With the first quarter coming to a close, it’s clear that the industry experts were correct in suggesting data and analytics will drive the industry in 2017. Not only do marketers have more access to compelling data than ever before, they also have tools to analyze it, interpret it, and put it to use.
One of the most useful data gathering and aggregating tools is called a “heatmap.” A heatmap shows how visitors interact with a webpage: where they look, what they click on, and how they scroll. The red or “hot” areas of the map represent the greatest amount of activity.
Heatmaps provide real-time information to marketers seeking to respond to industry changes and trends as quickly as possible, making it easier for the customer to find what they’re looking for and eventually convert to a sale.
Here are just a few ways heatmaps can help you optimize your website design and improve conversions.
1. Identify where users become confused
One of the most common sources of confusion on a website is the navigation bar. After all, this is where a user is intuitively trained, for better or worse, to look seek out information (hence its name). If a visitor to your website is spending a lot of time hovering around the navigation bar, it’s reasonable to assume that they’re not sure where to click. They are confused.
While there are a variety of factors that result in nav-bar confusion, a few are very common. Perhaps it contains too much information to digest, it’s unnecessarily cluttered, the text is too small to read, or drop-down menus are difficult to click.
According to some case studies, removing the navigation bar all together is the key to greater success. Consider the type of information your user is looking for—is the navigation bar necessary to lead them there, or would a simple call to action suffice?
2. Test your calls to action
What if your CTAs simply aren’t generating clicks? A heatmap will show you if users are noticing your CTA buttons, if they’re hovering over or near them before making an action, and what action they’re likeliest to take afterward.
In the example below, you’ll see that the landing page was optimized with an effective call to action. The heatmap shows how the CTA button clearly receives the most attention on the page.
Furthermore, a “click map,” featured in most heatmapping software, can show you whether your CTAs are actually generating clicks, and if those clicks result in additional actions. A click without a form-fill is, however, just a click!
The bottom line is that calling a visitor to action doesn’t amount to much if the visitor doesn’t click. (We discuss this in our upcoming Conversion Marketing Seminar.) Split-testing your CTAs is critical when you’re trying to determine their effectiveness. Placement, color, text, size, and many other factors can make the difference between a strong call to action and a weak one.
3. Discover which parts of your Web Design should be optimized
We’re in an age of rapid change, and yesterday’s tools are no longer adequate to engage consumers and drive conversions. In a sense this means your website design should be adapting to the viewer on a moment-to-moment basis.
Such intuitive web content is of course difficult to create and maintain on the fly. What you can do, however, is use heatmapping to determine the parts of your site that can be optimized. This is known as conversion rate optimization, or CRO.
This allows you to challenge conventional wisdom and see what works best for your visitors. Should the most important information appear above the fold? (Maybe not!) What’s causing visitors to abandon their shopping carts? How do numbers trigger the likelihood of a purchase?
When you use heatmaps to answer questions like these, you no longer need to rely on anecdotal data, or even the hard data of other businesses. Your customer is your customer, and your job is to cater to their needs, not the people visiting another website.
Want to learn more about how to design and optimize your business’s website? Check out our business web design guide!
“Customer journey” is a sticky term, a bit difficult to understand or define. The simplest explanation comes from SurveyMonkey, a data collection, data analysis, survey, and brand management tool for businesses.
The customer journey is the complete sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with your company and brand. Instead of looking at just a part of a transaction or experience, the customer journey documents the full experience of being a customer.
For businesses with a strong digital presence (which includes most businesses in this day and age), customer journey is only becoming more important. Many customer journeys may begin or end off of your website, but your web presence is a critical factor in helping your customers achieve a desired outcome while also taking the next step towards buying your products or services. The problem with the process of “customer journey mapping” is that every business guides its prospect through a different customer journey. Consider just two very basic examples:
A B2C artisan cupcake shop without an e-commerce website, relying heavily on traditional advertising word-of-mouth for traffic to their brick-and-mortar store.
