When it comes to designing or redesigning a website, it’s easy to get hung up on the aesthetics. Does that shade of blue look right? Should the logo be on the right side of the screen, or left? What if we put a giant animated GIF in the middle of the page?

However, in a world where folks have more than 1.8 billion websites they can potentially land on, you need to make sure yours is not just a pretty face. It should be designed for usability, how easy your website is to use, and user experience (UX), how enjoyable it is to interact with your website.

Now, you could spend years studying the ins and outs of these disciplines But for the sake of giving you a jumping-off point, we’ve assembled a list of the fundamental guidelines and best practices you can apply to your next website redesign or website launch. Then, we’ll review 10 features you’ll need on your site to put these recommendations into practice. Let’s dive in.

1. Simplicity

While the appearance of your website is certainly important, most people aren’t coming to your site to evaluate how slick the design is. They want to complete some action, or to find some specific piece of information.

Therefore, unnecessary design elements (i.e., those which serve no functional purpose) will only overwhelm and make it more difficult for visitors to accomplish what they’re trying to accomplish.

From a usability and UX perspective, simplicity is your best friend. If you have all the necessary page elements, it’s hard to get too simple. You can employ this principle in a variety of different forms, such as:

• Colors: Basically, don’t use a lot. The Handbook of Computer-Human Interaction recommends using a maximum of five (plus or minus two) different colors in your design.
• Typefaces: The typefaces you choose should be highly legible, so nothing too artsy and very minimal script fonts, if any. For text color, again, keep it minimal and always make sure it contrasts with the background color. A common recommendation is to use a maximum of three different typefaces in a maximum of three different sizes.
• Graphics: Only use graphics if they help a user complete a task or perform a specific function (don’t just add graphics willy-nilly).
  

  2. Visual Hierarchy

  Closely tied to the principle of simplicity, visual hierarchy means arranging and organizing website elements so that visitors naturally gravitate toward the most important elements first.

  Remember, when it comes to optimizing for usability and UX, the goal is to lead visitors to complete a desired action, but in a way that feels natural and enjoyable. By adjusting the position, color, or size of certain elements, you can structure your site in such a way that viewers will be drawn to those elements first.

  In the example below from Spotify, you can see that the main heading “Get 3 months of Premium for free” sits atop the visual hierarchy with its size and page position. It draws your eye to their mission before anything else. This is followed by the “Get 3 Months Free” CTA, which prompts action. Users can click this CTA, or scan the menu items above for more actions.

  

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  3. Navigability

  Planning out intuitive navigation on your site is crucial to help visitors find what they’re looking for. Ideally, a visitor should land on your site and not have to think extensively about where to click next. Moving from point A to point B should be as frictionless as possible.

  Here are a few tips for optimizing your site’s navigation:

  • Keep the structure of your primary navigation simple (and near the top of your page).
  • Include navigation in the footer of your site.
  • Consider using breadcrumbs on every page (except your homepage) so users remember their navigation trail.
  • Include a search bar near the top of your site so visitors can search by keywords.
  • Don’t offer too many navigation options per page. Again, simplicity!
  • Include links within your page copy, and make it clear where those links go.
  • Don’t make users dig too deep. Try making a basic wireframe map of all your site pages arranged like a pyramid: Your homepage is at the top, and each linked page from the previous forms the next layer. In most cases, it’s best to keep your map no more than three levels deep. Take HubSpot’s site map, for example.
  

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  One more pointer: Once you’ve settled on what your site’s main (top) navigation will be, keep it consistent. The labels and location of your navigation should remain the same on every page.

  This leads us nicely into our next principle…

  4. Consistency

  In addition to keeping your navigation consistent, the overall look and feel of your site should be similar across all of your site’s pages. Backgrounds, color schemes, typefaces, and even the tone of your writing are all areas where consistency has a positive impact on usability and UX.

  That’s not to say every page should follow the same layout. Instead, create different layouts for specific types of pages (e.g., landing pages, informational pages, etc.). By using those layouts consistently, you’ll make it easier for visitors to understand what type of information they’re likely to find on a given page.

