How Custom Website Design Services Eliminate The Biggest Website Friction Points
Most templated websites look aesthetically pleasing and may manage to bring a potential customer who is genuinely interested onto your company's landing page. However, they might still leave without contacting your business, leaving you to wonder why that happened.
Lack of aesthetics is not always the number one reason for driving customers away, though it is an important one – just like slow, broken, and difficult-to-use websites are.
In any case, sometimes the reason is not apparent. Smaller points of friction that businesses do not notice may silently push customers away, turning a promising website into a lost sales opportunity.
At Vestra Inet, Toronto’s top website development company, we can help you turn things around. In today’s blog, we will discuss the biggest website friction points that drive customers away and how custom websites can turn things around in your favor.
Top 5 Website Friction Points To Watch Out For
Businesses must keep an eye out for the following friction points even if they seem minor. They might be why visitors to your website never convert or take desired actions at a much lower rate than expected:
- Clunky navigation
A website should be crystal clear to use and browse through. If it is a maze visitors have to figure out, they will leave. Pages buried under unclear menu labels, lopsided CTA buttons, and poorly defined service or product categories can make it difficult for visitors to find what they are looking for. Instead of trying to crack the code that powers your website, visitors will choose to hop onto the next best option.
The goal should be to make finding relevant information an effortless exercise, and that can be done with a clear navigation structure.
- Slow loading pages
We live in an ultra-fast world currently, and waiting is something none of us have the patience for. Especially in an online environment. Expecting visitors to wait for critical pages to load can cause them to abandon the experience in a couple of seconds. They will never see your content, even if it is brilliant.
Webpages should be optimized to perform efficiently on all devices, removing wait time entirely wherever possible.
- Forms that ask too much
Many businesses think they are simplifying the process of information collection by asking customers to fill in every possible detail in pop-up or dedicated contact page forms. While we understand the intention behind having detailed forms, customers might feel like you are asking them for too much or sensitive information. Visitors do not like to be interrogated. This just gives them reason to change their mind.
Instead of having long forms, collect only the kind of information your business truly needs. You can always collect additional information after your customers sign up.
- Weak calls-to-action
Calls-to-action serve a very clear purpose – to make visitors take desired action. If these CTAs are vague or weak, they will fail to compel your target audience to do what you want them to do on your website. CTAs should always match the page’s and visitor’s intent. Alignment between the two guarantees results.
Strong CTAs are not “Learn More” or “Click Here”. They are more specific, like “Book A Consultation”, “Ask an Expert,” etc. Logical placement of these CTAs can guide users throughout the journey and compel them to take the right actions.
- Poor mobile experience
Most visitors access websites via their mobile devices. So having websites that stay responsive and easy to use on mobile is critical. If the buttons are frustratingly small or the text impossible to read, or the content arranged in an awkward manner, users will leave.
Responsive design does not involve shrinking the website’s dimensions; it is about making the experience of browsing it feel natural on all devices.
How Custom Website Design Services Can Help
Custom website design services, such as the one Vestra Inet offers, focus on removing all points of friction in a user’s journey. Instead of using generic templates that do not meet the conversion or design goals of your business, we design websites from scratch that are built exactly around your requirements. The result is an easy-to-navigate and equally responsive website on all platforms that features custom integrations to improve the user journey and conversion rates.
Conclusion
As a well-known and trusted web design company in Toronto with 20 years of experience, Vestra Inet is an expert in delivering both ecommerce and B2B websites. Featuring intuitive navigation and SEO-friendly structures, the websites we build rank and guarantee conversions. Contact us to get a custom website for your business.
FAQs
How can a business identify friction points on their website?
Specific tools such as analytics, heatmaps, session recordings, user testing, and conversion rates can help businesses understand where visitors drop off.
Can the copy of a website create friction even when it features good design?
Yes. Unclear messaging or the excessive use of jargon can put visitors off and make them seek similar services or products elsewhere. Weak value propositions and poorly organized information have the same effect.
Should every page on a website have a CTA?
No, every page doesn't need to have a CTA. Only pages that require the user to take an action in their journey should feature a CTA.
Author Bio
Andrey Wool
Helming the operations at Vestra Inet, Andrey has over 20 years of leadership experience in the ERP industry. Having successfully launched 550+ software projects across a diverse set of industries, Andrey continues to transform the way businesses function with pioneering custom software solutions. His in-depth knowledge of sectors such as manufacturing and distribution has helped him curate actionable solutions that eliminate bottlenecks and pave the way for sustainable growth.