The Link Between Web Design and Customer Retention: There is a strong connection between web design and customer experience. The success of the entire customer journey largely depends on how customers view your website and what they think about it. It is not strange that companies pour a lot of money into web design, even if they have a strong marketing team. Those companies know the actual value of web design and how it affects not only the conversion rate but also customer conversion. Let’s talk more about the link between web design and customer retention and see how it affects your business.
To succeed, you need to gain the trust of your customers
This is the number one rule of any business. If people don’t believe in your products and what your company supports, you will never make it. Yes, people want quality. However, they also want to connect personally and get more than just a transactional relationship.
Since your website represents your online presence, it needs to speak volumes about your business. That is the first contact customers make with your company, and it needs to go perfectly. It is so important to think about business growth when building a website.
How web design affects your customers?
People have been using the internet for over three decades. Websites have substantially changed during the past 30 years, and today’s customers have specific needs and requirements for websites. We all have a subconscious thought in our minds that instantly tells us if we like something or not. Web design has a massive impact on that inner thought. Based on our likes and dislikes, we recognize patterns and shapes, combinations of colors, and many other elements, and that’s how we form our opinion.
Let’s look at how various elements of a website affect our experience.
The size of the font
As website visitors, we don’t really think about the font on the website unless it starts to bother us. That’s when we notice that we don’t like it. Many things can go wrong when setting up the font on a website:
- the size of the letters can be too small to read;
- the chosen font does not match the theme of the website;
- spacing between the lines is too small;
- the color of the font is completely wrong.
If web design is done correctly, we will have a pleasant reading experience. However, if there are too many issues with font selection, we will find the website hard to read. This will push away the clients.
The volume of content
More content does not always mean the customers will have a better experience. Adding too much content will make the website look like a garbage bin. You are throwing everything at your visitors and hoping for the best. There is no real structure, and it becomes easy to lose the train of thought. People are already bombarded with ads and tons of irrelevant content. A well-designed website with just the right amount of well-placed content is like a breath of fresh air.
Improper use of images
Images play a massive role in web design. We all know a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is very true when it comes to web design. However, even the best-looking picture will not serve its purpose if it’s in the wrong place.
There is a whole science about using images correctly and how to add value to your website. For example, if you are running a blog, images are there to add a visual element to the article and break text into chunks. Instead of getting a wall of text in front of the readers, you give them well-organized sections.
Well-structured navigation makes a difference
The user interface is one of the most critical elements of a website. When we talk about the navigation, we talk about how to simplify the way customers use your website and get from point A to point B. Disorganized and complex navigation can only confuse your customers instead of guiding them and giving them a pleasant experience. When designing the UI, you need to follow some guidelines to ensure your visitors have an enjoyable experience navigating your website.
Website loading speed affects the experience
Let’s imagine you are running an eCommerce website. A client visits the online store, and they like the product. They add the product to the shopping cart, but it takes long for every page to load. Your website is just stuffed with images, widgets, banners, and complex web design elements. The website’s true purpose, which is to sell products, is compromised. The customer loses patience, and they close the tab. This is a common eCommerce web design mistake.
The loading speed is also affected by the quality of the backend code. Always think about optimizing your website, so it runs fast.
Wrong choice of colors
The choice of colors is the most crucial element of web design. Colors can give life to your website or destroy the entire user experience. Furthermore, people often associate colors with various emotions or situations in their lives. Also, different cultures have different interpretations and meanings of colors. It would be best to be very careful when choosing a color palette for your website. If you make a mistake, it will dissociate customers from what your business is all about.
The link between web design and customer retention explained
As you can see, web design and customer retention are closely connected. The design of your website plays a significant role in the quality of the user experience. A simple, well-designed website will fulfill its purpose, while a poorly designed website will confuse visitors and push them away. This has nothing to do with how well you do your marketing. It is crucial to spend money to build a quality website because that’s how customers will see your business online.
