5 secrets for a user-happy website
Somewhere between 3- 5 seconds is the recognised time it takes for a user to decide if 
they are going to stay on a website or not. In this very quick amount of time the human brain can absorb information and create assumptions and expectations that are hard to re-establish later on.
To make a great first impression, your website needs to look great, be easy to navigate and present its content in a way that is easy to read.
Ensuring your site has great user experience gives it a greater chance of being shared on social networks, mailing lists are more likely to be subscribed too and contact forms are more likely to be filled in. Here are a five top tips to help start the process.
1. create ‘evergreen’ content. Think about adding content that will interest patients in the future. This can be short –term such as seasonal offer, or more long-term like detailed information about a treatment/service you provide.
Refresh content on a regular basis. Some things may move more quickly than others, but anything that’s new in the practice should be on the website PDQ.
If a visitor lands on a homepage that never changes year on year they will quickly leave and not be engaged with it, potentially missing that new treatment you’ve added to the treatments list.
2. Use formatting that is appealing to the eye. You could have the most informative and compelling content, but if it is formatted poorly, your visitors will skip right over it. Use simple fonts and colours that are easy on the eyes.
Make sure to break your content up into little paragraphs that are easy to digest, and use numbered lists and bullet points to highlight information. You can also use patient testimonials, images, or facts about a treatment to compliment the text. Extra visual elements do a great job of capturing and holding the attention of your visitors.
3. Simple navigation goes a long way. Let’s not forget what the main goal of your content is: to engage existing patients and attract new patients to get in touch. Assume that every website visitor who comes in contact with your content will be so impressed that they will want to pick up the phone and book an appointment asap.
Great content is diluted if it takes more than one click to get to it, so ensure the user has a seamless journey through the navigation of your site across devices. If a user cannot call you, or leave a message or find your map, quickly chances are they will leave and find an easier website to navigate.
4. Mobile-friendly layout. With so many people using the Internet via their smartphones and tablets, it’s very important to have a mobile-friendly website. Your visitors will not read your content if they have to zoom in and constantly scroll from side to side to read the text.
Pull out your smartphone, view your website and put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. If the layout isn’t easy to navigate then you need to make some changes. The cost of upgrading to a mobile-friendly design is well worth it.
5. Allow access to your content from every page. Your content is a very important component of your website, so make sure that it is accessible from every single page. If they land on one piece of content, can they easily access more without looking too hard? Not only this, but can they return to where they were before as they get engrossed in what they are reading. Many times I’ve gotten lost in reading online, click a few links and lost where I initially wanted to be to make a payment/purchase or fill out a form.. you do not want this to happen. make it easy for the user, guide them through the site and ensure a contact form and phone number are highly visible at all times.
Improve the effectiveness of your dental website content by implementing these simple tips. Make it easier for each visitor to read and engage with your information, whilst at the same time enabling them to quickly get in touch at any time that suits them.
Call Dental Design on 01202 677 277 to discuss any of the above tips in more detail.
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