A B2B heavy equipment rental company that offers custom quotes through its website for large commercial and industrial construction jobs.
These companies exist in completely different industries. They have completely different sales goals. The cost of acquiring a new customer, and that customer’s lifetime value, can’t even be compared. In other words, their customers’ journeys don’t have too much in common from the point they enter the sales funnel to the point when they make a purchase.
But this doesn’t mean that you can’t refine your customer journey on the web. Because they’re your customer, you already have a great idea of what their needs and desires are! By asking the right questions, looking at the right data, and seeking the right advice, you can more effectively guide your customer through a pleasant experience that will lead them to where they want to go (and where you want them to go, as well).
Here are just a few questions you can ask yourself to see if you’re offering your customer an amazing journey when they interact with you on the web.
How do you define your customers?
While your customers have one huge things in common—they want your products and services. However, they’re unique in the ways that they receive and consume the information you disseminate that may result in a lead, conversion, or sale. Furthermore, you probably have repeat or high-value customers, or a customer base that you’d like to tap into more.
These customers can be broken down into “buyer personas,” fictional representations that represent the way your different customers interact with your brand.
Once you’ve defined your customers, it’s time to take a walk in their shoes. When they arrive at your website, what information are they going to be looking for? Is that information provided to them in an easy-to-understand way, or will it be difficult to find?
One of the things that you want to provide your ideal customer is a pleasant experience—the feeling that they’ve accomplished what they set out to do when they began their journey (whether online or offline). Someone who feels satisfied at the end of their journey is far likelier to visit you again.
What goal(s) are you looking to achieve?
Everyone measures success differently. For example, a long sales cycle might mean that you’re looking for many more “micro conversions” (social interactions, form fills, downloads, chats, or emails) before the ultimate “macro conversion” (the sale!).
Although your ultimate goal is the sale, there are probably other goals to set before you can expect your prospect to buy.
The sale happens at the end of the journey. Does your website—or your web presence as a whole—facilitate those micro conversions? Some things you may want to consider is whether you’re providing easy-to-find, easy-to-consume information that will develop trust between you and a prospect and allow them to take that next step down the conversion funnel. You’ll also want to ensure that your site provides multiple outlets for your customer to get answers to questions they may have, whether through chat, email, or social.
What paths can your customer take?
There are (as we will explain in the next point) many paths to any destination. Some of these paths are quick and easy. Others are difficult and take too long. Your challenge is to ensure that your customer has multiple paths to their destination and that those paths are clear of obstacles.
Think about a “bad customer journey” experience you’ve had online. Perhaps you went to a website looking for something specific and you couldn’t find the information you needed, or weren’t able to take the action you wanted to accomplish.
Navigating a website can be extremely frustrating when customer journey isn’t taken into account. If it takes too many clicks to find what you’re looking for, if the navigation is confusing, or if there aren’t enough easy-to-follow paths to reach the desired destination, customers are likely to bounce to another website with a better user experience and a simpler, more pleasant journey.
Where does your customer journey begin and end?
Everyone’s journey is different. All those cars in a Target parking lot began at a different place, took a different path to get there, and were driven by people with different goals once they reached the store. Some of them find what they want quickly. Others have a difficult time tracking down what they’re looking for. Of course, some people won’t find what they need and will need to extend their journey to a different destination.
As we’ve said at the beginning of this post, the customer journey for some businesses begins offline and ends at a brick-and-mortar store. For others, the journey occurs entirely on the website. Most businesses, however, have multiple touch-points along the journey, and their website is one of the paths they take to achieved their desired outcome.
Consider where your customers’ journey may begin, and where it may end. Remember, just as there are multiple paths, there are also multiple start and end points. Are you making sure to take care of the customer whose journey might begin before typing your business’s name into Google’s search bar? Does your website facilitate a smooth transition to the multiple destinations they may be looking to reach?
Which brings us to the final, critical point…
Do you understand the data?
