Can You Thumb-Scroll Through the Content of Your Website?
If you are like my family, we spend considerable time on our smartphones. We pinch, swipe, double-tap, drag, or perform any other acrobatics with our fingers, called gestures. Unnoticed by many is that our thumb gets the most work out of all. How? By scrolling through our endless feeds from Facebook, Instagram, Yahoo, Pinterest, and many more.
We are so accustomed to going through a website or app by scrolling with our thumb that we hardly notice it anymore — until we come across a site whose content does not resemble a scrollable feed. Instead, the site consists of multiple pages, which we have to navigate, like a decade ago, by using a menu in the upper left corner or hyperlinks embedded in the text or behind pictures.
Since we are all creatures of habit, it feels awkward these days to be unable to find out what a business is doing by just scrolling down to that section. And if something feels awkward, we can become annoyed, or lose interest and go to a competitor's site.
If your website is older, consists of many separate pages, or contains only small pictures, you should consider upgrading, especially in today's market condition.
If your website is older, consists of many separate pages, or contains only small pictures, you should consider upgrading, especially in today's market condition.
Here are a couple of upgrade tips:
Make your site mobile-friendly. When we design a new website, we first make sure that the page looks and feels good on a smartphone and tablet, as many of your customers are likely to use one of these devices when surfing the web.
Show stunning pictures. As the famous saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Images can be not only beautiful but can also convey many emotions, such as friendliness, confidence, or warmth. I know, professional photos can be pricy. On your landing page, however, professional pictures can make a significant difference in delivering your message to your online visitors.
Connect emotionally with your visitors. We are all influenced by our dreams, hopes, beliefs, and values. When we find people with whom we share these traits, we subconsciously establish an emotional connection with them. For example, if you own a restaurant and you cook in a homeless shelter in your free time or educate school children about nutritious food, share your purpose on your website. It makes your business human.
Declutter your content. Every business, large or small, has goods or services for which they are known in the industry. These are their core offerings, which usually make up the majority of their sales. Concentrate on these core offerings when creating your content and try to stand out from your competition.
Align your website with your brand. If your company were a person, what personality would it have? Would honesty, sophistication, and quality orientation describe your company, or rather flamboyance, stylishness, and trendiness? Regardless of your company's personality, make sure that your website reflects it.
▶ 5 Reasons Why You Should Strengthen Your Brand Personality
Avoid jargon. Every profession has its own vocabulary. They all speak English. However, the same words can have different meanings. When designing your website, keep in mind that your visitors neither know your industry nor have your industry-specific knowledge.
Optimize for your visitors, not search engines. We all want our website to rank higher in search results and try almost anything to get there. However, stuffing our texts with keywords, a common practice, can make our content feel artificial and out of place, which can annoy visitors more than help us with the search ranking.
Be specific and mean what you say. Nothing guarantees a bad review more than not meeting or exceeding your customer's expectations. And your websites can set expectations. If you use words like fairness and then nickel-and-dime your customer for the smallest thing, it creates a potential conflict that can leave your customer with a sour taste. If your company prides itself on being detail-oriented, don't disappoint in this regard either. Your customers will notice.
Regardless of whether you upgrade an existing site, or create a new one, use a layout that is more common and therefore easier for your visitors to understand. In the end, their thumbs will be scrolling through your content and navigating your site. Thumb’s up!
