Everybody will have their own ideas and theories about good website design. Since design and its aesthetics may change from person to person, there is nothing that is right or wrong while designing a website. What may be good web design to one person may not appeal to someone else.
One thing’s for sure: a website that appeals to clients is considered to have a good web design. But is this always the case? Web designers have to choose whether to showcase their design skills to those who hired them or to create a web design that will be liked by the target audience.
The real customers of a website are not the clients who pay for the domain registration, hosting, or website design; these are the people who will visit the website. It only makes sense that the design will appeal to this specific group of people! If the target audience is not happy with the design, they won’t come back for another visit and ultimately, the website (and the company) will lose business.
There are many tools and techniques to create a customer centric web design. These include the following:
Surveys and Focus Groups
Many companies will test the website while it is still under construction with a carefully selected group of individuals. This will help the web designers to understand what the customers want and need, and how web design can be modified to suit the preferences and expectations of the target audience.
A/B and Multivariate Testing
It is important to test the design and functionality of the site even after it goes live. This can be done with A/B and multivariate testing to provide insightful details to web designers on what features and functionalities of the website are liked and disliked by the customers.
Web Analytics
It is not possible for all companies to hire a group of people to conduct tests and surveys. Web analytics can be very helpful in getting valuable information on how prospective users will react and interact with the site.
Engagement Tracking
This is a highly effective indicator of web design success. Track page views, time on page, bounce rate, unique visitors, and other metrics to understand which web page is getting the most or least attention from users.
Tips for Designing a Customer Centric Website
There will be many hurdles that a professional web design company will have to cross in order to construct a good customer centric website. Most of the time, aesthetic elements will be the least important while content will be of the utmost importance. Given below are tips to keep in mind to create a customer centric website.
- Speak the language the target audience will understand.
- Remember the site is about customers – not about the company owner or web designers.
- Give prospective users what they need – not what you want them to see.
- Understand not all customers are the same – expectations and preferences vary so you have to decide whether to give a little bit of something to everyone or create a web design specifically for a targeted set of users.
- Make your site interactive and give customers a chance to engage.
- Build and protect brand reputation and website credibility.
- Make it easy for prospects to take action!
If you want an expert’s opinion on how to create a customer-centric website, request for a FREE Website Analysis today.