  In the example below, you can see that Airbnb uses the same layout for all of its “Help” pages, a common practice. Imagine what it would be like from a visitor’s perspective if every “Help” page had its own, unique layout. There would probably be a lot of shoulder shrugging.

  

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  5. Responsivity

  According to Statista, 48% of page global views were from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. And according to our research, 93% of people have left a website because it didn’t display properly on their device.

  The takeaway here: To provide a truly great user experience, your site has to be compatible with the many different devices that your visitors are

… Read the rest

Through the course of this article, we’ll go over each of these points and explain exactly how to find the website designer or website design company that best serves your needs.

Why is website design important?

The internet is over 30 years old now. What?! Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that either. People are shopping, socializing, dating, networking, learning, and doing business online now more than ever.

There is an old saying “first impressions last.” Over 80% of shoppers will look you up online first before buying.  How do you think they’ll react if you don’t have a website or your website is a poor representation of you and your business? Would you expect to make a sale showing up to a sales meeting in a dirty, old shirt, or worse still, naked!? Your website, or lack of one, instantly tells your people if you’re worth their time and money.

If you’re struggling with sales or selling higher-priced products or services, a new website, or a website upgrade, maybe just be the thing you need to reach your goals.

The Role of Your Website in Online Marketing

In your online or digital marketing strategy, your website is the star of the show. It’s the piece of internet real estate that belongs to no one but you.

It’s also the only place online fully controlled by no one but you.

Marketing online has everything to do with controlling attention. With all the digital noise of social media and other competitors, your website is the only place you can easily direct people’s attention where you want it. This is why when you click on a social media or online advert the first place you get sent to is the advertiser’s website. Digital marketers know that once you are there, there is a much higher chance of you engaging with their brand and becoming a buyer.

Another important reason to have a good website is so that people can find you and find out more about your products or services quickly and easily. Have you ever gone half crazy trying to find a business’s email or contact number but it isn’t listed online? You’re not alone.

Along with finding you, your website should take your people one step further. It should inspire confidence in your business and create fresh leads that become sales. A good set-up, an attractive website can do this for you while you sleep.

Choosing the Best Web Design Company or Web Designer

In choosing the best possible website designer or company, it helps to understand as much as possible about what you really need. You can then find a provider who best answers these needs.

Your Website Requirements List

Make a list of requirements for your website.
It should include:

• What your website will focus on— news? Your products? Your reliability? Your speed of service? etc. A website with a clear message has a better chance of being understood and leaving a strong impression on your visitors.
• What do you want visitors to do on your site— buy products? Sign up as members? Share your content? Contact you or leave their email so you can contact them?
• Who is your target audience? Other businesses? High-end buyers? Mass consumer market? Etc. What are the words and subjects they use to talk about your industry?
• Have you got the copy (text) that will go on your site or will it need to be written? Copywriting is a skill that will greatly increase how well the site communicates the exact message you want to send. If you have a copy but aren’t sure how good it is, it may be a good idea to have it professionally edited or rewritten.
• Do you have professional images (photographs, graphics, or illustrations) for your site? or will they need to be provided by the web designer or agency?
• Will you need any special content created to make your website even more amazing? For example, custom-made videos or animations, infographics to visually explain your business, etc.
• What special functions will you need? E-commerce, online booking, background video, online chat, etc.
• How many pages do you think it should have? Think about a rough idea of how your site could be laid out and which different pages it should have. You don’t need to be exact but having some idea of this will help you get correct quotes and good designs more quickly.
• Will you need an easy-to-use blog on your site that you or your staff can post articles to? (Hint: you should have one!)
• What other websites online do you really like that could inspire and help you decide on your own design? You don’t have to do this one but it helps.
• What is your budget and how flexible is it?

Writing down all these ideas will help you better understand what you’re looking for. It will also help you communicate to web designers or agencies so they can quickly understand and quote on your design project.

Now that you know what your requirements are, you can now more easily look for a website designer or agency that can provide these features.

