Businesses lean on the dynamics of economic and consumer trends to stay on top of the competition. Huge corporations invest in extensive research and business analysis to keep ahead of their competitors. But one factor can make a significant difference in the contemporary market — effective website design.
Does having a mere website guarantee your business’ success? Certainly not. The fast-paced innovations push organizations to require more and more over the years. Today, most websites need to undergo optimization and other digital processes to be seen online. Furthermore, consumers prefer sites that offer ease of use and presentation. On this blog, we’ll look into these web design factors that can potentially attract more prospects.
What Is Website Design?
Website design is anything you see when visiting a site. From the colors, transitions, themes, spacing to animations, user-friendliness largely depends on the site’s appearance. But how do we classify web design as either on the bad or good bin?
We have summarized some elements of the ideal website design.
- Relevant and Conspicuous Call-to-Action
- Mobile Responsiveness
- Optimized Colors and Images
- Social Proof/Symbols of “Trust”
- White Spaces
- Short Forms
- Strong Landing Page
- Logical Organization
- Ease of Navigation
- Sticky Navigation
Relevant and Conspicuous Call-to-Action
Be straightforward. What do you want website visitors to do when landing on your page? Give you a call? Request a price quote? Leave a message? Or send an inquiry? Let your users know what they need to do after scanning your page’s content. While it’s enticing to present multiple choices to your visitors, it’s not as effective as you think.
Hick’s Law suggests that a person loses interest as more choices are available. In the business context, website visitors are more likely to not engage if you present multiple choices. Consumers want a definite path.
Another thing, understand your target market’s purchasing behavior. You can browse through available papers online to get a glimpse of what your audience wants. Make sure your call-to-action is relevant to your page’s content. Then, place it in a conspicuous, but not exasperating, area on your website. Lastly, give your visitors a hint of why they should click on that big button.
Mobile Responsiveness
With the increasing numbers of mobile users, you never want to lag behind the competition. Many consumers are now making transactions online at the convenience of their phones. Businesses like yours should adapt to these changes to keep the game ticking. A responsive website offers the flexibility of desktop, tablet, laptop, and mobile use.
Mobile responsiveness also showcases your brand and specializations on the millions of potential clients. According to Pew Research, at least 96% of Americans own at least one cellphone. Meanwhile, over 50% of online traffic occurs over smartphones from 2015 (first quarter) to 2020 (second quarter).
As such, don’t miss the great opportunities of marketing your products or services to half of the Internet users. Especially for small businesses and startups, getting to as much audience as you can ensures long-term success.
Optimized Colors and Images
Writing well-studied and high-quality content for your site may do well. However, it may not be enough for your consumers. According to WebDam, content with images increases user engagement by up to 650 times than pages without an image. So if you wish better traffic, you may have to place more images as much as possible.
Nonetheless, pay attention to the images you use. Some photos may result in longer loading times on your pages. Don’t settle for a too complex photo and choose one that fits your content. You would want your users to understand your material better. As much as possible, create your unique images crafted with quality photography to define your brand.
As we have previously mentioned, web design is everything you see on the page, thus including color schemes. If necessary, hire a professional website designer to help you out with sorting the right colors for your website. Let the colors match with your site’s logo, tone, and mood for consistency and appeal.
Social Proof/Symbols of “Trust”
Have you received certifications related to your business? Do you acquire positive reviews from previous clients? Take advantage of those badges. If you receive high ratings, you know you have an edge. You just need to display them on your website. This way, you can gain your visitors’ trust and confidence in your brand. These badges serve as your social proof for a job well done.
For one, e-commerce sites can add a “best-selling” section on their website. When users stumble on your page, they’re more likely to get drawn to popular products.
Another is by adding a testimonials section to highlight your customer’s reviews. But be careful when placing client testimonials. Make sure they don’t overshadow your call-to-action. Preferably, add a photo of each positive feedback (with your client’s permission).
How about startups? Newly founded businesses can still display their strengths. For instance, showcase your founder’s goals, experience, academic degrees, or awards. You can also detail how you select your employees and that you hire only the finest professionals in your industry.
White Spaces
Overcrowded elements on your page might turn your users away. According to computer scientist Jakob Nielsen, website visitors scan through the material they see online. With disorganized white spaces, consumers might get confused about what you want to communicate with them.
White spaces do not mean wasted space. The essence of having well-thought spacing lies beyond the design aspects. You’d want your brand to be marketable, but you cannot achieve such with a cluttered website. Thus, white spacing defines the flow of your material, so users can easily understand what you wish to convey.
