Tag: Website Design

Stop Overwhelming Your Online Customers With Information Overload. Hook Them In With This Approach Instead. | Entrepreneur
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Users spend an average of 5.59 seconds looking at a website’s written content. I don’t know about you, but it seems like there is hardly enough time to gain users’ interest, let alone relay the information you want to share — and the information they want to find.

However, following best practices, there is no reason to bombard users with an avalanche of information when they land on your homepage. While there may be a lot of great information about your business, putting it in their faces when they arrive can have the inverse effect, making users feel overwhelmed and pushing them to leave the site.

So, what is the alternative? Thoughtfully crafted messages and content aligned with the customer journey and revealed through a slow, strategic drip known as progressive disclosure.

Related: Your Online Customer Experience Is More Than a Buzzword — It’s the Backbone of Your Business. Here’s How to Optimize It.

But what is progressive disclosure?

Progressive disclosure is about strategically revealing the information a user wants or needs at the precise moment the customer wants or needs it (rather than throwing it at them upfront). This is essentially a strategic approach to planning and releasing content throughout the customer journey to maximize engagement and move a customer through the conversion funnel.

Here’s an example: If you have a product-heavy website, the navigation should direct the user through a seamless navigation. If the navigation is designed strategically to align with the customer journey, then each click is a point on the path of progressive disclosure. As users move around the site, they will slowly but surely learn more about the products and services and find the information they need. This is precisely why websites use a thoughtful navigation system based on logic and integrated into the information architecture that outlines the content and where it should be placed within the site.

Why is progressive disclosure powerful?

The simple answer is that this process is customer-centric. It focuses on what customers want to accomplish rather than what you, the business owner, want to share.

In addition, progressive disclosure accomplishes the following:
- Reduces friction: Information overload leads to confusion and decision paralysis. By presenting information relevant to the user’s immediate needs, you remove unnecessary hurdles and guide them seamlessly toward their goals.
- Boosts engagement: Curiosity thrives when there is something more to discover. As users uncover new features and functionalities, their interest remains piqued, encouraging further exploration and deeper product engagement.
- Builds trust: When users feel they’re being led, not overwhelmed, trust flourishes. Progressive disclosure shows respect for their time and attention, fostering a positive relationship between them and your product.
Related: 7 Ecommerce Customer Experience Strategies for Effective Branding in 2024

Want to rework your website so it’s aligned with your customers?

If you want to rework your website or consider how your content is aligned with your customers, here are a few considerations that will help ensure you are applying progressive disclosure principles:
- Map the customer journey. Understand the different stages users go through, from awareness to consideration, purchase and beyond. Identify their needs and pain points at each stage.
- Prioritize information. Categorize features and information based on their importance and relevance to each stage of the journey. Highlight core functionalities initially and unveil advanced features later.
- Use microlearning. Chunk information into digestible pieces, delivered through tutorials, tooltips, and interactive prompts. This makes learning effortless and avoids cognitive overload.
- Leverage visual cues. Employ clear design elements like hierarchy, icons, and animation to guide users’ attention and highlight key information.
- Gather feedback. Continuously analyze user behaviors on your site and collect feedback to understand what resonates. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and implement valuable changes.
- Use multiple touchpoints to communicate. While this strategy can be applied to a website, it applies to all digital communication channels. Most who visit your website either have a specific reason or are fact-finding. So consider using other digital channels, such as SMS and digital cards, to communicate more important (or urgent) messages in real-time.
Applying progressive disclosure isn’t just about withholding information; it’s about crafting a captivating narrative that unfolds as the user interacts with your brand. Applying this approach can foster trust, increase engagement, and ultimately create satisfied customers.

Remember, we’re not just selling products or services; we’re guiding users on a journey, and every step along the way matters. By unveiling the right information at the right time, we transform their experience from overwhelming to empowering, paving the way for sustainable success.
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Louis Lombardi

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June 28, 2024
The Secret to An Extraordinary Website? It Starts With the Team Behind It | Entrepreneur

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Remember when a “webmaster” comprised an entire website team? In the early days of the internet, these folks — who typically took on everything from web development to design to IT and technical maintenance — truly held the keys to the company’s digital presence. Of course, websites were simpler then (the Wayback Machine shows just how far we’ve come), and a single person could feasibly develop and maintain what were essentially digital flyers.

