Importance of Website Functionality

Nowadays, every business or individual entrepreneur has a website. If you’re not online, it’s like you don’t exist at all. However, simply having a website is not nearly enough. Consumers today have very high expectations when it comes to browsing websites. 

No matter if consumers are engaged in online shopping, online sports betting or chatting on a forum, they want their experience to be seamless and exceptional. That’s why website functionality is such a crucial factor to be considered by website owners. If your website isn’t functional, people will abandon it for good. 

The main reason is that consumers have too many options presented to them so they don’t see any reason to stick around if their needs aren’t properly met. With that in mind, here are a few reasons why website functionality is so important.

Organic traffic

Every website needs organic traffic. That said, organic traffic brings along more qualified leads who are more willing to convert. Furthermore, organic traffic isn’t just generated by marketing efforts, such as SEO (Search engine Optimization), for example. In fact, it’s also generated by word-of-mouth. 

People who find your website to be adequate and up to their expectations will further recommend it to their friends, family and other people. The word about a good website that can provide a seamless experience can spread quickly. 

But it also works the other way around. If people had a bad experience on your website, they will let everyone they know about it. When your website has a bad reputation, it’s really difficult to shake it off so you’ll just keep losing visitors until you manage to turn the situation around. .  

Customer retention

Websites that are also storefronts are very dependent on customers. Whether you’re selling arts and crafts or you have a full eCommerce store, you know that every customer counts. That said, it costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than it costs to retain one. 

Moreover, retained customers usually spend up to 67% more than new ones. Therefore, customer retention is of the utmost importance. In most cases, it all comes down to website functionality. 

If your pages take too long to load or your website navigation isn’t quite right, your customers will leave and they won’t be coming back. A seamless browsing experience is the key to ensuring that customers will come back for more.  

Reputation

As mentioned before, when consumers have a bad experience on your website, they’ll be quite vocal about it. In such situations, it’s not just your website that will have a bad reputation but also your business or brand. 

The online world is quite a volatile environment and it only takes one wrong move to get people outraged. Furthermore, you competitors will take the opportunity to turn your customer dissatisfaction to their advantage. 

Most companies have reputation management strategies in place to deal with such situations. The best reputation management strategy is to not give your customers a reason to be angry with you. 

All that it takes is to ensure your website is highly functional and that its performance can meet your audience’s needs and expectations. By removing friction and inconveniences from your website, you’re actually ensuring that your customers will have a good time browsing your pages. 

Closing Words

Today, most people browse websites in search of information, entertainment and education. Their expectations have significantly grown over the years, which is something no web owner can afford to disregard. 

Therefore, if your website isn’t performing exceptionally well or it’s not functional enough, you will continue to lose visitors and customers alike until the situation is fixed. That’s why website functionality is, in fact, of vital importance.