No website is ever fully complete. They are constantly evolving, incorporating new design languages and new styles.

But there is a problem. Improving a website is difficult and often requires an expert designer in the background, making shrewd decisions about how to make web pages look better.

Here are some ways top designers and website builders improve the look of websites for businesses.

Get Rid Of Sliders

Sliders first came about because of the fact that, back in the old days, computer monitors were small.  In order to present a lot of information on a single page, web builders had to include sliders to allow users to scroll through pages and use navigation windows. But now that most people have monitors that are 24 inches or larger, the need for sliders is much reduced.

It’s a good idea to ask whether sliders help improve conversions or not. If sliders do not help increase conversions, then why are they used so frequently? The evidence suggests that sliders have no impact whatsoever on conversions, and because of how hard they are to use, they may actually discourage people from staying on your website.

One of the ways that they could deter people from staying on your site is the fact that they have to spend time finding the slider and then using the slider to scroll down or across your web pages. But according to an article in Time Magazine, 55% of people spend less than 15 seconds on any given web page. If users have to spend lots of time using sliding to get to the content they want, then they may just leave your site and go to another one that is easier to use.

It’s About Them, Not You

The content on most business websites tends to be about the business or the owner themselves. To many owners, this seems like a good idea, but in reality, it is actually harming their businesses. Why? Because people aren’t interested in the life story of the business owner; they are interested in what the business has to offer them. It is a good idea, therefore, to construct all of your marketing material in such a way that you are directly communicating with the customer.

Commit yourself to creating copy that speaks directly to your customers and is written in their self-interest, not yours. You will find that users will respond enthusiastically to content that is designed to directly help them if they feel that they are gaining something from consuming it.

Robert Greene explains in his book The 48 Laws of Power that if you want to get someone to buy something from you, the best thing you can do is appeal to their own self-interest. There is no point talking about all of the amazing features of your new software product if users have no idea how your product will actually help them in their own lives.

Another expert, James Altucher,  gave a TEDx talk where he discussed with business people how they can best serve their customers. He said that the best way to get business from people is to serve them without expecting anything in return and exceed all of their expectations in the process. Of course, business people always expect something in return, but this psychological tactic has proven very effective. Simply being funny and informative can be enough to attract people to your business and if they think that you can help them, they will hand over fist fulls of money.

Get Real About Your Website

Have you ever heard of the term, “Build It And They Will Come?” Well, it turns out that, at least on the Internet, that is a myth. If you build it, they won’t come, unless you make them come.

There’s no easy way to get people to come to your website, but one of the things that you can do is reach out to experts in the field. For instance, some services, like services from Poet Media, provide companies with more information on SEO tactics. SEO is imperative, but also tough to get right. It takes time, and patience, and means that companies need to develop a long-term strategy if they are going to achieve the results they want.

When you are first setting up a website, it needs to be beautiful, but it also needs to be accessible to customers. You don’t need to spend a fortune, but spending some money on making it your site more visible online will pay dividends in the long-term. The best way to generate traffic is to make sure that your website is regularly updated with helpful content and is making links with other authority sites related to your particular business.

Use Calls To Action

From a young age we are programmed by our teachers and parents to do as we are told. When somebody tells you to do something, and they speak from a position of authority it is almost impossible to resist their command. It’s just natural.

This is one of the reasons why calls to action on so powerful on websites. Calls to action are like a command or instruction, unconsciously persuading us to do something that we wouldn’t ordinarily do. For a website to be great and to get lots of conversions, businesses need to be aware of how calls to action work, where to deploy them, and how they can be used to most effectively.

Businesses shouldn’t expect visitors to do what they need them to do because they won’t. They will only do what you want them to do if you tell them what to do. The more you tell them what you want them to do, the more page views you will have, and the more leads that you will generate.

It should be noted, that many companies, including businesses like Evernote, use carefully crafted calls to action to direct customers to the products and services that are most appropriate for them. Great calls to action are those that tell users exactly what to do and stand out from the rest of the page in a clear way.