Technology has never been static and our minds are geared to move forward with new inventions and more sophisticated ideas and creations. With this in mind, how can we possibly future-proof our websites?
It is an impossibility to predict the future of the web, but the human mind can often be predictive. Working on this basis, we can often predict trends.
Here are a few simple steps to help future-proof your website that may be worth following:
Speed
With our busy lifestyles, it is important that your website is fast. People hate waiting in a queue, so it follows that people visiting your website will not want to hang around. After a few seconds the website visitor will become bored of waiting and move on to another site – can you blame them? It’s frustrating for the visitor and can lose you sales. It has been said that up to 40% of visitors abandon a website when it has failed to load within a few seconds. People won’t hang around just to look at your site.
Easy to Use
No-one enjoys complicated websites where you have to keep searching for things, so just keep it simple. Ensure all the necessary information to gain the visitor’s attention is on the home page, with simple instructions to other areas of your website. Clean colours and easy-to-read text makes all the difference. It can be very frustrating to keep searching for information and the user can get bored and may go on to another site.
Pages of Interest
Ensure your website can hold the visitor’s interest long enough to gain the objective of the visit. Make your website as interesting as possible without filling it with lots of ads. People like to read a good story. Think of entertaining your visitor – after all, he or she has decided to take the time to look at your website, so ensure you have something of interest to show them in return.
Human Mind Not Technology
User-friendly wording is always best – don’t blind your visitor with techno-talk. Also, some people are curious and like to see who is behind the website, so perhaps you could include photographs of staff and offer a little bit of information about the people, what their interests are, and give it a more personal touch. Using social media sites is extremely beneficial as they offer the exchange of information by real people. Technology is wonderful – but it has no ‘soul’.
On The Go
Ensure your website can be reached by every method possible as Smartphones will soon be everywhere. It is wise to make sure your navigation menu is easy to follow and your content is clear and concise. It may be worth considering discontinuing the use of Flash for your mobile sites and use JavaScript or HTML.
As we move forward into the future, we do not know what awaits us, but we can ensure we can do all that is humanly and technologically possible to try and keep one step ahead of our competitors in the marketplace and ensure that our websites are friendly, welcoming and easy to use.
For more details on how Pebble can future-proof your website, please contact us on 01733 367799 or email us via our contact form