Tag: user experience

Gaining and Retaining Customers Is All About User Experience | Prescott, AZ

User experience is arguably the most important thing your website can offer. If a visitor has a bad experience navigating your website, they leave before they can absorb what you have to offer. Hiring an experienced website designer to consider your needs and produce an effective website for your business can make all the difference for user experience.

Navigation works to guide visitors through your services and enhance search engine optimization. Words such as “services” or “shop” don’t share what your business is about or work to accentuate your online presence. Utilizing popular key phrases for your navigation bar is an easy way to increase your page ranking online.

Most sites feature an abundance of information, products or services; how visitors work through these elements makes a difference in what they view. If you want visitors to focus on specific elements, you want them at the top of your navigation, not buried in a dropdown. How dropdown menus are organized matters as well; mega menus are more appealing than those broken down into smaller sections.

Mobile navigation is also crucial to the experience, especially as people start getting back out into the world and technology continues to advance. When your website is where you want it online, it’s important to take a deep dive into its mobile presence. Have a friend or two log onto your site from their phone and provide feedback; it’s okay if they “don’t understand” how websites are created - it’s actually better if they don’t. Raw, honest feedback about their user experience will help you decide how to adjust the mobile presentation of your services.

Limiting the amount of menu items serves visitors and search engines, so it’s important to evaluate what you have on offer and how it’s presented. A good rule of thumb is to keep your menu at or below seven. Ideally, each page on your website is optimized to be found as easily as possible for existing and potential consumers. Interior pages tend to get lost in the mix, but keeping things streamlined goes a long way in getting them found.

Interested in learning more about how to optimize user experience for your website? Visit us online at jellywebsites,com or call our team at 951.371.9327 today!

How to Give Useful Feedback to Your Designer | Prescott, AZ

Believe it or not, website designers, like many creatives, need a fair amount of information and direction from their clients to deliver. Designers are considering so many visual and background elements that they are generally unable to produce the best work without their client’s thoughts and desires being understood. When the client feels there is more direction needed to achieve their vision, they should feel comfortable expressing their thoughts. Here are some tips on how to effectively communicate with your designer to achieve the results you want.

Specifics. We hear from clients that they are timid about providing a designer too much information or aesthetic direction. More times than not, an over-explanation of what you are seeking from your digital presence is more welcome than total creative freedom. Designers will take your list of must-haves, dreams and desires and boil them into a cohesive presence.

Inquiries. There are times when elements of a website edit don't suit you, but you are unsure of how to proceed - that’s okay! It is the perfect time to ask your designer his or her thoughts on how to bring a given element to life or rethink your approach. The designer is your ally in making your digital presence enticing, cohesive and user friendly.

Sources of Inspiration. Remember Pinterest? Think of the accumulation of your perfect website inspiration as a pin board. Gather it together; the colors, layouts, fonts, down to the cute accents - everything that makes you think “this is so my brand”. Designers are really good at taking your laundry list of likes, dislikes and “I want to be likes” and boiling them down into a presence your clients or customers will remember. More is more so bring it on!

Design is a collaborative process. It’s going to take time and multiple edits to get it just right so take a deep breath and be a true creative partner - even when you don’t know the answer.

Interested in developing a website with the professional designers at Jelly Websites? Visit us online at jellywebsites,com or call our team at 951.371.9327 today!

Website Elements that Highlight Your Services | Prescott, AZ

As website developers, we encounter clients whose industries range from dentistry to boating. Each client wants to showcase their products or services in a way that shares their story, captures interest and generates clientele. Here are a few ways we suggest business owners may highlight their enterprise on their website.

Video. This is a great way for businesses to showcase their services. Whether you are an architect showing areal footage of a project or sell jet skis and want to show them in action, many industries can benefit from this visual experience. It makes a compelling introduction to your enterprise to feature a video on your website home page. It’s certainly an investment worth considering.

Podcast. Relatively new to online spaces, podcasts are another compelling way to generate interest in your services. Podcasts are not for every industry, but if you can tap into an interest with consumers about your business it can go a long way to highlight your services. Setting aside an hour every week-or-so to discuss your enterprise can be a time efficient way to generate interest and expand a client’s understanding of what sets you apart.

Social Channels. Integrating an Instagram feed or Youtube channel to your website is another way owners can expand their SEO, getting them found more seamlessly online. While it would’t  necessarily make sense to share your personal feed with potential clients, having a business-oriented social channel can. These mediums serve as a pseudo-resume, exemplifying quality, customer service and an expertise in your craft.

A Seamless Experience. Of course, all of this is lost when a potential client becomes frustrated with their experience on your website. Ideally, a potential client will work through your website, and gain an understanding of your enterprise without a second thought. While it may seem counter-intuitive, or feel like what you would want is acknowledgment for a fantastic website, the more seamless the better. You would rather a potential client not notice the subtleties of a brilliant presentation than be frustrated.

Want to learn more about how you can add exciting elements to your website to highlight your services? Visit us online at jellywebsites,com or call our team at 951.371.9327 today!