If you’re able to answer the above questions, then you’re well on your way to refining your customer journey. However, the single most important thing you have to understand to create a seamless customer journey is data.
Your website’s analytics are full of information that will help you to understand how customers are interacting with your website and whether their journey is an enjoyable or a frustrating one. How many pages does the average visitor view? What’s your website’s bounce rate? What is the duration of the average visit? How many visitors return?
You can, and should, go even deeper. Mobile experience, page load times, social interactions, and more are all valuable data points that will help you refine your customer journey. Focus groups and mystery shoppers can help you iron out wrinkles you may have missed. Services like Hotjar can allow you to see heatmaps, visitor recordings, conversion funnels, and form analysis.
This information is invaluable when determining what parts of your site are easily navigable and what parts are confusing.
Any obstacle that prevents your customer getting from point A to point B is known as friction. The less friction, the better the journey. Data gives you the power to reduce friction and increase customer satisfaction.
Know what you don’t know.
Customer journey is a simple concept, but in execution, it can often be daunting. There are many, many things you can do on your own to improve customer journey on your website. However, there are times when calling an expert to help you fill in the details is the best chance you’ll have at success.
Business owners (and employees) can often be “too close” to their brand, meaning they don’t see customer journey the way their customers do. An unbiased look from outsiders who can view things through the eyes of your customer will help you to see areas where you’re doing a great job and ones that may need some improvement.
The good news is, with an awesome customer journey, not only will you generate more conversions and sales—you’ll create an enjoyable experience, have satisfied customers, and develop affinity toward your brand. Our marketing agency in Lancaster, PA can help. We help small businesses with website design, SEO marketing, and search engine optimization.
Web design is a job that requires a wealth of creativity, logistical know-how, and perseverance. Thankfully, the designers and developers know how to make the most of their talents and share what they know with others in the industry in ways that can turn even the most beginner user into a pro.
This is a collection compiled with the help of our designers and developers, to highlight what we love about website design and where we go to get the latest on trends, tips, tutorials, and inspiration.
1. Good UI
Good UI is a great example of a site that practices what it preaches. Exploring the blog for a few moments will reveal that it does exactly what its name implies: demonstrates good UI design and practices. The fluid, stream-of-conscious-like format makes their collection of ideas easy to get through without sacrificing quality or information.
The simple layout keeps the focus on the content which is geared toward ideas for great UI design, and both the sidebar and counter make it easy to keep tabs on your progress as you read through the blog.
Creative Bloq is a favorite among designers, and for good reason. This site takes creative and inspirational approaches to all matters of design, from web, graphic, and 3D design, to digital art, typography, and VFX. It delivers this great content on a daily basis to keep its audience up to date on all the latest trends and techniques in the industry.
This magazine is arguably one of the most popular design and development blogs out there right now. Its quality over quantity approach has earns more than its fair share of bookmarks, along with its attention to the latest web design trends, techniques, and technologies.
Smashing Magazine’s blog is a wealth of free resources and expertise, but if that’s not enough, you can also purchase their books (physical and digital) for even more empowering design knowledge.
Tuts+ places focus on hands-on learning to engage beginner and skilled designers alike by supplying them with actionable lessons and study guides. This kind of learning helps them apply their existing creative skills to areas including photography, coding, web design, and illustration.
The real treat to using Tuts+ is that it lets you go through tutorials at your own pace. The breadth of tutorials and topics gives users the chance to explore myriad skills related to their creative digital interests.
Web Design Ledger is very much a ‘for and by’ web designers project. This site is all about helping others to share their experiences, useful resources like tutorials and tips, inspiration, and knowledge on all things design.
Besides being a platform intent on sharing the best of the best in terms of web and mobile design, its blog is updated several times daily with fresh and interesting content.
This design magazine sprang from humble beginnings as a personal freelance web design site, but has since become a go-to blog where designers can find resources, tutorials, and inspirational ideas for all areas of website design.
