The Dos and Don’ts of Effective Website Design

The typical business wants their website design to translate into one thing: increased sales. But in order to improve the success of your business, you need an experienced website design company to create and maintain your site. In the end, not all web design options are created equal. There are some tactics that may simply be outdated or may even harm your business. It’s always recommended that you use a reputable service for your custom web development needs, but before you dive in, it’s important to be familiar with some dos and don’ts for effective website design.
Do…

• • Make it easy to read
    Amateur designers may think that a page needs to be eye-catching and filled with bright colors, interesting fonts, or flashy graphics in order to make an impression. The trouble is, these features will usually make the wrong kind of impression. Make sure your website is aesthetically appealing without being overwhelming, and above all, make sure it’s easy to read. If visitors can’t read your content, then what’s the point?

• • Direct the flow for your visitors
    You can help make your site much easier to navigate by highlighting what’s important. One way to do this is by directing visitor flow and focus. You may envision a visitor lapping up every word you write, but the reality is that the vast majority won’t take the time to do so. In fact, most of your visitors won’t even scan a page in a linear way. You need to capture their attention in a short time and direct them towards what’s most important.

• Get rid of outdated features
  Long gone are the days when visitor counters and unique mouse cursors were acceptable. Unless it’s an ironic element of your brand, these features look terribly out of touch and amateurish. If your website looks like it could have been built using GeoCities, it needs a complete overhaul — and fast! We can help you decide on web design options you like that express total professionalism.

Don’t…

• • Try to fool search engines
    If you try to pull one over on Google, you’ll lose every time. Some webmasters used to use methods that were frowned upon while building sites in order to get higher rankings. Keyword stuffing and invisible text may have had moderate success in the past, but in recent years, search engines have cracked down on these tactics. If you use them now, your site will be penalized harshly. If you want to get high rankings, you need to do it in an honorable way: namely, make sure your site is easy to navigate and that you’re consistently producing valuable content.

• • Make your visitors wait
    Research has shown that 40% of people will abandon a web page if it takes more than three seconds to load. Three seconds! That might seem like a tiny amount of time, but it means everything in the world for your site. Don’t take a long time to introduce your company. Make everything concise and eliminate features that bog down your site loading time. If you consistently experience long wait times for your site, you may need to consider switching hosts. We can provide you with web design options that will load quickly and will please your visitors, rather than frustrate them.

• Overdo it
  If all else fails, keep things simple and streamlined. Clean, clear web design and copy will go a long way in visitor satisfaction. Don’t fill your web pages with ads or too much text. Of course, you want to give enough information so that potential clients can feel comfortable doing business with you, but it’s not a good idea to go crazy with long-winded copy or an overwhelming design.

Whatever your vision for your site, we can make it happen. We have a variety of web design options to choose from that will communicate the message you want to send. And as experts in our field, we’ll ensure your website loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and will result in more traffic and sales for your organization. For more info, get in touch with us today!