When building a website, it can be easy to focus on the content and forget the other elements contributing to its design. A good website design is an integral part of your overall strategy for digital marketing success. It can help people find your site, keep them engaged for longer periods, and ultimately make it easier for them to convert into customers. But there are many different types of websites out there (and more than one way to build one), so where do you start? Here are 18 tips from some of my favorite UX professionals that will help you create a winningly simple site:
1. Simplicity
One of the most important rules to keep in mind when designing your company’s website is to keep it simple. This means using a basic design, making your site easy to navigate and making it easy to read and understand.
If you’re trying too hard with graphics, animation, etc., chances are visitors will be confused by the content you’ve provided on your site. If the design gets in the way of someone being able to find what they’re looking for quickly, chances are they won’t stay very long!
2. Make it about your visitors, not about you
To make your website about your visitors, not about you, you need to take a step back and ask yourself what they want from it. For example, if you’re a real estate agent, then the most important aspect of your site should be helping people find homes in their area. Your job isn’t just to tell potential clients why they should use your services. It’s also to show them how they can benefit from doing so. Then you should provide an easy way for those people to contact you if they want help buying or selling a property.
So how can this be done? One way is by showing testimonials. Whether these are written reviews or personal letters, they’ll help convince people that others have had success working with you. You could also include videos demonstrating how your business works and explaining why customers should choose yours. But remember not necessarily focus on yourself as much as on what benefits consumers will gain when working with them instead!
Also read: Fascinating Web Design Agency Strategies That Will Help Your Company Grow
3. Visual consistency
Consistency is important. It helps build trust and credibility, which are vital for any business. Consistency makes it easier for users to understand what they are looking at and allows them to navigate your site more easily.
4. Experiment with the layout to show off your best content
The layout of your website is the first thing that visitors will see. It can make a big difference in how they feel about your site, so it’s important to choose wisely.
Depending on your content type, you can use many different layouts; some may be better than others. For example, if you have a lot of images and videos, then maybe try an image-heavy layout with lots of white space around them. On the other hand, if you’re selling products, then perhaps try a more traditional layout with lots of text and small images for each product, along with buttons.
The best way to figure out what kind of layout will work best is by experimenting! Try different things until something clicks with your audience because once they’re hooked, they’ll come back again and again!
5. Minimize clutter and maximize white space
It’s like the old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Pictures and graphics can add visual interest to your website and serve a crucial content-organizing purpose. Combining them with text can break up long blocks of text and make it easier for users to scan through your page.
Images are also helpful in conveying information visually. For example, if you’re trying to explain how something works or what it looks like from different angles. Finally, images showing off your products or services can help users understand what you offer better than just reading about it alone.
6. Use colors that complement each other
You don’t have to be a color theorist or graphic designer to choose the perfect color for your company’s logo. Colors work magic together when paired correctly, so you only need a little knowledge about how colors relate.
Here are some tips:
- Use complementary colors from opposite sides of the color wheel (yellow and purple, red and green). The contrast will stand out in the viewer’s mind, making it easier for them to remember your brand.
- Use analogous colors (next to each other on the color wheel), which blend pleasantly without appearing different.
7. Create a clear hierarchy of information
Here are a few tips for creating a clear hierarchy of information:
- Use headings and subheadings to create a clear order of information.
- Use bullet points to give your website’s content some punch.
- White space can be used to separate sections on the page, so use it wisely!
8. Use visuals, but keep them consistent
The more visuals you use, the better.
- Visuals help to add value and clarity to your message. Use them whenever possible – it’s a good idea to start with a few different visuals before you begin writing anything else.
- Be consistent with your brand’s visual style—if you’re going for something hip and modern, use lots of photos of people engaged in their work. If you’re going for something more traditional or corporate-looking, stick with simple graphs and charts. They don’t distract from the text but still communicate key points effectively.
- Don’t overload your website with too many photos. If too many photos or other graphics are on one page (like an About Us page), it can be overwhelming for users who need to pay more attention. Because they’re scanning through quickly, looking for answers about services offered or prices charged!
9. Put your form at the top of the page
A form is a quick and easy way to let people contact you. Make it simple for them to submit a message, or request a quote or appointment. You can also use forms to collect data about your visitors, such as their names and email addresses.
Whether you want feedback on your site’s design, information about how they found you online, or want to add new customers quickly, the more information users enter into the form fields, the better!
If your business has multiple locations with different contact numbers/email addresses/etc., make sure these are clear. So that people can easily contact someone who can help them right away.
10. Keep it simple, even in navigation
A simple navigation bar is a key to a simple website. Don’t make your users hunt around for something as basic as the contact page because you’ll lose them. You don’t want them to have to click through multiple layers of submenus to find that “Contact Us” link at the bottom of your homepage. Instead, keep it simple:
- Keep your navigation menu short and sweet by consolidating pages into tabs or drop-down menus if needed. But keep those tabs and drop-downs uncluttered.