Decoding Website Acronyms & Website Optimization | Prescott, AZ

At Jelly Websites, we understand it can be difficult to decode all the technical abbreviations of the internet. Things like SEO and UX for websites to SQL for computer programming. Of course, these are all great mechanisms, but they hide in the background, and not what one might think of when considering a new or redesigned website. Despite being in the background, they go a long way in the optimization of your website.

While our team is here to implement these tools to advance your outreach, gaining familiarity with these terms may make you a more confident user of the internet. We are going to share some common web-related abbreviations and how they work to highlight your brand on the internet.

SEO. This stands for Search Engine Optimization and is likely our most common acronym. Search engines such as Firefox and Google utilize the keywords and clicks buried in a website’s database to pull it into algorithms for consumers. A website designer, while making the overall aesthetic pleasing, is also coding actions and keywords into the background of your website so it becomes discoverable online.

SSL. This acronym is short for Secure Sockets Layer. As the name suggests, it is an extra security measure for your website. When coded into your website, it works to encrypt all the data passing between servers – meaning you, and your consumer’s information remains your own. Search engines like Google have begun alerting consumers of websites without an SSL Certificate, allowing you to make safe decisions while browsing.

UX. UX is short for User Experience. While commonly referred to in consumer product jargon, how a consumer views and navigates your website is just as much an experience as holding a toothbrush. An experienced designer remains on-trend with the latest in consumer information analytics and develops a website to best reflect your product in the current market. Think of a time you visited an underwhelming or absolutely confusing website; an understanding of user experience creates a seamless visit for your new or returning consumers every time.

To learn more about how to optimize your website, or inquire about our services, visit us online at jellywebsites.com or call us at 951.371.9327 today!

Why Can’t I Keep my Website Visitor’s Attention? | Prescott, AZ

Believe it or not, getting views on your website is only the first half of the battle. Retaining their attention and having a site that is user-experience (UX) oriented, is the other. If you have no idea what this all means, that’s okay! We are going to break down these terms, and how to organically retain visitor attention.

If you are unsure of what user activity on your website looks like, ask your web designer to evaluate your analytics. This information may help you make decisions that will contribute to an improved overall user experience!

When someone searches for keywords in a search engine (like Google), it populates options. When they your website, that is a “view”, and you can access statistics on these views. How long your potential client or customer remains on your website provides insight as to how effective it is.

For example, if 70% of viewers click out of your site within the first 10 seconds, something clearly is driving them away. If 70% of viewers remain on your website for a few minutes, they are likely busy engaging with your content.

User experience is how well a website format and features allow visitors to attain the information they are seeking. Generally, a well-designed website’s user experience is seamless; its clean and users have no issues navigating content.

A website that is showing less favorable statistics may need the following areas of improvement:

First Impression. Did you know that as humans, we judge something within the first 8 seconds of seeing it for the first time? Have a friend visit your website and ask them to share first impressions. Generally, a homepage should be clean, inviting and provide relevant information about your enterprise.

Unnecessary Navigation. It’s important to evaluate how different facets of your enterprise are accessed on your website. Namely, navigation. Do you have a single-page website that streamlines information as you scroll, or do you have a multi-page, user-experience oriented design? If you notice your navigation is difficult or unnecessarily cluttered, it may be driving potential consumers away.

Pop-Ups. A well thought out pop-up information square can add flare to any website, but it can also cause visitors to feel overwhelmed if left unchecked. When well placed, a pop-up that makes sense can add value to user experience. When pop-ups generate on every page however, its an off-putting experience for curious visitors to your website. Discuss with your designer if a pop-up may be an appropriate addition to your website.

Confusing Content. Font, text color and background all affect how well visitors can understand your enterprise and gain information. When a website is difficult to read or features bright colors, it tends to distract and drive people away from your services.

To learn more about website design, management, and engagement, contact Jelly Websites at 951.371.9327 or visit online at www.jellywebsites.com today.

Does Speed Matter? | Corona, CA

So, here you are with your brand-new website, ready to take the internet by storm! It has just the right amount of drop-down menu options, the pictures are gorgeous, and the layout is crisp, clean and mobile-friendly. But when you were building the website, did you think about its speed? Does speed even make a difference?

The answer is yes. The amount of time that it takes for your website to load can truly impact SEO. Your websites speed can depend on anything from host design to optimization, making it important for both users and search engines. Users are less likely to stay on a site that has slow loading time and Google will penalize your site for loading too slowly.

Google. Google wants to provide their users with the best experience possible, and if your site loads slowly it will affect your rating. Google has been focusing on delivering the best user experience possible. If your site loads faster, your business has better chances that viewer will remain on your page.

Your customers. While page speed is important to Google, other search engines and for your rankings, it also impact user experience. There are many ways that a fast loading website creates good user experience. After all, the point is to attract customers.

  • If your business sells a product, having a fast loading page helps your visitors quickly understand what your company has to offer and complete the order forms.
  • If your website generates revenue due to the advertising of your content, a fast loading site can ensure that your visitors navigate through all of your web pages and can increase the total page views.

If you’d like to improve your website's loading speed, contact Jelly Websites in Corona, CA at (951) 371-9327 or visit www.jellywebsites.com for additional information.

Jelly Websites proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.