They cover web and mobile app design from all levels, and delve into some of the latest web trends and technologies.
The creative folks over at Happy Cog created Cognition as an outlet for all their musings on anything digital, from design and coding to their experiences. They’ve written content centered around dozens of topics, including UX, front-end development, design, project management, and even client services.
They take a candid, if not sometimes eclectic approach to these topics that provide not only invaluable insight into the design process, but shed light on the human components of developing websites from the ground up.
If you’re interested in checking out some of the latest and greatest talent in the web design and development industries, give Awwwards a look. This site not only takes the time to recognize and promote up-and-coming designers, but it also features a host of trending tips and tutorials, along with other great freebies within the Awwwards blog.
Abduzeedo is all about inspiration and visuals to keep the creative designers creative. The design blog collects helpful how-to’s and visual inspiration daily for its users. They even utilize case studies and quick-tips to promote the benefits of tutorials and the software they’re designed for.
Abduzeedo covers topics including photography, typography, and logo design; but it also features interviews and ‘sites of the week’ as well.
Last but not least, A List Apart is an online publication that started way back in 1998 and caters to any and all people who make websites. They explore what it means to design and develop websites, including the meaning of web content and the standards/practices that define good web content.
If you aren’t already subscribed to or follow the sites on this list, give them a try; and if you follow any web design and development blogs that we forgot to mention, let us know in the comments section below.
Adding a shopping cart to your e-commerce website design announces your intentions and credibility to the internet. It says, “I’m here to do business, with a site you can trust.” As mobile browsing continues to grow, so do online sales. Shoppers are flocking to websites such as Amazon, Etsy, or their favorite online store to take care of everyday purchases and seasonal gifts. Making this experience secure, easy, and profitable has become the number one goal for entrepreneurs selling their goods online.
A shopping cart is more than just a centralized place for a user’s potential purchases. It helps them calculate total costs, keep track of their order (or make edits to it), and makes the payment process painless. When a shopping cart is installed, it can offer the business owner just as much, if not more.
Here are five reasons to suit up with a shopping cart if you want to be taken seriously in the e-commerce arena.
You want your website to be an e-commerce site
You absolutely need an online shopping cart if you’re trying to become an e-commerce website. A shopping cart is a crucial component to a successful e-commerce store as it allows you to fluidly process payments, take orders, and encourages users to continue shopping after they’ve made an initial selection. This multifaceted component acts as the customer user interface, an online product catalog, back-end inventory infrastructure, and even the payment gateway. Responsible for so many invaluable aspects of an e-commerce site, shopping cart software will really end up doing most of the work for you.
Convenience = customer satisfaction
From allowing multiple payment options to keeping tabs on everything a customer wants to purchase, shopping cart software makes the buying process easy. Without a cart, users would be forced to make multiple purchases, checking out several times in the process; or worse yet, call you to confirm your order. This creates an uncertainty in the shopper: every time they type in their sensitive information, they run the risk of having that data skimmed, hacked, or stolen.
Customers are also able to remove or add items in their cart without having to start all over again. And the biggest convenience factor: users can shop and purchase on any device with an internet connection.
A shopping cart builds trust with customers
Convenience aside, having a shopping cart for your online store signals that your website is secure. Shopping cart software is designed to make handling payments a breeze—letting users know how to pay (and then letting them do it) and making the transaction secure through the software’s built-in security features. In an age where identity theft is becoming more and more common, online shoppers are cautious about where and to whom they give their personal information and credit card number to.
Installing a shopping cart offers users payment assurance and establishes you as a credible online business.
Better product management
As e-commerce websites grow their catalogues inevitably change as well, which requires proactive product management. Many shopping carts and their software provide business owners product management tools to adapt to trends in growth (or the lack thereof). Any software that can make running your business less time consuming is one entrepreneurs shouldn’t miss out on.