Fast forward to today and websites are much more complex: business results turbines that drive organizational velocity and performance, integrating everything from brand storytelling and ecommerce to communication, data collection, content, customer communities and more. While some organizations still have brochure websites, most run “essential websites” — an online hub for customer activity. Essential websites drive leads, product trials and purchases. They direct traffic to articles that generate ad revenue, facilitate enrollment for schools and persuade donors to contribute to social causes. Essential websites are core to most organizations’ go-to-market strategy, and while technology has come a long way in facilitating these web functions, so too have the roles needed to support a digital experience with multiple sites and stakeholders.

Case in point: the proliferation of the WebOps (Website Operations) director, who oversees a cross-functional team that shares responsibility for co-creating a website. As websites have become the center point for an organization’s online presence, building a team that is highly invested in advancing web work is a critical part of the formula for digital progress.

Here’s what I’ve learned about optimizing a website team (and what other marketing leaders can learn, too).

Related: How Good Website Content Helps You Earn Potential Customers

Get the right people doing the right work

You don’t need a large team to get big results, but you do need the right people doing the right work. This comes down to establishing clear ownership of tasks: getting people aligned and empowered to make the changes they need. For example, content creators need to be able to publish content and campaigns — without having to wait for IT or web developers to give them access.

I’ve seen this scenario play out numerous times: a new head of marketing needs to boost leads, conversions or sales, but their hands are tied because they can’t make timely changes to the website. This was the case with one of my company’s clients, B2B insurance company Zelros. After its new CMO realized the dev team couldn’t prioritize the changes she needed, she shifted website ownership to her marketing team. Armed with the right tools and tech, they could control their own projects and timelines — freeing them up to create landing pages, campaigns and sales features that helped grow web traffic by 82%.

So who are the “right people?” The best web teams include people who are passionate about advancing the site and able to take the reins. While three is often the minimum number needed — usually a developer, designer and content specialist — the web team should be the organization’s most inclusive and collaborative team. And these people don’t need to be marketers.

In fact, a recent survey we conducted revealed 63% of marketing leaders say less than half of their company’s web team is part of the marketing organization. Website stakeholders often come from IT, HR and other departments in the form of subject matter experts, or from external agencies who bring expertise in areas such as SEO, paid ads and app development. The best thing a CMO or WebOps director can do is to give these stakeholders ownership and empowerment. With solid style guides, many stakeholders can be empowered to design extraordinary, on-brand experiences that are executed seamlessly.

Related: Your Website’s Success Depends on Collaboration. Here’s How to Get It Right (and Make More Sales in Return).

Leverage tools and partners that alleviate the load

Web work can be fast and furious, as was evidenced during pandemic lockdowns when many companies were faced with a quick pivot to digital-first offerings — including a web presence that could withstand increased demand. At one Japanese research institute, media coverage of its pandemic shifts caused a spike in web traffic that could have taken the site down. But because the institute had a partner in place to monitor demand, the website kept ticking while its teams focused on other projects.

The kinds of tools and partners you need will depend entirely on the size of your team — and your site. Our survey revealed that, on average, in-house web teams handle 11 of the 16 most common functions, including data analytics and customer support, but often outsource more technical functions — 53% outsource UI/UX design; 45% outsource infrastructure development; and 42% outsource web development. This allows internal teams to be agile and keep the momentum going while big builds and routine tasks are taken care of externally.

If your developers or web teams are consumed with tasks like security patching, which can be tedious and time-consuming, they often don’t have the capacity for creative work. But the right tools and partners can support internal efficiencies — and automate tasks like site security — so team members can focus on more strategic priorities like hosting online events or developing personalized customer experiences.

Related: How to Develop a Great Business Website

Define and measure success as you go

The success of your website depends on more than people and tools. The goals you set and track are critical to your team’s understanding of whether they’re hitting the right marks.