How Do You Know Which Web Designer Will Best Fulfill Your Needs?

1. Their Own Website Design

If you browse through a list of marketing companies you’ll have no trouble finding plenty of website designers and website design companies.

A good place to start, to decide if you want to use them, is to look at their own website. Does it look modern? Is it clean and clear? Do you instantly understand what they’re about and what they offer? Or is it confusing or boring and doesn’t make you interested in using their services?

If a website designer doesn’t even take care to make their own website amazing, how likely are they to make sure yours is?

2. Their Website Portfolio

Take a look through their online portfolio on their website. If they don’t have one … Read the rest

A web designer’s relationship with their client is one that evolves over the lifespan of any project. You can position yourself as an advisor, expert, friend, and hopefully a longtime business partner by arranging yourself the right way, which allows you to start off on the right foot with your client and bears the best results for the project. Here are five tips for strengthening your client relationships.

Listen Up

Actively listening is consistent engagement with your client no matter the circumstance. To show that you are tuned in, make eye contact and show a strong interest in the conversation.

There will be information that you can use to formulate solid questions. Position yourself to refer to what some might feel are mundane thoughts on the project, make it clear to the client that you care about them, their business, and the work you are doing on their project. Design is all in the details.

Feel the Vibe

Along with actively listening, showing empathy for your client’s needs is imperative. The client hired you for a service they need in order to make their business better. Being empathetic has two very great effects. One, it demonstrates to the client that you understand them. Two, it will push you to ask questions that are sincere and targeted. Your work will reflect this.

Be You!

Be open about who you are, your creative processes, your technology and your opinion on their project. If you don’t know the answer, say so. If you try and hide something it will seem like it. Demonstrate your transparency and that you want the best for them.

Don’t Hate, Educate!

Educate your client on the web. Pretty, pretty please! Make them smarter. It can be a difficult road to climb but to many clients, web design and development can be unknown territory. An unsure client can make poor decisions only because they truly don’t know any better.

When you educate your client it makes them wiser and you can continually demonstrate expertise on the subject you love, which reinforces your value and why they hired you in the first place.

Obviously, your client needs to be receptive to it, but even the most difficult clients can walk away more knowledgeable. So next time when they come back with project work, the process gets much easier for the both of you!

Have Some Fun & Smile While Doing It

Who wants to work with a grump? No one. People want to be around folks who laugh, smile, and have a positive attitude. Let’s face it, you’re going to be working on this project together so why not make it fun? It makes the process both enjoyable and engaging. This doesn’t mean you need to be cavalier about things, nor refrain from being tough when you need to be. But being positive will build equity for when you need to have a tough conversation. What client doesn’t want you to be excited about their project?

10 Critical Stats to Know for Web Design

Are you looking to start with a fresh web design for your business and increase your bottom line? If so, you must know what you need to do to have a website that drives success for your business. With the following website checker and website statistics, you can see what to do and what to avoid, which will help you build the best website for your audience.

How to check your own website statistics

You might love your website, but is it optimized to be found by people searching the web?

A major part of great web design is incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) so people looking for something you offer can find you online.

Doing an SEO analysis can help you understand where your website is meeting people’s needs, and where it needs a bit more help.

An SEO analysis tool can help you quickly and easily pinpoint areas of improvement. We offer a free SEO Checker here at WebFX to make viewing your website statistics so easy.

After you’ve submitted your website for a quick analysis, keep reading this blog post for 10 critical web design statistics!

If you want to learn more tips and tricks for creating an impactful web design, subscribe to Revenue Weekly for information on the latest web design trends and more!

Web design statistics that prove web design matters

Your website is the heart of your online presence.

You must invest time and effort into building a website that will engage and delight your customers.

Let’s look at a few web design statistics that show you why it matters to your business. We’ll cover what these stats mean for your company’s web design and how you can put these digital marketing statistics to work on your website.

1. 94% of first impressions relates to your site’s web design

When someone finds your business for the first time, you want to set a good first impression. Your audience’s first impression can have a lasting impact on how they perceive your business. When it comes to your website, the majority of first impressions come from your site’s design.