Shopping cart software provides backend data for business growth
With the right software, you can use shopping carts to track what products or services people are coming to your business for (and which ones they might be neglecting). This data can be used to positively impact SEO or marketing strategies. Depending on your software, you may also be able to analyze sales trends and visitor patterns. Carts aren’t good for just collecting products for purchase—they also collect data,
Taking into account the various shopping carts— Magento, WooCommerce Marketing, Zencart, Prestashop, etc.—business owners have plenty of options for how their online cart will look and function. E-commerce software benefits webmasters because it takes the basic needs of a customer (and business owner) and provides a solution to meet those needs. In fact, there’s so much more to having an online cart than customer satisfaction.
The amount of data shopping cart software can collect on the backend is instrumental to running a good business. Carts build credibility by establishing trust between you and your clientele, but it also tells you about those same clients—their patterns and behavior while browsing or making a final purchase.
Adding a shopping cart to your online business turns into this magical gateway for customer data that can be used to grow your business, run ad campaigns, or even save yourself from the red. It’s part of being a proactive entrepreneur: you build, adapt, and grow. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today. We’re a website designer and SEO company in nearby Lancaster, PA.
Pop-ups, formerly synonymous with spam and viruses, are making a comeback. Studies have poured in indicating significant boosts in lead conversion rates. The numbers are so good that businesses and marketers alike are examining the ghosts of pop-ups past—and considering whether the old tactic might be of some use today.
Whether you’re for or against the marketing device, we’re here to show you the right way to use them if you’re curious enough to try them out yourself. Plenty of marketers are already breaking from the stigma associated with pop-ups and the results they’re seeing is proof enough that vintage is making a comeback.
Website design has evolved a great deal over the last decade. Social media and SEO have changed the way online companies do business, and challenged web designers to keep up with new trends.
When you have a website design you tend to forget that just like your car, it needs maintenance over time. Website errors and slow page load times can all hurt your user experience. A bad user experience can also negatively effect your organic rankings as Google looks at visitors that go to your site and bounce right away as a ranking factor.
There are 3 main website design optimizations that a lot of people, businesses, and webmasters tend to forget. So set reminders on your schedule to regularly check these 3 things on your website to make sure it is running up to speed.
One day you might be minding your own business in the office when suddenly you inelegantly trip and fumble the stacks of paper you were carrying. As the papers, file folders, and pens sail through the air, you hear a coworker jokingly announce “fail!”
Calling out “fail” has become the seemingly light-hearted way to tell someone they messed up. With the instant communication that the internet provides, people are failing more than ever. The worst part is that these fails often occur in a company’s sales copy—one of the most important parts of any website. Follow these tips and you’ll not only avoid failing, you’ll have sparkling copy to skyrocket your sales.
In mid-July, more than 1500 digital marketers and creatives gathered in Seattle to learn and network at Mozcon. Two employees from EZMarketing attended to keep up with the internet marketing trends as well as learn how we can better help our clients with our marketing strategies.
When is the last time that you looked at your website’s copy? (Think about it for a minute.)
Unfortunately, so many businesses throw content on their websites without thinking about it strategically – and what ends up happening is, the content they publish doesn’t connect with their target audience, doesn’t ask their readers to make a decision, and doesn’t generate leads or sales.
As you develop your website design, you need to take extra care that the content you’re posting delivers the right message for your brands; not just because people will be reading it, but also because Google will use that content to evaluate whether your site is unique and worthwhile enough to rank higher, or whether it’s just another of ten million websites out there that just don’t provide readers much value.
What happens to those dime-a-dozen-sites? They don’t rank. They don’t generate traffic. They don’t gather leads or sales. They end up in the dustbin of the world wide web.
One of the most useful data gathering and aggregating tools is called a “heatmap.” A heatmap shows how visitors interact with a webpage: where they look, what they click on, and how they scroll. The red or “hot” areas of the map represent the greatest amount of activity.
adapt to trends in growth (or the lack thereof). Any software that can make running your business less time consuming is one entrepreneurs shouldn’t miss out on.
