10 Ways to Improve Web Design to Benefit Your Business
You probably know a good website when you see one, but most people don’t know how the design of a website impacts its business. Good web design can actually mean the difference between a potential client and an actual client, so investing in professional web design can really pay off.
1 – Know Your Brand & Design Around It
The idea of “brands” in marketing draws from the practice of branding livestock. In order to tell other livestock owners that a cow belongs to an individual herd, ranchers burned a symbol into theirs hides. Your company’s brand doesn’t need to be burned into any livestock, but it should be just as recognizable to your clients. Brand recognition comes from careful consideration and development. You should have a logo, colour palate, and even specific fonts that are recognizable as part of your business brand. This branding should be used consistently across platforms (website, social media, print materials, etc.) to ensure that, when people see something from your company, they know it’s from your company. A well designed website should be branded consistently in line with all other company materials.
2 – Think Through Your Navigation
While the function of navigation is part of the web development plan, the layout of the pages, menus, links, and other navigation options is part of your design. In order to ensure your potential clients can easily find the information they need, you should take the time to intelligently lay out your page navigation, so users can easily find the information they need.
3 – Give Your Website Room to Breathe
In the early days of websites, you likely remember the static pages that were content-heavy with paragraph after paragraph of text. Today, websites take advantage of white space, design elements, images, and videos that make your website look professional and allow users to more easily read through the content on each page.
4 – Make it Scannable
We are all overwhelmed with information every day. It’s called information overload, and it leads most of us to ignore large amounts data, especially when it’s presented in a way that is difficult to scan. When it comes to website content, scan-ability is key. A visitor to your website should be able to easily scan through text and find the information they want. You can use headings, lists, pull quotes, and other style options to make it easier for users to scan through information on any given page.
5 – Give Users Numerous Opportunities for Contact
When you’re looking at a website design, you might find yourself being overwhelmed by the repetition of calls to actions, links to contact information, and other ways to get in touch. Most people will only look at one or two pages on your website, so the more opportunities they have to contact you, the better. What seems repetitious (or downright obnoxious) to you as you carefully examine every page on your website will likely not be noticed by most people who visit your website.
6 – Use Images & Videos Appropriately
Images and videos can make a bland site come to life, but the wrong images and videos can look underwhelming at best and unprofessional at worst. Make sure to use professional images and videos that are directly related to your business whenever possible. If you need to use stock images or videos, make sure to choose options that are as closely related to your website content as possible. Place images and videos carefully to avoid distracting from the content or causing your website to be bogged down with overly large files.
7 – Put Share, Like & Other Social Engagement Buttons on Every Page
In most businesses, the best clients are the ones who come back to you again and again, refer their friends and family, and stay loyal to your brand and service for years. By giving users the option to follow you on social media, you create more opportunities for engagement that can lead to loyal customers and more revenue for your business.
8 – Share Client Reviews & Testimonials
Word of mouth is a little different these days. Sure, a good recommendation from someone you know goes a long way, but today, all a user has to do is look online to find numerous reviews from your current and past clients. If you have some good reviews or testimonials, share them! If you don’t have good reviews, ask current and past customers to provide some.
9 – Make Sure Your Website Works on Every Device
Responsive web design is no longer optional. Not only do more than half of all searches originate from smartphones, but Google actually gives search priority to websites that are mobile ready. Good web design should look great on screens of any size.
10 – Partner with Professionals
At the end of the day, working with professionals is the best way to ensure your website design is flawless. Experienced professionals can help you understand how to lay out information, create responsive websites, and most importantly, keep users on your site until they become your new best client.
The FHGs team would love the opportunity to work with you on your web design. Give us a call or send an email to learn more.