What this website statistic means

Your first impression is critical to keeping people on your site and getting them to come back. If you want to make a positive impact with your web design, build a beautifully designed site that catches your audience’s eye and gets them to engage on your page.

How to put this digital marketing stat to work

Create a visually appealing website that attracts your audience to set a positive first impression. Whether you do it yourself or hire a web design company, build a site that reflects your brand, looks visually appealing, and provides users with a positive first-time interaction on your site.

2. 75% of website credibility comes from design

When someone finds your business online, you want them to see that you’re a legit business. With so many scams running around the web, a poorly designed website can make you look like you’re untrustworthy or running a scam.

So, if you aren’t investing time, money, and effort into building a beautifully designed site, you’re going to lose credibility and trust with your audience, as well as sales.

What this website statistic means

If you want to make the most impact with your website’s design, you need to invest in creating a high-quality, well-designed website. Without a beautifully designed site, you’ll risk losing trust from your audience and deter them from engaging on your site.

How to put this digital marketing statistic to work

Invest in high-quality design for your website. You can search for examples of great design to get a feel for how your site should look, so you can start to compose ideas on how to make a high-quality site. Choosing the right colors, visual elements, and layout will help you create a credible website.

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure your website is secure. Verify that your website has HTTPS and an SSL certificate to ensure that you’re providing a safe browsing and shopping experience for your audience.

3. 89% of consumers shop with a competitor after a poor user experience

Not only do you need to worry about setting a positive first impression, but you also need to worry about maintaining that positivity as users continue to browse on your site. A beautifully designed website will go to waste if users can’t correctly browse your website and find information.

If users can’t find information easily on your site, they won’t stick around.

What this website statistic means

You must emphasize user experience on your website, or you’ll lose leads to the competition. Investing in your site’s user experience leads to a $100 return for every $1 you spend. The key to a successful site in the present day is a beautiful and functional website.

How to put this digital marketing stat to work

When you’re building your website, focus on elements that will help your audience have a better experience on your site. Focus on aspects like building an organized navigation, adding visual features to break up text, and ensuring your site loads quickly.

All these elements will help you create a more user-friendly website.

4. 74% of users are more likely to return to mobile-friendly websites

When you see website design statistics, you’ll find that many stats focus on building a mobile-friendly website. With 74% of people more likely to return to your site if it’s mobile-friendly, you want to ensure your site looks great on mobile devices.

People spend 70% of their Internet time on mobile too. As more people gain access to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, it becomes increasingly important to have a site that functions properly for these devices.

What this website statistic means

If you’re designing your website, you must make it mobile-friendly. Google looks at mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor in the search results, … Read the rest

Usability and the utility, not the visual design, determine the success or failure of a website. Since the visitor of the page is the only person who clicks the mouse and therefore decides everything, user-centric design has established as a standard approach for successful and profit-oriented web design. After all, if users can’t use a feature, it might as well not exist.

Usability and the utility, not the visual design, determine the success or failure of a website. Since the visitor of the page is the only person who clicks the mouse and therefore decides everything, user-centric design has become a standard approach for successful and profit-oriented web design. After all, if users can’t use a feature, it might as well not exist.

We aren’t going to discuss the design implementation details (e.g. where the search box should be placed) as it has already been done in a number of articles; instead we focus on the main principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design — approaches which, used properly, can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and simplify the process of perceiving presented information.

Principles Of Good Website Design And Effective Web Design Guidelines #

In order to use the principles properly we first need to understand how users interact with websites, how they think and what are the basic patterns of users’ behavior.

How Do Users Think? #

Basically, users’ habits on the Web aren’t that different from customers’ habits in a store. Visitors glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. In fact, there are large parts of the page they don’t even look at.

Most users search for something interesting (or useful) and clickable; as soon as some promising candidates are found, users click. If the new page doesn’t meet users’ expectations, the Back button is clicked and the search process is continued.

