Cafe doors are flung open. City dwellers flock to the park and I’m sipping on the first iced coffee of the season.
It’s only mid-April but with temperatures in the 80s (close to 30°C), London has fallen under a summertime spell.
Of course it won’t stay this warm for long, but while it does, let’s follow the capital’s lead and swap out the old for the new: it’s time to hit refresh on your website.
These three steps will not only revitalize your site, but they will also prove to be helpful guidelines when publishing content in the future.
1. Eliminate clutter
White space is your friend. It lets your content stand out on the page and gives your reader a more pleasant browsing experience.
Remember, you may only have 7 seconds to grab your visitor’s attention, so don’t let a cluttered layout turn them away before they settle in.
- Remove out-of-date and irrelevant information like which high school you attended on your About Page. Or photos of your pets (unless maybe you run a pet business).
- Take down graphics or visuals that don’t serve a purpose. They should either compliment the content on the page or serve as a signal to take an action.
- Delete sidebars on landing pages — site pages dedicated to making a purchase, describing a service or getting visitors to sign up for a newsletter. The less distracted they are the better.
2. Lose the bulky blocks of content
Long, dense paragraphs are the last way busy visitors want to learn about your company. Rather, focus on providing multiple entry points so readers can easily soak in your service.
- Break paragraphs into small, bite-size chunks that are easy to skim. They shouldn’t be more than 4-5 lines long and variation in their lengths is a plus.
- Use subheads (titles of subsections) and bullet points to break up blocks of text. They jump out at the reader and convey messages much quicker.
- Mix in other forms of media like photos, videos, infographics and playlists to keep the reader engaged. Making them shareable is even better!
3. Give your social life a boost
Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to go to the pub and make small talk. This step is all about sparking meaningful conversations online and making your content super easy to share.
Let social media be your megaphone.
- Display social buttons on every page so visitors can follow you on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Also, adding shareable links at the bottom of blog posts and other content pages will make it easy for your audience to share your business tips, e-books, videos and so on.
- Post any new, freely accessible piece of content onto social media. The tone and style will need to be adapted for each platform, but it will immediately widen your content’s reach.
- Make signing up for your newsletter easy and obvious. Add the form to the bottom of each blog post and consider having it pop up on certain pages. Giving visitors a clear way to receive company updates is essential to creating meaningful customer relationships.
Apply just one or two of the above tips and you’ll begin to notice small changes in the way that people respond to and engage with your website.
Think of your online business as a work in progress. But less as “work” and more as a fun touchup, giving your site a pep in its step.
It’ll have you feeling like…