There are many standard web metrics marketers like to track. Our survey respondents favored traffic and click-throughs, but many teams also consider search rankings, leads and conversions. I prefer to divide WebOps success into three categories: credibility (the peace of mind of core website performance), productivity (the ability to deliver on time and within budget) and impact (achieving results that are essential to the business). Too many web teams get caught up in vanity metrics, like the number of visits. But a website’s success is only relevant if the results are meaningful in the context of your business. Focusing on metrics such as form completions, quality of leads and conversions is far more valuable from a business perspective. It can better inform web teams as to where they need to focus their energies.

There’s no formula for a perfect web team, but the most successful teams I’ve worked with empower their members with clear goals, valuable data and tools, encouragement to experiment and the ability to move quickly. Ultimately your customers will decide whether your website succeeds, but the right web team should be able to respond to their ever-changing needs.

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Christy Marble

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August 21, 2023
The Pros and Cons of Minimalism and Simplicity in Web Design | Entrepreneur

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Minimalism has become one of the most prevalent trends in the creative industry, with its alternative, maximalism, being increasingly marginalized. A cursory glance at Google Trends shows that maximalism is not getting much attention, suggesting that minimalism is the holy grail of design. This trend is apparent across various industries, including graphic design, interior design, arts and others.

This article aims to examine the advantages and drawbacks of minimalism in UI/UX design. By doing so, it will enable entrepreneurs to make informed decisions on what design approach is suitable for their business, instead of just flocking with the trends.

Related: Use These Web Design Tricks to Grow Your Business Exponentially

What is minimalism in web design?

Minimalism is a design approach that emphasizes simplicity, clarity and a focus on the essential elements. It’s a design style that strives to remove all non-essential elements and distractions while prioritizing functionality and user experience.

Minimalist design is commonly recognized by its limited use of color, flat design style and emphasis on typography and text. Some well-known examples of minimalist design in news websites include Entrepreneur.com, BusinessWorld.Africa and TechCrunch.com. In contrast, websites such as CNN.com, TheDailyBeast.com, and TheVerge.com can be classified as maximalist due to their use of bold, complex designs featuring rich visual elements, dynamic animations and interactive features.

Below, we’ll discuss the benefits of minimalism in UI/UX design:

Clarity and focus

Minimalist design emphasizes simplicity, clarity and user focus. By eliminating unnecessary elements and simplifying the design, minimalist design helps users focus on essential features and content. This clarity and focus are essential for creating a positive user experience. Minimalist design can also make it easier for users to navigate the interface, reducing confusion and increasing user satisfaction.

For example, the minimalist design of Google’s search engine emphasizes the search bar and search button, making it easy for users to find and use the search function. The minimalist design also makes it easier for Google to load the page quickly, improving the user experience.

Faster loading speeds

Minimalist design can improve loading speeds by reducing the number of elements on the page. By reducing the number of elements, minimalist design reduces the amount of data that needs to be loaded, resulting in faster load times. This faster loading speed can improve the user experience and reduce the likelihood of users abandoning the website or application due to slow loading times.

For example, the minimalist design of Dropbox’s website eliminates unnecessary elements, resulting in a faster loading speed. This fast loading speed improves the user experience and makes it more likely that users will continue to use Dropbox.

Consistency and branding

Minimalist design can also improve consistency and branding by simplifying the design and focusing on essential elements. By eliminating unnecessary elements and emphasizing essential features, minimalist design can make it easier to create a consistent brand image across different platforms and devices. This consistency can help build brand recognition and increase user trust.

For example, Apple’s minimalist design emphasizes the essential features of their products and creates a consistent brand image across different devices and platforms. This consistency has helped to build brand recognition and increase user trust in Apple’s products.

Related: Learn Design Principles That Can Help Grow Your Business

Increased user engagement

Minimalist design can increase user engagement by simplifying the user interface and making it easier for users to interact with essential features. By reducing the number of distractions and focusing on essential features, minimalist design can encourage users to engage with the application or website.

For example, the minimalist design of Instagram’s mobile application focuses on essential features such as photos, comments and likes. This focus on essential features makes it easier for users to engage with the application and encourages them to interact with other users.

Mobile-friendly design

Minimalist design is ideal for mobile devices due to its simplicity and focus on essential features. By eliminating unnecessary elements, minimalist design can make it easier to navigate and interact with essential features on small screens. This mobile-friendly design can improve the user experience and increase user engagement on mobile devices.