• Users appreciate quality and credibility. If a page provides users with high-quality content, they are willing to compromise the content with advertisements and the design of the site. This is the reason why not-that-well-designed websites with high-quality content gain a lot of traffic over years. Content is more important than the design which supports it.
• Users don’t read, they scan. Analyzing a web-page, users search for some fixed points or anchors which would guide them through the content of the page.
  

  

• Web users are impatient and insist on instant gratification. Very simple principle: If a website isn’t able to meet users’ expectations, then designer failed to get his job done properly and the company loses money. The higher is the cognitive load and the less intuitive is the navigation, the more willing are users to leave the website and search for alternatives. [JN / DWU]
• Users don’t make optimal choices. Users don’t search for the quickest way to find the information they’re looking for. Neither do they scan webpage in a linear fashion, going sequentially from one site section to another one. Instead users satisfice; they choose the first reasonable option. As soon as they find a link that seems like it might lead to the goal, there is a very good chance that it will be immediately clicked. Optimizing is hard, and it takes a long time. Satisficing is more efficient. [video]
  

  

• Users follow their intuition. In most cases users muddle through instead of reading the information a designer has provided. According to Steve Krug, the basic reason for that is that users don’t care. “If we find something that works, we stick to it. It doesn’t matter to us if we understand how things work, as long as we can use them. If your audience is going to act like you’re designing billboard, then design great billboards.”
• Users want to have control. Users want to be able to control their browser and rely on the consistent data presentation throughout the site. E.g. they don’t want new windows popping up unexpectedly and they want to be able to get back with a “Back”-button to the site they’ve been before: therefore it’s a good practice to never open links in new browser windows.

1. Don’t Make Users Think #

According to Krug’s first law of usability, the web-page should be obvious and self-explanatory. When you’re creating a site, your job is to get rid of the question marks — the decisions users need to make consciously, considering pros, cons and alternatives.

If the navigation and site architecture aren’t intuitive, the number of question marks grows and makes it harder for users to comprehend how the system works and how to get from point A to point B. A clear structure, moderate visual clues and easily recognizable links can help users to find their path to their aim.

Let’s take a look at an example. Beyondis.co.uk claims to be “beyond channels, beyond products, beyond distribution”. What does it mean? Since users tend to explore websites according to the “F”-pattern, these three statements would be the first elements users will see on the page once it is loaded.

Although the design itself is simple and intuitive, to understand what the page is about the user needs to search for the answer. This is what an unnecessary question mark is. It’s designer’s task to make sure that the number of question marks is close to 0. The visual explanation is placed on the right hand side. Just exchanging both blocks would increase usability.

ExpressionEngine uses the very same structure like Beyondis, but avoids unnecessary question marks. Furthermore, the slogan becomes functional as users are provided with options to try the service and download the free … Read the rest

When it comes to website design, there are so many different styles and directions in which your website can go: it can be anywhere from classy to minimalistic, from playful and vibrant to sleek and modern.

While your final look-and-feel should exude your personal style, line of work, and brand identity, there are a few ground rules that are always applicable.

Great web design feeds into your user experience and functionality while being easy to understand at first glance. Below we’ve gathered five simple website design tips to help make your site effective and compelling:

Web design tips for an outstanding website

1. Keep your homepage minimalistic and free of clutter

2. Design with visual hierarchy in mind

3. Create easy to read website content

4. Ensure your site is easy to navigate

5. Stay mobile friendly

01. Keep your homepage minimalistic and free of clutter

Your website’s homepage should communicate your core message instantaneously. After all, we rarely read every word on a website. Instead, we quickly scan the page, picking out key words, sentences and images. With these known behaviors in mind, it’s better to appeal to emotions rather than word count.

The less site visitors have to read, click on, or remember, the better they’ll be able to process and evaluate your content. By designing for decreasing attention spans, it’s more likely that users will do what you intend them to do.

When learning how to design a website, these simple website design tips will help you break up your content and make for a presentable and inviting homepage design:

• Keep important content above the fold: Visitors should understand what your website is all about as soon as possible, without having to scroll or click anywhere.

