In the past, a website for a business was more of a necessary evil for many companies. Websites seemed expensive to build and host, so many businesses cut corners. In today’s connected world, a great website is not just a way to get new business, it is also a representation of the quality of your company. It is fairly easy now to get a quick website done that looks nice at first glance. But if your website is not easy and beneficial for your potential client to use, then you are probably doing more harm than good to your business. When looking to build a website for your business, it can be helpful to focus on the following five principles of website design.
A Well-Defined Objective
If you are looking to build a new website for your business or update your existing one, then the most important foundation of your new site is having a well-defined objective. What are you trying to get a potential customer on your website to do? Do you want your clients to buy something on your website? If so, then it is important that your site is easy to shop from, and that you have a reputable and secure method of taking payments and quick shipping options. Do you want your clients to contact you directly? Then a live chat window or a simple contact us button will give someone the ability to connect with someone that can help them. It is important that your website is clean and easy to use, as these qualities will allow your website to help you meet your objectives.
Speed
Nothing is more annoying for an impatient web-surfer than a website that takes forever to load. Having a lot of things going on simultaneously on your website can slow it down and cause you to lose potential customers. Internet users are easily distracted and won’t stay on a website for long unless something grabs and holds their attention. If it takes too long to load your website, then your beautiful design might never be seen. Good website designers can optimize a website to allow it to load quickly even while it has many elements. This can be done by altering the code of a website or by optimizing images or text. You can check your current website speed on Google PageSpeed Checker.
Effective Design and Thoughtful Text
It is critical for your website to look and feel like a custom-tailored one. If your website looks generic and just like everyone else’s, then potential clients can lose confidence and decide not to do business with you. If a website looks like the business owner doesn’t care, then it should be no surprise when potential clients look elsewhere to take spend their time and money. The fonts chosen for website text should reflect the type of business offering that the website is promoting. It is important to not choose too many font sizes, as this can be distracting to users and cause them to leave your website. Make your website enjoyable to use and easy to navigate. The more time a user spends on your website, the more likely that user is to become your customer.
Clear Messaging
It can be natural to want to include as much information as possible on your website to show your authority in your field but doing so can also cause confusion. The most important thing you are trying to get across in your website is proper messaging. How well do you communicate what your business does? How easily can someone figure out what you do when navigating to your website? If your website is confusing or requires multiple clicks to figure out what is going on, then your website messaging is not clear and is likely costing you potential business. If you use graphics or charts, then make sure they are instantly understandable without stressing your user too much. If you can communicate what your business does in a clear and minimal way, then you are likely to make the most impact. Your website should be continually updated with new content and information to help keep your website current and relevant. Create and maintain a blog with new articles consistently added to show your users that you can be a resource for information in the field. Maintaining a blog also allows you to keep your main pages clean and free of unnecessary text.
Optimized for Mobile
As high-quality websites are expected more and more to operate a successful business, the demand to create a similar user experience on mobile devices has increased significantly as well. People spend more time on their mobile devices than ever before, and that has translated into a need to ensure that your website is optimized for use on a mobile device. This means different layouts, menus, and pages on your website while still maintaining the same aesthetic and appearance. It’s easy and convenient for people to run google searches on their phones, so it is critical that your website operates just as professionally on mobile devices and tablets. When you have your website built, it is important that you are given multiple views of how your website is going to look on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.
Get Visible Digital Marketing
It can be difficult to keep up with the trends and new ways to reach users online but following these five principles can help you stand up against most others. Getting sustained organic traffic should be the goal of any website, and these methods will help you get there. The best way to move past your competitors is to win the marketplace online. Having a great website, top search engine visibility, and a thoughtful social media marketing strategy will help you reach your goals. If you are not meeting your goals online, then it is important to have your website evaluated by an experienced professional who can help you optimize your online presence.
