When redesigning your website, it is simple to get preoccupied with the site's various color schemes, page layouts, and aesthetic aspects. Do our icons fit our logo? How do we divide the copy blocks into sections? Are the dimensions of our product photographs accurate? All of these areas of your website will need your attention at some time in the future. However, regarding the makeover of your website, what do we believe to be the most crucial factor to consider? That people can use it.
The field of web design has given rise to two critical buzzwords: user experience, abbreviated as UX, and user interface, abbreviated as UI. These are two characteristics that are comparable to one another but stand on their own when it comes to the process of designing a website such that even the most inexperienced internet user, be they young or old, can quickly comprehend how to use your website, regardless of the device they are using to see it. There is a compelling justification for the rise of these two points as such essential components of web design. You want as few barriers as possible between a potential buyer and the opportunity to purchase from your company. This is why StoryBrand has designed a metrics performance test for your website. Do you think your website will pass? Read on to see if your website would pass.
Does Your Website Pass the “Grunt Test?”
When we are thinking about how to approach a website redesign for our clients, we often have to add redirects, check forms, and run-through audits to our checklists, and those are important and must be done. But before we get into it, let's look at an even more crucial component that may significantly impact any website.
Donald Miller of StoryBrand developed this concept, called the "grunt test." This test, which may be summarized as "Is your website understandable enough that even a caveman could figure it out?" helps to ensure that your website is clear and is not producing confusion, which might cause you to lose consumers.
First, let's look at the pages that influence the reader most. These pages on your website will attract the most visitors and help sell your goods or service. Let's take the example of your webpage to understand this better. Before we go on to anything else, there are three primary concerns that we need to address first. These three considerations should all revolve around the customers you serve. Our persona workbook may assist you in figuring out this essential information if you still need to work it out.
This, just who you sell to, needs to be made very apparent. Who you are conversing with needs to be readily apparent. However, limiting your focus too much may alienate potential customers, which is the opposite of what you want. When we work with clients, we often discover that they have second thoughts about being so particular because they are scared they would turn off potential customers. You may increase the number of clients who are a perfect fit for your business by drawing attention to the specific demographic that your product serves.
The challenge is how limited time you have to answer the most critical questions prospective customers have. You have just FIVE SECONDS to tell your leads what you sell, why they should care, and why they need to buy it right now.
You can download this checklist and answer these questions about your business.
First Question
What Do You Sell?
What is it that you offer? Is it an item like commercial-grade medical equipment or high-quality labeling equipment? Or is it a service, like digital marketing? Or perhaps your website will be used to advertise your construction or crane rental business. Whatever it is, you need to be direct and clear about it.
This seems pretty straightforward, but I can’t tell you how many websites I look at that don’t do this! I find myself scrolling and scrolling through the homepage to see if they do the thing I am looking for.
Put it out there, front and center. It doesn’t mean your headline has to be boring, but it does have to be precise. We always suggest letting clarity win over being clever.
Second Question
Why Should Your Audience Care?
How will it make a difference, and why should I care? Here is where you will begin addressing the pain points you identified earlier. Why does your customer have to go through this? Is there just not enough time? Is it just frustration, or is there anything more going on? Make it crystal apparent that your product will make their lives better and more straightforward in a significant manner and that this will be a significant benefit of purchasing it.
How will this improve the life of the person it's helping? Consider the most significant problem your product or company solves for your customers. Make it ridiculously apparent. If they need help understanding how your product helps them, they will move on to the next thing.
Third Question
How Does the Customer Purchase It?
What must I do to buy it? This may be the most important part. If you do a great job convincing your readers that they need your product or service to have a better life, leaving them hanging when they want to buy it will be frustrating. You will want clear instructions, or “calls to action,” about acquiring your offerings.
How to make a purchase. This is not limited to online shopping websites. It applies to quotations, online purchases, courses, etc. What are the following measures to take? They should be straightforward, simple, and easy to comprehend for the user and be shown prominently. Simply doing this may improve the number of people who convert to your website.
You've Used the Grunt Test, Now Let's Run A Performance Test.
You've evaluated your high-impact pages using the Grunt Test. This has helped determine whether or not your clients can immediately comprehend your website. Identifying how your products and services add value to their lives and the steps they need to take action.
It's crucial to recognize that the Grunt Test is merely one component in a constellation of technical elements requiring assessment before your website can be declared fully updated. To further navigate this process, check out the performance test on our website. This tool provides a comprehensive analysis of your website's current functionality.
In essence, using the performance test AND the Grunt Test together will provide a thorough and effective evaluation, empowering you to enhance and optimize your website with confidence.
