The Benefits of Creating a Customer-Centric Website

There are many benefits of creating a customer-centric website. Customers rule the internet after all, in so much as their purchasing power is concerned in the life of businesses. This is the reason why Big Data came into existence so that companies can very well align their identity with the needs of consumers and their purchasing behavior. The question to yourself offhand is if your website is customer-centric. Let’s find out.

Signs of a Customer-Centric Website

Here are the top three indicators of what makes a website customer-centric—also known as customer-focused, customer-centered, and user-friendly—based on experts’ advice and my own experience in website design and consultancy:

1. Convenience

Convenience tops the list of the signs of a customer-centric website. This means your website is easy to use—it does not add to a visitor’s stress-bombarded or mundane life. In short, browsing your website must not take much of a visitor’s time and effort. Visitors of the website–your future customers–should be able to:

1.1. easily identify what your business, product, and/or service is all about the moment the homepage loads

The visitor does not need to go through a lot of hurdles by going to several pages of your website from the homepage just to understand what your company is all about. The essence of who you are, what you do, and what benefits they can derive from you are provided upfront on the homepage of the website. A splashy loader on the homepage is useless if it does not provide the essentials about you and what you do, along with why visitors should create a long-term relationship with you.

1.2. find the information they need in less than 8 seconds or at least be directed to it within that timeframe from the homepage.

Recent data show that the attention span of online users has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2022! So you either meet that or say goodbye to a potential or repeat-sale customer who will surely leave your website if they can’t immediately get what they are looking for.

This is why one of the tips I included in designing websites for new businesses is to have a clean and clear menu to avoid confusing your visitors. Cluttered designs and disorganized content makes it difficult for customers to navigate your website.

Implementing an effective visual hierarchy in your design such as using the right colors to enhance the website’s user experience is a big checkmark for your business. Structure your website accordingly as most popular websites do.

For one, you can do this by designing the homepage with the most important information about your company on top (your company details), your company’s competitive edge or product/service benefits in the middle (backed by customer testimonials if any), and your contact information (including social media platforms) at the bottom.

Another tip is to avoid using design visuals such as videos, photos, and graphics that take forever to load or integrating special effects that make your website unresponsive. Speed and accessible information are everything.

Bromhead is a good example of a website with customer convenience in mind. The website loads quickly. They even made the video on their business advantage one that plays optionally–that is if the visitor plays it. Their identity and nature of business are clear from the onset. The site is easy to navigate and information on them is easily accessible, as well as, well presented.

2. COVID-19 considerate or sensitive

According to Forbes, companies that were able to go beyond the unexpected challenges and hurdles brought by the COVID-19 pandemic were the ones who earned the highest rating as customer-centric. These were the same companies who also reaped better financial gains because of being authentically customer-focused in everything they do and in all aspects of their business.

This customer-centric lifestyle permeates the business in all its efforts and channels of communication including its website. A study of these companies’ websites would be of great advantage not only to your website but business as a whole.

The Forbes 2022 Top 100 Customer-Centric Companies enlists Discount Tire as #1 for Retail, Starbucks for Restaurant and Food, Happy Money for Financial, Illumina for Healthcare, Shopify for B2B, Apple for Technology, Airbnb for Hospitality, Blue Cross Blue Shield for Insurance, Nvidia for Manufacturing and Logistics, and Ford for Automotive.

Of these companies, I suggest you take a look at Airbnb’s website since we already have reviewed it previously among those having the best lead generation and above-the-fold design. That’s besides being one of the best travel websites.

You may also want to check out our listings for the best websites in the aforementioned industries or business niches:

3. Creative

Statistics compiled by SuperOffice highlighted that companies who prioritize customer experience actually earn higher in millions of dollars because a majority of customers prefer spending more for it. This happens for companies who creatively solve the problems of their intended customers or target market.

Going back to Airbnb, its website is also one of the most creative companies since they constantly address the concerns of their customers. This customer-centric attitude is seen in their website since this is how they came into existence.

Airbnb’s business model is in itself customer-centric because it was conceptualized in response to the need of travelers for an affordable, homey place to stay while they are away from home. I like to travel and this makes one of the reasons I like Airbnb.

