Website Design Tips: 7 Elements That Keep Visitors Engaged

Your website is your digital storefront, and first impressions matter. If visitors aren’t staying, the problem might be in your design.

Imagine it this way. You’re driving by a store, and you see that storefront. You, safely of course, make a turn into the parking lot, park your car, and head inside. The website – the storefront – has brought in the customer. Now, you have to keep them inside the store.

You only have a matter of seconds to capture your potential customer. You can’t waste those precious seconds.

There are ways to make the changes to your website that you need, and they aren’t complicated fixes to make.

Additional Insights

Web design matters to SEO

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9 best practices for CTAs

Here are 7 elements to keep website visitors engaged and clicking

Clear Navigation

Menus should be simple, intuitive, and labeled with common terms like “Services,” “About,” and “Contact.”

Fast Load Times

53% of visitors leave if a site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Use tools like GTmetrix to check speed.

Compelling Above-the-Fold Content

The headline, subheading, and main CTA should be visible without scrolling.

Mobile Optimization

More than half of all internet traffic comes from mobile—design for it first.

High-Quality Imagery

Aim to get your own custom photos those beat stock images every time. But if you don’t have that option, it’s OK to use stock images. Just be selective with them.

Readable Typography

Use a font size of at least 16px and ensure strong contrast between text and background.

Trust Signals

Display testimonials, client logos, and security badges to reduce buyer hesitation.

Bonus tip

Simplicity is a good way to go for several reasons, many of them are a combination of the ones previously listed.

One of the primary reasons, however, that is advantageous of a simplistic website makes it easier for your site to be ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. Having too many animations or colors can decrease the user experience if someone is color blind, susceptible to seizures, etc. Not to mention having too many animations can be distracting to any eye and could take away the focus away from your CTA.

But another reason to aim for simplicity with your website is too many colors, graphics, animations, etc., can slow your website speed, especially if that person is in an area with a weak data signal.