Have you ever visited a website and felt a little lost? Maybe the text was hard to read, or you couldn’t quite figure out what the business wanted you to do? We’ve all been there. That’s why we recently took a good look at our own website and made some changes to improve your experience and, ultimately, get you excited about visiting our shop!
In this blog post, we’ll break down the improvements we’ve made, focusing on two key areas: design and technical aspects. Let’s dive in!
A Critical Analysis of the Original Website
Design Enhancements:
Tiny Text, Big Frustration: The navigation link fonts were small, making them difficult to read. This hindered easy navigation and could potentially alienate visitors who couldn’t find what they were looking for.
Missing the Call to Action: The landing page lacked a clear and prominent call to action, making it unclear what the visitor should do next. Were they meant to browse products, learn more about services, or perhaps visit the physical store? Without a clear direction, visitors might end up disengaged and leave the site altogether.
Inconsistent Spacing and Layout: The spacing between images and headings varied throughout the site, creating a cluttered and visually unappealing look. This inconsistency could make it difficult for visitors to focus on the intended information.
Hidden Offers: The original site lacked dedicated sections for highlighting special offers on cycles, potentially leading visitors to miss out on valuable promotions.
Basic Button Effects: The hover effect on buttons lacked any visual appeal, making them appear unclickable and potentially leading to missed user interactions.
Flat Images: Images displayed on the landing page and service pages lacked visual depth, failing to capture attention and guide the user’s eye.
Content:
Generic Content: Placeholder text (“lorem ipsum”) filled many sections, offering no real value to the visitor and failing to showcase the unique offerings of our shop.
Inaccessible Images: Images lacked alternative text descriptions, hindering accessibility for visually impaired users and also impacting search engine optimization (SEO) as search engines rely on alt text to understand image content.
Technical Tweaks:
Static Timings: Shop opening and closing times were displayed as static text, which meant any changes required manual updates. This could lead to outdated information and inconvenience for visitors.
A summary of the Improvements
Design Enhancements: Making it Clear and Easy to Navigate
Bigger and Bolder Navigation: We understand the importance of clear navigation. By increasing the font size of the navigation links, we’ve made them stand out and become effortlessly clickable. No more squinting to find the perfect category or product page!
Thinking: Our goal is to make browsing a breeze, allowing you to explore all our offerings with ease.
A Clear Call to Action: We’ve added a prominent “Visit Our Store” section right on the landing page. Now, you’ll know exactly where to go to experience our products firsthand.
Thinking: Getting you to our shop is our ultimate goal!
Visual Appeal and Accessibility: We’ve gone beyond just aesthetics and ensured all images have clear and concise alternative text descriptions. This serves a dual purpose: it enhances accessibility for visually impaired users by providing a textual representation of the image, and it helps search engines understand the content of the image, potentially improving our search ranking.
Thinking: We want everyone to enjoy our website and find the information they need.
Optimizing the Look: We’ve adjusted the spacing between images and headings for a more balanced and visually pleasing layout.
Thinking: A visually clean website is easier to navigate and keeps visitors engaged.
Content Takes Center Stage
Replacing Lorem Ipsum with Value: Gone are the days of generic placeholder text (“lorem ipsum”). We’ve replaced it all with informative and engaging content about our products and services. Now, you’ll find detailed descriptions, specifications, and anything else you might need to make an informed decision.
Thinking: You deserve to know exactly what we offer! We want to educate you about the benefits our products and services can bring to your life.
Branding Consistency is Key: We’ve ensured our logo on the navbar and footer perfectly match our brand identity. This creates a sense of cohesion and professionalism, allowing you to instantly recognize our brand across all platforms.
Thinking: A consistent brand image builds trust and recognition. When you see our logo, we want you to know you're dealing with a company you can rely on.
Highlighting Special Offers: We’ve incorporated an eye-catching offer section on our cycle and single cycle pages. This section features a line above the navbar with a subtle blinking effect to grab your attention and ensure you don’t miss out on our current promotions
Thinking: Who doesn't love a great deal? We want to make sure you're aware of the fantastic savings you can enjoy when you shop with us.
Technical Tweaks: A Smoother User Experience Under the Hood
Dynamic Display of Shop Timings: We’ve leveraged JavaScript to display our shop’s opening and closing times dynamically. This ensures you always have the most up-to-date information at your fingertips, eliminating any guesswork about our operating hours.
Thinking: Convenience is a priority! We don't want you to make a special trip only to find us closed.
Button Magic: We’ve revamped the hover effect style of our buttons. This subtle change creates a more modern and interactive feel, making the website feel fresh and engaging.
Thinking: Little details make a big difference! A touch of visual intrigue keeps users interested in exploring further.
Layering Up for Visual Interest: We’ve added rectangles with a subtle opacity overlay on specific images on the landing page and service pages. This creates a more visually layered effect and helps guide the user’s eye towards the most important aspects of the image. Imagine a beautifully composed photograph where certain elements are highlighted to draw your attention.
Thinking: Visual cues help visitors understand the hierarchy of information.