For example, the minimalist design of Airbnb’s mobile application makes it easy for users to find and book accommodations on their mobile devices. This mobile-friendly design has helped to increase user engagement and has made Airbnb a popular choice for mobile users.

Now that you know the benefits, let’s discuss the limitations of minimalism in UI/UX design:

Lack of distinctive design

Minimalist design often relies on a limited color palette, typography and other design elements. This limited range of design elements can make it challenging to create a distinctive design that stands out from other designs. When minimalist designs are overused, they can start to look generic and lack personality, making it difficult to differentiate a brand from competitors.

For example, while Apple’s minimalist design has helped to create a consistent brand image, it has also been criticized for lacking personality and uniqueness, particularly in its recent product launches.

Difficulty communicating complex information

Minimalist design can be challenging when it comes to communicating complex information. Because minimalist designs often rely on simplicity, they can struggle to convey complex ideas or concepts effectively. As a result, designers need to be careful not to oversimplify their designs and risk losing critical information.

For example, the minimalist design of some financial applications can make it difficult for users to find and understand important information such as investment performance or tax implications.

Limited flexibility

Minimalist design can be inflexible and challenging to adapt to new or changing needs. Because minimalist designs emphasize simplicity, designers may struggle to incorporate new features or elements without compromising the overall design’s simplicity. This limited flexibility can be particularly challenging in rapidly evolving industries where design needs to adapt quickly.

For example, a minimalist design for a news website may struggle to incorporate new multimedia content or interactive features that are becoming more popular in the industry.

Related: Usability First: Why You Should Pay Attention To User Experience

Overemphasis on visual design

Minimalist design can also overemphasize visual design at the expense of usability and functionality. Because minimalist design relies on simplicity and essential features, designers may prioritize visual design over usability, resulting in a less effective user experience. This overemphasis on visual design can result in a website or application that looks good but is difficult to use.

For example, a minimalist design for a navigation bar may prioritize visual design over usability, resulting in a navigation bar that is challenging to use and understand.

Potential for boredom and lack of engagement

Minimalist design can also be challenging to maintain user engagement and excitement. Again, because minimalist designs often emphasize simplicity and essential features, there is a risk that users may become bored or disengaged if the design is too simplistic. Designers need to strike a balance between simplicity and engagement to keep users interested and motivated to use the website or application.

Beyond flocking with the trends, entrepreneurs deserve to know which design approach is best for their business goals, target audience, brand identity and content. This could involve minimalism, maximalism or a combination of both.

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Taiwo Sotikare

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May 19, 2023
What Comes First in Website Development — Design or Copy?

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The age-old question in the digital design world persists: What comes first in website development — design or copy? Many digital design agencies have their own workflow strategies that best satisfy this question, but ultimately, it comes down to project needs and considerations. Nevertheless, this query continues to ricochet between copy first, design after, and design preceding copy. When considering this stance, our own digital design agency’s perspective suggests a healthy balance between design and copy development. Design and copy should be curated and implemented in tandem to fill in any gaps that this duality informs. Without copy, a design is simply a visual layout, void of a clear user journey or of emotion. Yet without design, copy is merely information without placement.

When designing or working with an agency for new website development or refresh, copy and design need to complement one another. To truly achieve a productively developed website, equilibrium needs to occur at the starting point. Let’s dissect how each strategy differs from the other and how to ultimately balance both for your next business’s web refresh.

Related: Should You Have Content or Design First?

Copy first, design later

The conversation around “copy first, design later” stems from the idea that “content is king.” Although a popular phrase in the digital design industry, it often becomes utilized as a blanket statement to design when it does not always apply. Every digital product is different and requires different specifications. Sometimes, in web design, stakeholders have their own content prepared and ready; in this case — “content first, design later” can work seamlessly here.

Designers then can utilize the provided content and design around it. This allows design teams to align the tone of the design with the voice of the content and curate a layout with the provided information. Ultimately, it provides design teams with a contextual frame of mind for navigating a website, user pathways and journeys. Content informs the pulse of a design because, with “lorem ipsum” placeholders, it can be hard to fully visualize how a design is conveying a brand story, mission and more.

