Do you remember the last time you were in an unfamiliar place, perhaps a hotel room, and you grabbed the television remote control to change the channel? If you’re like most people, you had to stare at the remote before finally finding the right button, or you might have pressed the wrong buttons a few times. Even worse, you sometimes discover that you’re using the wrong remote! Many people just give up and unplug the TV, or leave the room to do something else.
In most cases, we use a remote control to accomplish three main tasks: We want to change the channel, change the volume, or turn a device on or off. For some strange reason, however, remote control designers don’t always make these buttons easy to see and accessible; often, the most-used buttons are lost in a sea of options.
This is a problem we’ve all faced at some point, and it can lead to frustration and even abandonment of the task. No one likes to feel overwhelmed by numerous confusing options when they are just trying to accomplish a simple task.
Now apply this lesson to your website design. Your web visitors come to your website in search of information. In most cases, they are looking for simple answers to common questions, such as your location, a brief description of your services, your contact information, and so forth. Many website designers, unfortunately, have the same problem as the remote control designers, adding every available feature to the site. Calculators, stock quotes, and other high-tech features might seem like a good idea, but these tools are rarely used by visitors. Instead, they clutter the design of your website, making it more difficult for your viewers to find the information they actually need.
A visitor who is looking for specific information will not be motivated enough to keep searching your website, when they can easily click the “back” button and get an answer elsewhere. When you don’t answer their questions, you fail to form a relationship or make a positive impression with that visitor. Even worse, clicking the “back” button means they will probably opt out of your lead capture program, and you’ve lost a potential online contact and future client.
Your website should be designed with the end-user in mind. The goal is to help web visitors find the information they need as quickly and easily as possible by streamlining the design of your site. Removing visual clutter and creating a site that is easy to navigate is imperative to keep web visitors happy with their experience, help them form a more positive impression of your practice, and make them more likely to return in the future. They are also more likely to follow your call to action, and provide their contact information, helping you to gather more leads.
For more information on building a better, more informative, and friendlier website, give us a call. We can help you decide upon a clean website design, choose features that your visitors actually want, and create straightforward marketing content that helps your practice succeed.