6 Ways Your Web Design Is Killing Your Course -
Although we might not want to admit it success-oriented course doesn't just revolve around content.
We spend a lot of discussion of the design of instructional materials on this blog, but we don't spend as much time discussing the visual aspect of design. There are obvious reasons for this, but it's worthwhile to remember that these two are closely linked. Poor visual designs can make it harder for students to comprehend details, whereas a neat and coherent one can aid it.
Visual design, in particular, has an impact on marketing. In addition to helping the style convey professionalism, but it can also affect the way you market your course, as we'll examine in the following examples. In case you're seeking strategies to improve your website's design, or if you haven't looked at in a while, here are a few ideas to assist you.
1. You're using a responsive design, but you haven't tried it out on mobile.
Responsive design has been such an Internet standard in the recent decades that people rarely consider it. When they're first choosing their theme to make sure that it functions on mobiledevices, but when they install it and begin uploading content, they don't remember to look again.
However, even though their latest theme may be responsive in theory but there's more in a responsive design that a site that easily adapts to various screen sizes. In the process of making it so, the images are resized and get cropped. Text dimensions change, and they consume different amounts of space, as do buttons as well as other elements in the design.
Therefore, before you think that your site is responsive, it is essential to test it yourself. Be sure that the images properly resize as well as that text is easy to read and that users are able to quickly navigate through the website.
2. Your pop-ups are a usability nightmare.
Pop-ups, when handled tastefully they can be a powerful method of letting visitors know about potential opportunities available on your website. However, they could also pose major accessibility and usability issues particularly for mobile devices.
If you're planning to make use of the pop-up option you can choose two methods to use it effectively. First, you can have one that comes up at the edge of the screen, but isn't blocking the content. The second would be more intrusive, taking up the entire screen, and would need to be closed before the user can proceed. To do this, it's crucial to display your controls for closing the pop-up easily visible and not hide the closing button, or force users to press the button you have created.
Most importantly, look at your pop-up on mobile. There have been several sites that the pop-up didn't expand properly, which made it impossible to close it and use the site. It's an absolute site killer if ever I saw one.
3. There are too many plugins, which is causing visual chaos.
The plugin ecosystem on WordPress is its greatest strength However, it may lead to front-end confusion for visitors if you aren't careful. While many of the most vital plugins have as backend functions, those that serve front-end functions often alter the look of your site.
4. Your user path isn't directing your users towards the correct calls-to action.
Many e-learning sites fail to make visitors into paying learners because they have too many calls-to-action (CTAs) as well as because the ones they have don't lead to correct steps. If you've visited a site that was overloaded with buttons, you've experienced the confusion that comes because of too many pulls that go in numerous directions. In the same way, you might have experienced sites with none of the directions. Both of these are poor design.
Your website must accomplish two things for the visitors. First, it should let visitors know that they have come to the right place to find what they're looking for. It should also, by doing so, assist users to identify themselves in the right audience bucket. Additionally, the site must provide each user with a clearly defined "next step" to perform if they want to move to the next level of your website.
5. Your theme is old-fashioned and awkward, which is slowing the speed of your website.
Following plugins, the most significant cause of slowing down a website is a poorly designed theme. The last time we talked about this, themes can be responsive and still fail at delivering an enjoyable user experience on mobile. However, themes may fail in other areas also, which can result with websites that do not just look bad, but directly cause lost customers due to their slow speed.
Don't let yourself fall into the trap of purchasing themes that are stuffed with bells and whistles aren't going to be utilized. Instead, stick to themes that are lightweight, flexible, and proven to work well with e-learning software.
6. The navigation you have is cluttered and confusing.
Take a second to look at the way you navigate. As with the issues that was mentioned previously with CTAs Web sites often crowd their navigation bar, overflowing it with important navigational items of the top tier as well as let their navigation flow into a third or even the fourth--tier. Either this, or they conceal their navigation in the hamburger menu, where at best, it adds another step to navigate the site, and at the worst, it is completely lost.
The navigation items must be added selectively. Use them to help users choose their audience, and help them find what they want them to complete in order to follow your instructions.
Selecting a neutral concept, making thoughtful design decisions making the effort to design your course correctly can go a long way toward improving your course sales.
There is a lot to gain by going a long way on WordPress. One of the primary advantages of using the platform as your CMS is that it gives you control over your site. In the process of removing limitations, it also leaves you with the task of wrangling everything into order.
It's completely capable of creating a gorgeous site for your e-learning program using WordPress even if you're not able to program. This requires time and perseverance However, be assured that your efforts will not go unrewarded.