Yet, “copy first” has an Achilles’ heel — and that’s leaving room for wasted time. Many design agencies practice the approach of allowing content writers (whether from stakeholders, internal teams or freelance writers) to curate content first, then pass on that information to design around it. However, developing content takes time. Content must evoke the tone of a brand or organization, consider SEO purposes, ensure the user navigates the site without cognitive friction and more. Therefore, waiting on content writers to fully develop their messaging, slows the process down, because designers are waiting for the information on how to align the design with the content tonality. It’s not realistic to pause the design phase as content is being developed, particularly if there are deadlines from stakeholders.

Moreover, without visually allowing writers to see the space in which their copy will go, it leaves room for error. If your content writer develops copy that is too long to fit into a design layout, there is more time wasted on content editing and back and forth.

Design first, copy later

To avoid the errors of “copy first,” many have adopted the “design first, content later” approach. This strategy is wildly used because it helps inform the tone of the content based on the design. If a design is rich with sharp geometric shapes, an electric color pallet and flashy animations, chances are the content will evoke a tonality of confidence, determination and perhaps even an edgy voice. This helps avoid the mistake of writers misaligning the tone with the design — because writers can see what emotions are evoked within the visual experience, and it streamlines their writing processes, too. Additionally, understanding the design layout also tells writers how much content to develop, saving time on content refinement later.

However, this strategy has its flaws as well. Sometimes writing teams do not work directly with designers, particularly if they are an additional hire-on for the project, resulting in possible delayed communication or issues sharing the design. This affects your project pipeline because your content writer may have to scramble to curate copy if there is a lull in communication. Further, the design process is iterative and is always bound to shape and shift. Once presented to stakeholders, if your design is filled with lorem ipsum placeholder content, it can lead to confusion about what certain sections are meant to be. If posed with the question of what information will go where without contextual visualization, it muddles the overall experience.

Related: Use These Web Design Tricks to Grow Your Business Exponentially

Ultimately, balance is the answer

When it comes to fusing design with copy, balance is ultimately the best approach to prevent the overlap of issues. It is highly important that when a website is coming to fruition, design and copy development begin in the same breath. Synchronizing both efforts early on helps the website start off on the right footing without mix-ups. Design and copy are both undeniably important to each other’s development. To convey the right tone and emotion, they need to work together as opposed to clashing.

Further, to truly attain specific feedback from stakeholders, having both content and design together allows them to see both design and copy working together. This isn’t to say that your content copy is fully finalized — rather, much like design, it iteratively changes based on feedback. Sometimes in the early stages of a project, copy can even look like cues on what the purpose of the content will be in each section, and that can further allow stakeholders to provide feedback on the placement early on without having the full content finished. Early development of content and design is a great way to achieve productivity. Both strategies should commence at the same starting line, particularly at the wireframe stage if possible.

How then, can this balance be implemented into your design strategies? First, it’s all about communication and information sharing. Whether in-house, from stakeholders or from freelance writing teams, communication is what will ensure both design and writing teams are working cohesively. Always be sure to fill in your content writers early on with any layout wireframes or schemes to give them a visual idea of how much content will be needed, how many headers or sub-headers will be curated and what the intention of call-to-actions will be/where it will lead. Communication will ultimately be an asset when balancing these two elements of design.

Related: 8 Crucial Features Your Website Must Have

Another best practice to remember when striking this balance is ensuring there is a clear understanding of the tonality of the website. If the copy tone and voice do not align with the experience of the visual story of a digital product, users’ cognitive response will be poor, causing friction and confusion. Along with communicating on layout, copy and design teams should be clear about the overall tone. This can be achieved through iterative calls with stakeholders to ensure both teams are on the right trajectory and even by scheduling calls on a daily or weekly cadence internally.

Copy curation is all part of the design process, but without aligning these two practices, it can leave room for a mismatched experience. Therefore, commencing these two processes at the same, early starting point will make all the difference.