• Space out your content: Employ whitespace in between elements. By leaving some areas blank, you’ll give the design a much more spacious, well-balanced feel. As for your text, write in bite-sized, legible paragraphs.

• Add imagery: High-quality media features such as beautiful photographs, vector art or icons, will do wonders as alternative ways to communicate your point.

• Include a call-to-action: From making a purchase to signing up, encourage site visitors to perform the action you intended by placing a call-to-action (CTA) button on your site’s homepage.

02. Design with visual hierarchy in mind

Hierarchy is an important principle of design that helps display your content in a clear and effective manner. Through the correct use of hierarchy, you’ll be able to lead site visitors’ attention to certain page elements in order of priority, starting with the most significant piece.

The main components of visual hierarchy are:

• Size and weight: Highlight your top assets, such as your business name and logo, by making them larger and more visually prominent. Readers tend to naturally gravitate towards large and bold titles first, and only then move on to smaller paragraph text.

• Element placement: Use the right website layout to steer your visitors’ eyes in the right direction. For instance, you can place an important call-to-action button at the very center of the screen, or position your logo at the header.

Once you establish a clear hierarchy for your information, readers can’t help but unconsciously follow the breadcrumbs you have left for them. Then, apply color, contrast, and spacing for further accentuation, remaining mindful of what is drawing the most attention and making sure that it’s always intentional.

Some powerful web design elements to help you achieve a strong visual hierarchy are strips or grid layouts, such as that of the Wix Pro Gallery. For more ideas and inspiration, check out our designer-made website templates.

03. Create easy to read website content

“Readability” measures how easy it is for people to recognize words, sentences, and phrases. When your site’s readability is high, users will be able to effortlessly scan, or skim-read, through it. This way, taking in the information becomes effortless.

Achieving website readability is relatively easy; try these key rules:

• Contrast is key: Sufficient contrast between your text color and background color is important for readability, as well as for website accessibility. While your website color scheme is likely to be representative of your brand colors, make sure that there’s sufficient contrast between your elements. To do so, try using an online tool, such as Contrast Checker.

• Large letter size: Most people will struggle to see smaller fonts. A typical rule of thumb for web design is to keep your body text at least 16pt. That’s a good place to start, but keep in mind that this number completely depends on the fonts you choose for your website.

• Type of fonts: The world of typography offers many types of fonts at our disposal. You can choose between serif fonts (that have little projecting lines on the ends of letters, like Times New Roman) to sans serifs, which literally means “without serif.” Sans serif fonts are typically the best choice for lengthy online texts – like the one you’re currently reading. You can also create interesting font pairings by mixing these different types together. There are also many display fonts that are more on the decorative side, such as script fonts that look handwritten. If you’re going for one of those, make sure not to over use it, so as to avoid an overwhelming effect.

• Limit the number of fonts: Don’t use more than three different typefaces throughout a single website. Some projects may call for more elaborate font combinations, but too many varied typefaces usually appear cluttered, distracting from your brand identity.

• Utilize text themes: To establish a clear hierarchy, make sure that your written website content is varied in size and weight – from a large title, to smaller subheadings, to the even smaller paragraph or body text. This handy website design tip can ensure that there’s always something drawing readers’ attention.

04. Ensure your site is easy to navigate

It may be in your nature to break the mold, but website navigation is not the place to … Read the rest

So, are you thinking of starting a web design agency? It’s a glorious idea. Covid-19 has shown businesses how successful or disruptive a good online presence can be for businesses. During this pandemic, we have all seen that the demand for web design has increased and will continue to increase.

… Read the rest

Being a web designer involves harmoniously combining visuals and content. But non-technical skills, like collaboration and communication, are also important.

… Read the rest

On this page, we’ll discuss why design is important and provide you with seven must-have design elements for your website. If you need help creating your dream website, call us today.

As you look into redesigning your website, you may wonder the importance to website design. How does it impact your audience and your business? Let’s look at five reasons web design is important.

1. It sets the first impression

When your audience visits your website, it gives them their first impression of your business. They will judge your business within seconds. In these first few seconds, you want to make a positive impact on your audience.

