The world of e-commerce is a very competitive one, and in order to help your site rise above the competition, you need to go the extra mile in aesthetics and performance. However, knowing which areas need to be improved or how exactly to innovate is not always easy. With a little exploration of the current trends in hosting and web design it can give you the clues you need to make your online presence stand out.
Incorporating your customers in your online ecosystem has become a dominant trend in the online marketing business. It’s not just about selling a product, but about crafting a narrative around your business, and allowing people to create and tell their own personal stories. Brands such as Jack Daniels have created incredibly media -rich experiences that are customer focused. It is not just about the quality of the product, but about the people and the experiences that are built around it. Give your clients an opportunity to talk about how they interact with your company. It is engaging and it makes for great marketing material.
As touch screen becomes more universal, and responsive design becomes a “must” in the industry, new opportunities arise when it comes to designing your site. The traditional horizontal scrolling website is a result of hardware limitations from the early years of the internet. Those hardware limitations are no longer present. The majority of devices out there can scroll any which way and it is important to take advantage of those resources.Creative menus, navigation bars and content on all sides of the screen are all interesting ways to embrace new technologies.However, it’s important to take the diversity of the devices into account. Compatibility comes before design, so you need something that’s innovative and works on the widest range of devices possible.
Performance is also something that you cannot afford to ignore; after all, if you want to create notable user experiences you need the resources to do so. A dedicated server will allow you to have a significant amount of horsepower. This power is ideal for hosting video and other media assets; maybe even a community blogging platform on top of your regular website. Latency is also imperative to take into account. The further your servers are from you and your customer, the slower they’re going to run. So choose a hosting company that operates in the same market as you do. A slow website can be detrimental to the overall experience and it does not reflect well on your brand.
A modern website is more than just a page on the internet. It needs to be an experience, a ride, a community. Comment sections, blogs, social media, anything you can do in order to enhance the interactions between your brand and your customers are going to pay off in the form of engagement. Once you’ve taken the time to create a customer centred platform, you’ll start to see changes in your relationship with your clients. You just need to take that first step.