Your website structure is vital to giving visitors an engaging experience. Is your content organized in a way that helps visitors along their journey?

Web design isn’t just about shiny graphics and backend development.

It’s about organizing your website’s content in a user-centric and user-friendly way.

Understanding who visits your website and why will help you build a foundation for an empathy-driven design.

Then, it’s just a matter of giving the people what they want. Here’s how!

1. IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE

Who is it that your website is serving?

That question looks pretty simple at first glance, but your answer should go beyond a one-dimensional descriptor.

What’s your ideal customer’s education level? Are they married? How do they like to spend their free time?

These are all sample characteristics of marketing personas. 

By giving your target customers a well-rounded identity, you can better tailor your website structure to fit their needs.

Also, consider where they are in their buyer’s journey as you seek to answer their most pressing questions.

2. PRIORITIZE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ CONCERNS

First-time visitors to your website probably want some answers, be they about your brand or a problem they’re trying to solve.

Your website structure should prioritize answering questions in an intuitive and accessible manner.

Try to think of a friend or relative who isn’t very tech-savvy or “hip” to your brand’s niche.

If they visited your business website today, would they easily find what they were looking for?

If your answer isn’t a resounding “yes,” then you already know it’s probably “no.” 

So put those personas to work to determine what drove your target audience to your website and where they’ll go next!

3. ANTICIPATE FURTHER INTEREST

The buyer’s journey seldom ends after their first question is answered.

Your website structure must anticipate a natural progression of inquiry, leading visitors deeper into your content.

Navigation throughout your site should intuitively guide customers to additional resources or, better yet, a call to action (CTA).

The longer you keep your visitors engaged, the more likely they are to “seal the deal” with you before they leave.

4. MAKE IT A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE … IN A GOOD WAY

Your website structure is the sum of all its parts … persona-driven CTAs, empathetic storytelling, and graphics that are all great dance partners for your written content.

Every element of your website should aim to leave a positive, lasting impression of your brand messaging.

So it’s important to take care of your on-page content structure, too. If a headline or picture looks out of place, don’t hesitate to address it.

Each piece of your website structure plays a part in building fundamental trust with your target audience. So go the extra mile to ensure each memory your visitors leave with is a good one.

5. AVOID COMMON PITFALLS

Okay, we’ve pretty thoroughly covered what steps you should take to build a winning website structure.

Now, here are a few stumbling blocks to watch out for:

• Scattered information — Ensure that resources your customers may find helpful are localized and relatively easy to find.
• Compromising functionality for fashionability — Don’t clutter your website with a glut of graphics for appearance’s sake. Every image, button, and menu should serve a concrete purpose. Speaking of clutter …
• Building Walls of Text — Your users want quick solutions, not a novel. Break up long blocks of text and add subheads to make your content scannable.

Ultimately, a clean, straightforward structure will enhance your website’s user satisfaction.

YOUR WEBSITE STRUCTURE GUIDES THE USER EXPERIENCE, FOR BETTER OR WORSE

Strategic planning and empathetic design are essential to optimizing your website’s structure. 

Not sure how well you’re serving visitors? Get help!

Consider gathering a small, diverse group of people (a focus group) who can provide their honest feedback on your website’s current usability.

Or, if that’s not in the cards for your needs, we’d be more than happy to audit your website structure.

Reach out today, and we’ll get to work on giving your visitors, prospects, and customers the experience they deserve.