- Make sure every link in your main navigation bar is clear about where it will take you. No one likes getting lost on the website!
- Remember that once people land on one page of your site, they’ll probably want an easy way back home. That don’t want to scroll through all those links again (and remember what each one takes them). So don’t bury any important links within other menus or callouts—keep everything up front and center where even a new user can find it easily
11. Make sure it works on mobile devices
You must make sure your website design is mobile-optimized. That’s because more and more people are using smartphones and tablets to browse the internet, whether at home or in public. And if your website isn’t optimized for mobile use, you’ll lose potential customers.
Mobile-friendly websites have a leg up on desktop designs when it comes to engagement. Research shows that they receive an average of 68% more visits than their non-optimized counterparts! Mobile users are twice as likely to buy something online after visiting a site on their phone or tablet (50% vs. 25%). And they’re also twice as likely to share content with friends via social media — meaning they may be influencing those who see those posts!
Also read: Simple Tips to Reform Your Website Design and Enjoy High Bounce Rate!
12. Use high-quality images, graphics, and videos
If you want to make your website stand out, consider using high-quality images, graphics, and videos. This is important because it is essential to building trust with your potential clients.
However, you don’t want to overdo it when adding these elements to your site. Or else it will become too cluttered and confusing for potential customers. Try not to use more than three or four images per page; any more would make the content difficult for visitors to read and understand.
Graphics such as charts can also be used effectively in place of text on certain pages where there needs to be more room available for detailed explanations of how something works without being too wordy (i..e., information about how specific products work). They can be helpful when breaking text into smaller chunks, making reading easier. While it will still convey important information needed by customers who may have questions before making purchases online.
13. Embed social media buttons and encourage sharing
Embedding social media buttons on your website is an excellent way to get more traffic, but it’s not just about getting the button on the page. If you want people to use them, you have to make them accessible for visitors to find and use.
Let’s say I’m visiting a site, and I see a “share” button that looks like this:
My first thought is: Why would I share this content with anyone? It doesn’t look like someone has already shared it; there are no comments or anything. There needs to be an email address or contact form! I don’t want to be the first person to share this content and have no way of knowing whether any other people will see it. If I was going to share this on Facebook, I would need more information than just a button.
14. Don’t forget to optimize for search
There are two ways to optimize the searchability of your site. The first is to ensure that it’s easy to find in the first place. The second is to make sure that Google knows what you’re selling.
To get started, create a list of relevant keywords and phrases for your business and industry. This will help you determine which words should be used in titles, headlines, or meta descriptions on each page of your site. A keyword-rich description meta tag is also important for SEO purposes.
Use this tag to include a brief description of what can be found on each site page. So that Google knows what’s there when users search for information related to specifically (but not exclusively) related topics that relate directly back to user intent. That means more traffic will come organically through search engines.
15. Use links to keep readers engaged for longer periods of time (and increase pageviews)
You should use links to keep readers engaged for longer periods of time.
They increase pageviews, which means your company will make more money by having a well-designed website.
You can use links to direct readers to other articles or pages within the website, or you can direct them to different websites altogether!
Also read: Double your Website Conversion Rate
16. Add personality to build trust and credibility; be human, not robotic!
You’ll want to add a little personality to build trust and credibility. Your website is your first impression, so make it count!
- Use humor in your copy
- Be consistent with your voice
- Be human, not robotic!
You are the company. So talk about yourself as if you were talking about a friend or family member: “I have this problem”, “We have this solution.” If something goes wrong with one of our products or services, we should say something like “Sorry that happened” instead of “We apologize…”. Also, use personal pronouns like ‘you’ and ‘we’, as well as active voice when possible (e.g., ‘We do X’ rather than ‘X is done by us’).
17. Continue to tweak and test over time to improve conversions (and consider A/B testing)
There’s a beautiful thing about the internet: it allows you to test your web pages and make changes in real time. It’s like having a window into your visitors’ heads! If you have ever used Google Analytics, this is exactly what it does.
If you make changes to a page on your website and want to know if they made any difference, then A/B testing can help you see any improvements or differences in conversion rates. This testing is beneficial for landing page and other key pages needing improvement, such as contact forms and sales funnels.
18. Make the design work for your business goals and objectives–not vice versa!
Do you want people to subscribe? Download a guide? Follow you on social media?
Once the design process is down, it’s time to develop a strategy. Your website needs to be focused on your business goals and objectives–not vice versa! (Do you want people to subscribe? Download a guide? Follow you on social media?) A well-defined strategy will help you create an impactful and engaging website that provides value for visitors and helps achieve your goals.
Conclusion
These are only some tips to help you start your website design journey. There’s so much more info out there, but this should give you a good start! If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of website design, check out our blog posts for even more information.
