a chance that potential users will stick to your website.
Whenever a potential user visits your website for the first time, they seek for a memorable user-experience—a flawless flow where a user can place the order without any interruptions.
The thing in the checklist is the quality of the content. Did you notice I didn’t mention anything about quantity? That’s because Google ignores quantity content if it is not backed with quality.
The content on your page must engage users on the go. If it is not attracting the users, it means that there is a problem with the content, and you need to change it.
3. How can people trust you?
The childhood phrase, “Don’t take and eat anything from a stranger.” is valid in professional life too.
Whenever a new visitor lands on your website, they’ll look for trust badges and social proof. They’ll look for reviews from other customers or signs that can give them the impression that your website is safe to do business with.
When a new visitor lands on your website, if they are interested in doing business with you, they will check you’re About Us page.
Do you have a brand story that will make them trust you?
Check out this excellent TED presentation of Jeff Freedman on What’s your brand story?
It’s all about building a bond with your customers. If you can do that on the first visit of the customer, it will be a win-win situation for both of you.
4. High-Quality Product Images
Even an eight-year-old kid might figure out that you’ve used stock photos on your website. Do you expect adults to think anything different?
If you are a startup and don’t have a budget to hire a photographer, you can improve your photography skills and shoot products on your own.
The user is just looking for high-quality images. The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, but in an eCommerce store, a photo will decide whether the customer will order on your website or not.
Mostly, startup owners make this mistake of using Google images for their products. This creates a discrepancy among users. When the final product arrives at their door, they fail to recognize the product because of the fake product photo.
When you upload the actual image of the product, it builds trust among your users. They will not just order from your website; they will even refer it to their friends.
5. DON’T ignore SEO
What’s the point of the website if no one can discover it?
Just like every other item on your web design checklist, SEO is something that demands serious attention.
And it is not a one-time thing. You must focus on creating high-quality content and make it available for users.
If you don’t have a clue about SEO, do not freak out. This step-by-step SEO guide can help you get a grip on SEO, and you won’t even have to hire an SEO person.
6. Impeccable Customer Support
Do you know that most of the unsatisfied customers don’t even report a bad customer experience? They prefer to switch brands and move on.
If a new user visits your website, they are here to find a solution to a problem.
If they face a problem, is there someone who can help them out?
When a visitor gets stuck, they must be accompanied by customer support. A customer service agent should be able to help the customer close the sale. And it is not just about closing the sale, and the customer experience should be memorable enough so that customers will come back for more.
7. Is your website secured?
If you have doubts about the security of your website, you can check them on WhyNoPadLock.com. The site will analyze the security protocols of your website and tell you exactly where your website stands when it comes to website security.
If your website is on WordPress, you can use security plugins to make your site secure. For any other CMS or if you’ve used a custom web design agency to develop your website they will take care of the security themselves.
It would help if you took all the security measures before you start marketing your website.
8. Double-check all the links
Do you want all the website traffic to redirect to your competitor or any other website? Unless you are on drugs, you’ll agree that sending traffic on the wrong website can cost you severe damage.
The aim of every link on your website, whether internal or external, should be to drive traffic and make the user stick on your website. That’s why it is necessary that you double-check all your links, even the ones on guest posting websites to see that they are being directed to your site.
9. Is your Backup ready?
A new website will attract hackers. Even if your website is secured, there might be a point where your website will be hacked. When it does, a backup will be able to save you.
It is an excellent practice to ask clearly about backup from your hosting service provider. Whether small or big, your website needs a backup plan. The best option is to enable auto-backup service which is provided by various service providers. Ask them if they have any or how frequently they take backups of your website?
In either case, you must know that it is necessary to make backup an essential part of your weekly practice. Consider it as a ritual that you must follow before you go for any big update on the website.
10. The Checkout Page
It is a common practice of visitors, not to inform the brand if the checkout process is complicated. The visitors prefer to leave the page and move on to the next website.
That’s why it is necessary to simplify your checkout page and eliminate all the unnecessary steps that are rewired to place an order on your website.
In a Nutshell
As mentioned in the start, the right product doesn’t guarantee high sales. The sales of your website will depend upon the usability of the site, the content on the website, images on the website, the customer support, and the checkout process.
There is nothing complex regarding website design if you follow the checklist mentioned above. When you do things in the right order, there is not a chance that you’ll not get orders or traffic on your website.
If you plan to scale your website, it is a good practice to start from scratch and move your level up step by step.