On the other hand, pages with too much content may look aesthetically unpleasant. As mentioned earlier, you can add images to make your content more digestible. Additionally, white spaces reduce the clutter and regroup your information accordingly. Organize your content based on the goal of that particular page. If possible, remove unnecessary texts that don’t make sense.
One way of tracking your visitors’ web activities is through a heat map. This tool allows you to determine the efficacy of your spacing as well as other conversion factors on your site.
Short Forms
A contact form is an effective approach to convince users to take the desired action. However, the manner of laying out your form has an impact on your visitors’ activities. Let’s find out how.
Not everyone enjoys filling out long forms. Some find it unpleasing to provide their pet’s information, complete address, other more stuff to download your brochure. While others may never bother completing your forms that ask too much. Consequently, long forms tend to shun your potential clients away.
Keep it short and simple. A name, email address, and zip code will do. If you’re using a captcha test, you might consider pulling it out and see the response rates. You see, contact forms play a crucial role in generating leads and eventually conversions. So make them short yet sweet as much as possible.
With privacy issues roaming around, consumers are also wary about giving out too much information. Perhaps, collecting more data from your customers can benefit your marketing team. But those on the other end of the screen will find it aggravating.
Strong Landing Page
Website users visit your site to find answers to their concerns. A well-crafted landing page can address their issues effectively, converting them from visitors to customers. But there are qualities of a strong landing page you should keep in mind.
- Understand how your visitors might feel and find a solution to address their problem.
- Create a picture (text of image) of your visitors’ concerns.
- Introduce your product or service as the right solution.
- Write descriptive and detailed information about your product or service.
- Don’t forget to highlight your solutions in bold or in any way possible.
- Give them a glimpse of what to expect with the results.
- Place a strong and visible call-to-action near your content.
Especially for e-commerce websites, getting a landing page for each service can gain more sales. Make sure to tailor all content and photos to a single call-to-action. You can also design a landing page for a particular target audience. With this, users who search your product get redirected to a page dedicated to their concerns and perspectives.
Logical Organization
Most users find your website by choice. They do not just stumble suddenly on your page. This means they are searching for answers, solutions, or something that addresses their problems. Thus, your website should present clear content detailing your expertise arranged logically.
To avoid disorganization, group your content into categories. You may add navigation bars that contain more specific information about your product or service. Hierarchical content order may also work on your site. Introduce your specializations with broad content and add a button linked to a more specific page. That page should discuss what you offer in a more in-depth manner.
Internal links on your website show Google how your content pages relate to one another. On a particular page, you can also add links to help users move freely throughout your material. Furthermore, establish a clear sitemap that organizes all your website pages. A sitemap helps Google understand your site’s structure, which helps in indexing your website in their system.
Ease of Navigation
The essence of navigation does not only lie on the users’ convenience but also on Google’s. Website users should be able to move around your site easily without confusion. Your navigation system helps your site on many levels.
For one, Google sends spiders to read websites. These algorithmic spiders consider, apparently, the ease of navigation when ranking sites. Poor navigation can make it hard for Google to understand the value of your website.
For consumers, navigation has an impact on the quality of their experience. If they find it challenging to move around your website, they’ll most likely turn away. Remember that there are billions of websites out there. As long as they don’t find what they need on your site, they’ll shop somewhere else.
Sticky Navigation
Our last tip may get a little tricky. Sticky navigation bars provide ultimate ease of use for desktop users. However, mobile users may find a slightly different experience.
According to a study, a sticky menu is 22% faster to navigate and offers 36 seconds less in a five-minute visit. A separate analysis had found that sticky navigation boosts e-commerce sales by 3%.
While the sticky navigation seems to improve the user experience, this may not be applicable to all devices. A sticky menu on mobile phones takes much space. Thus, you might need to work with professional programmers to add a hamburger menu for mobile users.
Conclusion
Ranking high on Google or crafting high-quality content may not be enough to boost sales. According to Microsoft, the human attention span is about eight (8) seconds. As such, you have less than ten (10) seconds to impress your website visitors.
People scan through web content that looks pleasing. But you never want your audience to get stuck on a first impression. The ideal website should persuade visitors to explore the site and take immediate action (conversion).
What Proweaver Offers to Businesses Like Yours
For over a decade, Proweaver has helped uncountable small and mid-sized businesses grow. Through strategic digital marketing and custom website design solutions, your brand gets the right exposure it needs. Our team of hundreds of professionals encompasses web developers, designers, SEO experts, content writers, and SMM specialists.
Whether for your business, personal blogs, and other ventures, Proweaver guarantees the value and quality of your website. Give us a call at +1 (866) 777-8315 to speak with our representatives!
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