If your website looks unappealing or outdated, your audience will immediately have a negative impression of your business. They won’t find your website appealing, which deters them from your page. You’ll miss out on leads because they’ll leave your page for a competitor’s page.

Web design is important because it impacts how your audience perceives your brand. The impression you make on them can either get them to remain on your page and learn about your business or leave your page and turn to a competitor. A good web design helps you keep your leads on your page.

2. It aids your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy

Many web design elements and practices influence how you publish content on your website, which in turn affects how search engine spiders crawl and index your website.

This is one thing you cannot afford to mess up. If your on-page SEO fundamentals are not up to snuff, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle for visibility from the start.

Aside from how content is published on your website, certain web design elements can directly affect SEO in and of themselves. Web design can be difficult to understand if you’re not familiar with how it works, but to put it simply, your code needs to be SEO-friendly.

The best way to ensure proper web design practices (and subsequent search engine visibility) is to partner up with a web design agency that knows what they’re doing.

3. It sets the impression for customer service

People can judge how you will treat them by looking at your website. Your design gives them insight as to how you view your audience. If you don’t put any effort into your website’s design, your audience knows that you won’t put effort into helping them.

Your website is like a customer service representative. If your website is bright, modern, and inviting, your audience will feel more welcome on your page. You’ll give the impression that you are open and welcoming to new people who visit your website.

On the other hand, an outdated and unappealing site makes your business appear cold and aloof. People don’t want to check out a business that doesn’t value them enough to make a good first impression.

Think of your web design as the digital face of your business. If someone walked into your physical location, wouldn’t you want a friendly face to greet them and make them feel welcome? An updated and modern web design is the equivalent to a friendly face greeting your new visitors.

4. It builds trust with your audience

People don’t trust poorly designed websites. If they see your poor design or the information looks outdated, they won’t trust your site. They may view your site as seedy or shady because you don’t have an updated web design.

Think about a person looking to place a bulk order with a manufacturing company. They’re spending a tremendous amount of money, which means if your manufacturing website design doesn’t convey trust, they’ll find another business to fulfill their order.

On the other hand, a professional site signals trust with your audience. They will trust your business and feel comfortable checking it out further.

It’s important to build trust with your audience so they remain on your site. When visitors remain on your site longer, you create more opportunities for your business to capture those leads.

5. Your competitors are doing it

If you need a reason for why web design is important, here’s a big one: Your competitors are already utilizing web design. If you want to remain in competition with them, you must use web design for your site.

You want your website to stand out from the competition. If you have an old, outdated, and low-quality website, your competitor’s will outrank you. Their well-designed website will perform better than your website.

This means you’ll lose leads to your competitors. They’ll attract more leads to their page because their page is more appealing.

Your website’s design is an opportunity for you to set your business apart from the competition. When you’re competing with other businesses, you generally have the same services and similar pricing. You need that one thing that will make your business stand out from the rest.

A well-designed website is an opportunity for your business to showcase your unique features. You can show your audience why they should choose your business over the competition.

6. It creates consistency

When you’re trying to get new leads for your business, you want to build up your brand. You want your audience to get familiar with your brand so they choose you when they’re ready to convert. Online web designs are important because they help create consistency across your page.

You need to have the same fonts, styles, and layouts across every page on your website. If you have a different design on every page, this will make your site look unprofessional. It also makes it more challenging to build brand recognition because your audience won’t know which colors to associate with your brand.

If your website is not consistent, people will bounce from yours to one that looks more professional. By building consistency, you keep leads on your page longer and get them familiar with your business. You’ll earn more leads and conversions down the line when you redesign your site for this key … Read the rest

Most consumers perform in-depth online research on products and services before making purchase decisions. A study by the eCommerce Foundation shows 88 percent of buyers will search for product information before buying it online.

By CHRISTIAN KRUSE

Such a purchase behavior stresses the value of a content-rich, professionally designed website for a business. What’s more, consumers spend more time on beautifully designed sites than they do on plain and basic ones. Here are 10 ways a good web design impacts your business.