Their website’s content automatically changes depending on the location of the viewer and presents condominium and vacation home rentals that are native to them. The location is adjustable depending on the country travelers intend to go to and book the said rental according to the date of travel. Travelers can easily trim down the particular rental they are looking for based on several features such as safety.

Safety from acquiring the COVID-19 virus was everyone’s concern when traveling was opened worldwide again. Airbnb suffered a 72% decline in income in 2020 due to the height of the pandemic as a result of travel restrictions and many of their rentals closing due to safety reasons.

However, it quickly bounced back in 2022 by earning $394M, which is higher than its pre-pandemic earnings of $327M in 2019. This is after Airbnb modified their website to include COVID-19 travel restrictions and notifications, making cancellations to bookings more flexible, and even dedicating an entire section to COVID Safety.

Another way of being creative for a website is in its copywriting. Making the content of your website more personalized in its tone of writing makes it more friendly and appealing to customers. Personalizing how your call-to-action messaging is written makes for better conversion. (Using “Let’s talk!” sounds more welcoming than “Contact Us”, doesn’t it?)

Now that you are aware of the signs that make a customer-centric website, let’s tackle the benefits of having one.

What are the benefits of creating a customer-centric website?

By now, you are also aware of some of the benefits of creating a customer-centric website based on what I have shared on its indicators. But let me go ahead and reiterate this for you for clarity.

1. Higher financial returns

A website that efficiently mapped out a customer’s purchasing journey in its design–based on market research and feedback—will result in higher financial returns. Forbes reported that 87% of companies that focus on customer satisfaction are financially better than their competitors.

Lovepixel, one of our highly recommended web designers, shared the success story of OTO Gomes who launched their website with a learning and coaching component on cryptocurrencies. Two aspects that help its customers better understand and use cryptocurrencies to attain their financial goals. Thus, resulting in an 11.2% increase in OTO’s conversion rate in less than two weeks!

2. Better market penetration and support

Creating a community online and a loyal following comes easily with a customer-centric website. Providing a pleasant experience to your customers means repeat purchases and free word-of-mouth marketing.

Above all, making them feel valued and heard by providing not only products and services that address their needs but also a website embedded with features that support these, conveys you want to establish a real, humane, and long-term connection with them. People easily detect companies who authentically care for them and it has positive ripple effects, especially online.

PWC stressed that customer loyalty often comes with a price premium–the amount customers are willing to spend for products and services due to feeling appreciated–of as much as 16%.

3. Stronger brand identity and experience

When you provide a customer experience beyond the ordinary–such as being attuned to even the minute concerns of your customers and packaging your product or company around it–you make it a brand experience for them. Your brand becomes a part of their lifestyle.

Take the case of Acciona. They banked on this generation’s biggest concern: environmental sustainability, a part of its business identity and endeavors considering it is a construction company. This is similar to what Dropps did. Dropps are household products that are gentler on the body but also on the environment.

There are many other benefits of having a customer-centric website. But these are the three main benefits most important for businesses, especially startups who I like to help succeed in their respective fields.

In A Nutshell: Benefits Of Customer-Centric Websites

As they say, when you put your heart into something good and you really love to do it, success and wealth follow. The same goes for businesses whose heart is solely focused on their customers and their needs are sure to build authentic, long-term relationships with them. The benefits of a customer-centric website then, overall, are business growth and longevity.

FAQs

1. Does educating and training employees in their roles in the company on the macro and micro levels have any bearing on customer-focused experience?

Yes, it does. Making sure your employees know and fully embrace their respective roles in the company through seminars and skills training greatly helps achieve a company’s goal of being customer-focused. If an employee is not in the same mindset as the company, the tendency is their performance would often contradict the company’s long-term goal of providing great customer experience in all its endeavors and marketing-communication channels.

2. What are the common mistakes companies encounter when it comes to creating a customer-centric website?

A primary mistake would be to assume one knows what the customer needs without undertaking the corresponding research on it. Forcing customer-centric themes into the website’s design without really meaning it or supporting it in the overall environment and lifestyle of the company will come out frustrating and even awkward. Say, the company highlights they provide 24/7 support on their website yet there is no mechanism or system that actually enforces it, which is more harmful than beneficial to the business.