In the past, big utility companies could get away with having bad websites since they operated in limited regional areas without competition. But now, customers expect much better online experiences so they can pay bills or check power outage status whenever they want using phones, laptops, and tablets. This means utility companies need to focus more on user-friendly website design that helps all types of customers quickly get things done through the site.
Challenges of Designing Utility Company Websites
The best utility website designs are more complex than those of normal company websites. This is because utility sites have very diverse audiences wanting to complete tasks, not just learn about the company. Key challenges include:
Many Types of Customers Use Them
The websites have to work smoothly for residential users, business owners, contractors, partners, and investors. Each may want to do very different things on the site.
There’s a Lot of Information to Organize
There is so much content on account tools, payment options, service programs, equipment guides, safety rules, sustainability efforts, recent news, and investor reports. All this needs to be presented simply without overwhelming visitors.
Customers Want to Complete Tasks
Visitors mostly want to complete specific tasks quickly, such as paying a bill, reporting a power outage, updating account settings, or requesting a service change. The site must make these user flows easy while also providing helpful educational resources.
Building Trust is Important
Since utility companies operate as regional monopolies without competition, their websites must overtly communicate reliability, data security controls, and transparency about business operations to gain more customer trust through goodwill.
Design Principles for Better Utility Websites
By keeping these key principles central to site creation, utility companies can craft online experiences that work far better serving diverse visitors:
Make it User-Focused
Research actual audience preferences; don’t make assumptions. Through continued testing and feedback, design intuitive navigation models that meet real visitor needs.
Structure Information Clearly
Use simplified menu taxonomies, content organization, and consistent page naming schemes with strong associated metadata so users can quickly find desired tools or information related to their needs through either browsing or searches.
Keep Things Simple
Communicate through short, focused text alongside illustrations and visual guides, avoiding technical terms where possible. Don’t visually overwhelm pages. Allow easy task completion.
Optimize for Mobile Use
Build fully responsive templates, ensuring fluid functionality on smartphones and tablets, acknowledging that today’s customers frequently want to manage accounts, check updates, and report issues while on the go.
Ensure Site Accessibility
Follow web accessibility guidelines to allow visitors with vision, hearing, or mobility impairments to comfortably access site resources without obstacles through elements like screen reader support, color contrast options, and keyboard shortcuts.
Prioritize Security
Repeatedly reassure visitors by highlighting safety measures protecting sensitive personal data, secured payment systems, and protection against website attacks, giving custodianship over services vital for modern living.
Use Visuals Strategically
Charts, photos, icons, and videos should further illustrate complex utility equipment, breakdown processes, or sustainability initiatives into simplified concepts customers grasp quickly with minimal confusion.
Spotlight Site Search
Optimize indexed site content so intuitive search functionality easily surfaces the most relevant pages around entrance terminology visitors naturally use when researching specific account questions or service issues needing assistance.
Build Transparency and Trust
Share more details conveying positive corporate governance around community programs, executive leadership accessibility, operational statistics, and disaster response protocols since utilities need to communicate reliability standards as monopolies.
Continuously Improve Site
Regularly review site analytics around visitor usage patterns and failure points. Steadily test and implement design tweaks, aligning architecture closer to evolving audience needs and responding before churn starts.
Best Practices for User-Friendly Utility Sites
Using the right web design approach on the most crucial pages improves overall site-wide experiences:
Engaging Homepage
Prominently highlight the top account management tasks, notification alerts, and location-specific service messages that recurring visitors routinely seek without needing to hunt through menus elsewhere, saving customers critical time.
Easy Account Management Portals
Ensure customers seamlessly view balances, update details, pay bills, and monitor activity through responsive dashboard interfaces, limiting unnecessary fields using clear choreography smoothed through continual optimization.
Convenient Self-Service Options
Make workflow processes for frequent requests like new service connections, payment extensions, outage reporting, and equipment repairs intuitive using conversational tools that prefill known details so customers rapidly resolve needs independently without calling in.
Educational Resources and FAQs
Address common questions about interpreting utility charge line items, equipment components like meters, and details across programs such as planned maintenance and outage response processes through digestible guides that use everyday examples familiar to general audiences.
Visual Guides Demonstrating Key Processes
Combine written explanations detailing restoration workflows, underground infrastructure specifics, or environmental remediation initiatives with data maps, behind-the-scenes photos, and videos welcomed by customers who appreciate transparency around operations supporting essential living services.
Empowering Customers Through Account Features
Key account portal functionalities giving customers improved control over managing their services include:
Convenient Online Bill Payment
Summarize lengthy paper statement details into intuitive online dashboard views, clearly displaying period charges while accepting instant payments from bank accounts or cards. Alongside this, you can access history and notifications for atypical changes.
Account Profile Self-Management
Provide authenticated access for customers to view their contact information, notification preferences, service order status, payment methods, program enrollments, and other key details directly while securely updating them, maintaining accuracy independently without engaging representatives through multiple channels.
Streamlined Service Request Management
Make it quick and easy for customers to self-diagnose common issues and then digitally submit outage reports, equipment malfunction concerns, payment arrangement proposals, and general inquiries through guided forms, automatically creating well-documented tickets within incident management systems routed to proper response teams assigned by severity promoting rapid resolutions.
Flexible Billing and Payment Options
If unusual bill spikes occur, empower customers to elect manageable installment payment plans. Divide larger balances into smaller, predictable portions through spread payment schedules, avoiding overwhelming recipients suddenly facing peaks and enabling gracefully staying current.
Digital and Paperless Account Options
Cater to customers preferring contemporary sustainable online account management through consistent email/SMS notifications, scheduled eStatements, and integrated self-service dashboard access. This substantially reduces printed material waste and burdens navigating phone menus, improving perceptions around forward-thinking providers.
Conclusion
To keep up with rising user experience standards expected by empowered digital customer bases now, utility companies must transform outdated website approaches using human-centric design principles, simplifying engagement through site goals that are specifically aligned with addressing known audience needs. By continually striving website flows effortlessly guiding various visitors through key tasks related to their essential service oversight coupled with rich self-help resources presented accessibly to all, utility providers strengthen satisfaction and loyalty across subscriber demographics through demonstrating reliable understanding uniquely as monopolies. For smaller providers lacking ample internal resources crafting optimal solutions alone, partnering with specialized user experience designers steeped in creating the best utility website frequently jumpstarts maturity phases more responsively early on.