1. Serves as Your Business’ First Impression

Potential customers get their first impression of your company by checking out your website. They form an opinion about your business in a matter of seconds. So you should focus on leaving a lasting positive effect on your audience within these few seconds by ensuring your website is appealing, user-friendly, highly responsive, and has a fast loading speed.

A site that appears unattractive or old-fashioned sets a negative first impression of your brand. It wards off potential customers and drives them to your competitor’s page. But a decent website design helps maintain your audience on your page, which improves leads conversion.

2. Boosts Trust and Brand Consistency

As mentioned above, your website design determines how most people judge the integrity of your business. Trendy and professional website designs tend to promote trust. Outdated and unprofessional web designs, on the other hand, make users doubt your credibility. Brand consistency is another notable way that a decent web design encourages trust. Consumers recognize prominent and successful brands by just looking at things like their colours, logos, or styles. So it’s important to ensure things that your customers identify your business with are reflected in your website design.

Ensure the outline, styles, and fonts are the same throughout every page on your site. If every page has a different design, your site will appear unattractive and unprofessional. Building brand recognition will also become a hassle because your target audience won’t easily identify things that represent your brand.

3.  Enhances Usability

A good design allows visitors to effortlessly access what they’re searching for from your website. According to a 2015 web usability report, 86 percent of website visitors are looking for information about your products or services, 65 percent search for contact details, and 52 percent look for your business’ About page. Good web design makes these things extremely easy to find. Otherwise, your visitors will have a bad user experience and will spend less time on your site.

Your website may work well, but a bad design may make visitors feel that it’s difficult to use or locate what they want. Users are likely to enjoy using an aesthetically-pleasing site more than a dull site even if the two websites are identical when it comes to functioning. That means a good website design enhances usability along with the perception of usability.

Due to the complex nature of web design, consider partnering with a professional design agency. In the same breath, hire a reputable agency for translation services, to help you offer insightful and consistent product messaging that resonates with your global customers, in any language.

4. Eases Navigation

A high-quality design makes your site easy to navigate. Many professional designers usually apply Hick’s Law when it comes to website design. This law basically states that the duration taken to make a decision is proportional to the number of choices available. If you’re provided with many choices, you’ll take longer to make a decision, and vice versa.

When professional designers build website navigation with Hick’s Law in mind, they want to simplify and reduce the number of options so that visitors can easily decide what action to take or where to go. Make your site easy to navigate by reducing the number of options to five or less. Take a look at your product menu and merge similar options into a single option.  That way, visitors will find your website easy to navigate and easy to use.

5.  Fosters Your SEO Strategy

Various web design components and techniques have a huge impact on your site’s content publishing capability, which in turn influences how top search engines crawl and rank your page. That aside, some web design components can hurt your SEO strategy. Sydney SEO Agency says that one of the most common mistakes that businesses make is prioritizing design over functionality. In 2021, with more than 58% of users choosing mobile as their primary search device, having a fast, responsive website is imperative to SEO.

To enhance the visibility of your page, make use of SEO-friendly web-design elements and techniques. If you strongly feel that this is not part of your expertise, you can always hire a competent SEO company that will optimize your website for search engines and drive organic traffic to your site, and enhance your online presence.

6. Improves Website Loading Speed

A well-designed site tends to load quickly on all devices, including tablets, smartphones, and desktops. A page loads in a matter of seconds due to the fluid grids and high-quality, responsive visual media. A visitor is more likely to stay longer on websites that load faster than on those that take ages to load. In fact, one study found that 53 percent of mobile users will leave a website if pages are unresponsive or take a significant amount of time to load (more than three seconds). The same study revealed that sites that load quickly keep visitors engaged for a long time and realize an uptick in conversion rates.

7. Reduces Bounce Rates

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of users who visit a specific website and abandon it after checking out only one page. As stated above, a well-designed site with a fast loading speed means users will interact with your website longer and that will lower your bounce rate. By spending more time on your site, visitors will be more likely to open other pages on your website, learn more about you and … Read the rest