Websites are increasingly important when it comes to creating successful business outcomes. A report conducted by Forrester found that nearly 75 percent of all buyer experiences begin with online research. As the prospect gets closer to making a purchasing decision, they rely less on third-party websites like news outlets and review platforms, and more on brand websites to make a final decision.

A study conducted by McKinsey found that shoppers are far less loyal to brands than they were just a few years ago. Today, shoppers compare products in most categories between a small handful of players. If the player is not in the “initial consideration set,” it’s unlikely that the shopper will select the brand.

For these reasons alone, it’s critical that brands provide prospective customers with an overwhelmingly positive website experience. Otherwise, the nearly 75 percent of shoppers who may turn to your website will ignore your brand when it comes to making a purchasing decision.

Fortunately for readers, this article will explain how marketers can develop successful business websites that drive meaningful outcomes. Follow the tips outlined herein, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a memorable online experience that will help your organization to capture new customers.

Focus on customer experience

A study conducted by the Kampyle group found that nearly 90 percent of consumers feel that brands need to invest more energy in developing consistently positive customer experiences. Despite that fact that many business leaders understand the importance of satisfying the customer, surprisingly few do something meaningful about it.

When building a business website, marketers must put the customer experience first and foremost. Brands that are able to develop websites that are rewarding will be more likely to attract customers.

One way to create a delightful experience is by ensuring websites are personalized to a visitor’s tastes. This doesn’t mean website colors and fonts should be editable; it means that the content on offer should change depending on customer behavior.

Take Netflix as an obvious example. The platform recommends new programs based on your behavior. The more Netflix learns about your preferences, the better the system can personalize content to your liking. Using tools like Optimizely and Adobe Experience Cloud brands can offer the same experience to customers in any industry.

Site usability is another key element of creating outstanding customer experiences. A study conducted by Google found that roughly 50 percent of website visitors will leave a site that takes three seconds to load when accessing the site on a mobile device. The faster your website loads, and the better it performs across devices, the more likely your site will be able to retain visitors, and thus, drive more conversions.

The best way to develop a website the provides visitors with a positive experience is by understanding the target audience. By developing ideal customer profiles, or customer personas, it will be easier for your marketing team to anticipate the wants and needs of visitors.

Once established, you can even use these groupings within your navigation. For example, if you can mention job titles or specific pain points within the website menu to encourage visitors to enter a customer journey specifically designed for people like them.

Invest in website analytics

Roughly 60 percent of senior leaders believe that big data is a central element of future business success according to figures cited in Capterra. One essential element of using big data well involves investing in website analytics platforms.

Website analytics can be helpful whether you’re helping law school students get out of debt or offering marketers an Instagram hashtags generator. By understanding how website visitors interact with your content, you’ll be able to better understand what elements aren’t performing well. From there, you can optimize these elements to ensure your site is working as well as possible.

Website analytics platforms like Google Analytics, Heap, and HotJar help marketers to track things like time on page, bounce rate, and mouse movements so that they can have a full picture of website performance in one place. Perhaps best of all, these platforms can integrate with other tools, like marketing automation platforms to give business leaders a full picture of marketing performance in one place.

Conclusion

Whether you’re trying to help coffee aficionados find cheap K cups online or selling enterprise-grade business software, building a website that provides an outstanding visitor experience is a great way to generate customers and drive repeat business. By following the tips outlined in this article, marketers will be able to quickly develop a business website that produces measurable results.

What other website building tips should readers consider? Let us know by leaving a comment below.