The what?! you might say. The flow is an invisible guide that your unconscious mind interprets as a line for your eyes to follow on your website. Imagine you’re walking in your almost pitch black room with a dim light coming out from entrance. Because it’s a room you’re familiar with, you’re guided partly by your intuition or unconscious mind through the darkness.
The flow on a website is like being in this dark room. Though you’re familiar with the surrounding of the logo, the menu, the images and the content, it’s the flow that normally guides you to your intended goal on a website.
Just like walking into your dark room planning to grab something you need, you have to make your way through obstacles (if your room is not organize) and reach your goal. It’s the same with your website right now.
When a visitor reaches your website directly or from the search engine, the one thing that doesn’t change is their intended goal. So no matter how much information or attractive Flash is placed on your website, they’re mere obstacles to your visitors.
How to improve your website and give your visitors a better website experience?
By making sure the flow of the content, the layout and the experience you’re aiming to give your visitors is aligned with their goal. Remove the obstacles they might be expecting but doesn’t come to their mind. Don’t burden them with unnecessary clicks and information that wouldn’t help them achieve their goal.
How do you test the flow of your website?
Don’t slap your forehead after reading this.
Look at your website with a fresh pair of eyes. Don’t look at it for a day or a week even and then open it in the browser again. Then take note where your eyes landed and where are they guided on your website. That’s the flow most of your visitors have been or will be taking when they visit your website.
How do I fix my flow?
If it’s nothing too drastic (too many ads, no structure and etc), ask a favor from a friend who’s a website designer or developer to help you improve on the things your eyes have been truthful to you.
Or here’s an even better option for you if you have a company website, contact us now and we’ll see how we can help you.
[tags]Website Design, Website Strategy, Website Layout, Website Flow[/tags]