7 Web Design Tips
Your website is a huge part of your brand identity. Whether you’re a business owner, blogger, content creator, or creative entrepreneur, having a strong online presence will help you establish credibility, generate leads, and build a strong relationship with your market. Here are my top tips for building a successful website for your business.
Appeal to your customers
The best websites are customer-focused. When it comes to designing your website, you should keep your customers in mind. It’s easy to create a website based around your goals and vision, but remember, your business website isn’t about you. If you haven’t already, you need to conduct market research on your target customers and find out everything there is to know about them. An effective website puts visitors first, provides valuable information in an appealing way, and motivates visitors to make a purchase or inquire about a service.
Take advantage of Whitespace
Whitespace is an essential design element that helps you break up the page and increase readability. Websites that use white space always appear cleaner and more organized. It also makes the content on your site flow naturally. If there is no breathing room between your content, your site may appear a bit over-crowded. If you love minimal design and believe that less is more, then you will love whitespace!
Compelling and organized design
Believe it or not, a compelling site design can be enough to convert web visitors into customers. In my opinion the best websites are minimalistic and free of clutter. Many people make the mistake of flooding their site with unnecessary information— this will drive your visitors away. From the moment someone arrives on your site, your homepage should be clean and visually compelling.
Your homepage should be persuasive and interesting
According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds. If your homepage doesn’t clearly explain how your customers will benefit from your content, products, or services, you will lose them.
Your homepage should communicate the following:
What you do & why
What you’re offering
How you can help your customers
Include call-to-actions
Every website has a purpose. Once your visitors land on your homepage, where do you want them the go?
The goal of a Call-to-action (CTA) is to point your visitors in a specific direction. If your goal is to have them make a store purchase, then your CTA would guide them to your online store. CTA’s should stand out and be easy to find. Some examples: “Learn More”, "Click to Save!" or “Grow Your Brand”.
Easy to navigate
An effective website helps visitors reach their destinations quickly. Your visitors should not have to repeatedly click on various links just to find the page they need. Your site should have a navigation bar placed at the top of your website with your most important categories.
I also recommend having another menu in your footer. If your navigation menu does not immediately call out the category your customer is looking for, you can also add a small search bar on your site (as seen in my footer).
Have an email sign-up
As a digital marketer specializing in email marketing, I can honestly tell you that emails generate more sales better than any other medium. This is a fact. It’s an effective way to get people back to your site.
90% of the time I subscribe to a website, it’s only because they’re giving me a strong reason to. A great way to grow your email list is by offering your visitors and customers something they want. Whether it’s a free e-course, free design templates, how-to guides, etc. I mean, who doesn’t love freebies?
Stay true to your brand
Your website is a huge part of your brand and should always reflect your brand identity. It should include your logo, typography, color palette, tagline, and other visual elements used to portray your brand.