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Goran Paun

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February 2, 2023
6 Web 1.0 Era Website Promotion Methods That Still Work Today

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Promoting a website can take a lot of time and effort. Results are rarely immediate, and the process requires patience and consistency. To help spread the word, website owners usually turn to paid promotion via social media or search engines. But in the late ’90s and early 2000s, this type of advertising either did not exist or was significantly different than the resources available today. So, how was website promotion facilitated during the Web 1.0 era, and do the same methods still work? The following is a list of six strategies that worked.

Related: 8 Tips to Make Your Website More Sticky

1. Banner rotation networks

One of the earliest ways to promote a website was to embed a banner rotation script. It was a simple way to share web traffic among those participating within a banner rotation network or web ring. Once the script was installed, advertisements were displayed at specific intervals or upon certain actions, such as refreshing a browser. Some banner rotation networks were free, and some were paid. The fee-based networks typically had greater reach and higher-quality web traffic.

Do banner rotations still work? While not as popular as they once were, the technology still exists in various forms. The advent of retargeting makes banner advertising much more effective than ever before.

2. Reciprocal link pages

A reciprocal link page or link exchange was typical for promoting banners and text links. In the early days of the internet, website owners would agree to place each other’s banners or links on dedicated web pages for cross-promotion. A link page’s primary benefit was gaining exposure via new web traffic. A secondary use was to boost the popularity of a website. The more link associations, the higher the rank in search engine results.

Do reciprocal link pages still work? Most search engines discourage pages exclusively dedicated to reciprocal links because they can be built autonomously with bots. The general perception is that reciprocal link pages lower the quality of the user experience. However, variations of link pages can still exist as long as there is an obvious benefit to the user.

Related: From Link Builder to Email Marketer

3. Guest articles and posts

Guest posts and guest articles have been around for a while. There were many benefits to writing guest articles or posts. The aim was to build relationships and exposure to increase website traffic. The content provided by the guest created name-brand awareness. It also established expertise in a particular field or trade.

For website owners, allowing guests to submit content was also a great way to alleviate the burden of regularly coming up with fresh content ideas that kept visitors engaged. It also helped to boost domain prominence due to the caliber of guest authors interacting with the website.

Do guest articles and posts still work for website promotion? It is still effective for gaining exposure to new audiences and building relationships. A guest article or post usually includes a link to the original author’s website and a short bio. This helps to increase website traffic and search ranking.

4. Paid link placement

Websites with a high number of visitors could use paid link placement as a potential source of revenue. There were a few methods by which a website could incorporate paid ads. Prominent areas of a website were set aside to make way for text links or banners. Promoted content was featured either as part of a rotation or fixed display. Fees were charged based on the number of times the ad was shown or by flat rate. A website could also make money by charging a fee for link placement in an email newsletter.

Does paid link placement still work? Yes. It is still effective for website promotion. To maximize return on investment, the aim should be to target consumers most likely to want the product or service offered.

Related: 9 Tips to Successfully Market Your Business

5. Cloned websites

In the internet’s early days, cloning was a way to get greater utility from an existing website. The strategy involved creating several instances of an already successful website. For best results, each duplicate website needed to appear slightly different to make a unique appearance. At the time, a network of websites could have precisely the same content. Cloning a website meant greater potential for viewership in search results. Additionally, each instance of the original website could be linked to a core product, such as an e-book, via strategic advertising.

Does website cloning still work? Search engines will now hide and penalize duplicate content because it has the appearance of being bot-generated. While the page content cannot be exact, there are still ways to create derivatives of an already successful website.

6. Platforms and databases

The Web 1.0 era ushered in a wide array of website styles. From web rings to auction sites, everything that is popular now had already existed back then. Platforms and database websites were ideal for website promotion due to their potential for high user engagement. What is now called a platform had no formal definition in those days. Bulletin boards, web-based email and shopping carts were among the most widely used platforms. Similarly, database websites were just as valuable for website promotion because they served as official sources of information.

Are platforms and databases still effective for website promotion? They are expensive to build and may take years to launch, but the right concept can attract worldwide attention. From gaming cheat codes to product reviews, platform and database websites were, and still are, highly effective for growth and residual website traffic.

Related: 10 Small Business Marketing Strategies That Actually Work

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Justin Leonard

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November 21, 2022