Why It’s Important to Understand the Expectations of Your Site Visitors

You write really compelling content, create perfect images and hone overall website design to perfection to get more traffic to your site. But how is it possible that still a few of those visitors are converting into leads and clients? That’s the question!

Everyone on the web is in a big rush. Whether they’re browsing on a tablet, computer, smartphone or other device, visitors expects the website to work at lightning speeds, be user-friendly and easy-to-navigate. But an old mantra “if you build a website, the customers will come” is not a true anymore. At the time of intense competition, converting your site visitors into leads and clients demands a specific combination of factors.

The top-notch brands know how to identify all expectations of the users and meet them to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. Failing them can mean the massive losses: undermine your reputation, cost you visitors and transform your website into the weak link in your marketing efforts.

Taking a smart approach to ensuring peak performance of your site leads to the best possible user experience. Otherwise, customer traffic won’t being optimized.

Let’s see some crucial factors to consider if you want your website to stand out from the crowd.

Updated design

Usually, people judge a book by its’ cover, right? In fact, you have only 0.05 seconds before people decide whether they hit the back button or stay a little longer. And the design is the very first thing that catches the eye.

Derek Halpern, the author of “Social Triggers” blog, shared an interesting study that shows the impact of website design on its trustworthiness. The participants were asked to review sites on the subject of hypertension and rate the level of credibility to them. Surprisingly, it was found that 94% of uneasy respondents attributed their worry to design.

As you can see, design plays a crucial role. So if your website design leaves a lot to be desired, it’s the right time for an urgent facelift.

Bear in mind, the tighter the match between expectations and your site, the higher the chances that your visitors will stay longer.

Easy-to-read content

The design is not just about graphics and images. Colors of the background and text, as well as used fonts, also determine the overall impression. Even if your content is catchy and perfectly-written, it won’t convert well without appropriate formatting.

There are no strongly defined rules for using fonts. But there are some recommendations. Opt for minimalism, high-contrast color combination and clean or sans serif font to achieve the best results. What about font size, use large fonts which give users a better experience whether they are on desktop or smartphone.

Clear navigation structure

Just imagine, you arrive on the site searching for necessary information but instead get caught in a mess of poorly-organized navigation options. To meet all expectations, you should see your website through visitors’ eyes. How would you want to find the content structured? What steps would you take to find the answers to your questions?

Experience has proven that odd navigation is bad not only for visitor experience but also for SEO. According to the Eduplace, they’ve stopped losing their purchasers after uncovering potential trouble spots and rearranging the navigation according to the user needs.

Fast loading

Did you know that almost 53% of visitor will leave your web page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load? When it comes to site performance, the general load time really matters. The research from KISSmetrics shows:

• 47% of users expect a page load in 2 seconds or less;
• Just a one-second delay can cost you 7% loss in conversion and decrease customer satisfaction by 16%;
• Websites with slow loading during high traffic time run a risk of losing up to 40% of their visitors.

Don’t want to fail meeting customer expectations? Put optimization of load performance at the top of a to-do list.

Advertising optimization

According to Trust in Advertising report, customers trust nearly all forms of traditional ads more than online banners on the websites. As trust is a fundamental factor of increasing conversion, do your best to limit the number of advertising and find the most effective locations for its display.

If an ad-driven model is used to your website, then removing an advertising makes no sense. But just because you can’t avoid it doesn’t mean you have to place it everywhere. Surely, advertising is anything but the first thing to see on the website. Besides, it shouldn’t take up more space than the content relevant to your business.

User-friendly registration

Once you want to make the most of the registration opportunities, analyze if every field you add is relevant. Find it challenging to remove anything? Keep in mind that Expedia increased the revenue up to $12 million just by cutting one little data field. Leave only major points, and you’ll see how easy driving leads into site sales funnel is.

Brand personality

The Millward Brown agency discovered that there is a strong correlation between the way companies represent themselves in different regions and the level of generated customer relationships. While the features that called the best vary depending on the region, simply creating a recognisable personality is the key to success. Of course, it has a huge influence both on your website and the marketing campaign in general.

If your site looks like any other website without a sign of individuality, be ready to have problems connecting with potential clients.

Clear product’s benefits

How do you expect to motivate the users moving down the sales funnel without giving them what they want? If you don’t provide your visitors with detailed product’s features, then you certainly will lose your potential customers. What is more important, sell benefits, rather than features (don’t forget about honesty). Highlight strong points of your products, and you’ll surely meet the customer expectations.

Have more tips on understanding and meeting customer expectations? Share your thoughts below!