In todayโs global marketplace, it is not favorable to have a weak online presence. To truly capitalize the opportunity and build an optimized digital experience, a well-structured website is a must. We can find thousands of business websites which lack in terms of functionality and visual appearance.
Why do businesses need a spot on websites with incredible capabilities to attract and retain tech-savvy customers? Because it hardly possible to get a second chance to make the first expression. That's why your website is one of the most critical parts of your online marketing efforts.
For any progressive company, a site acts like its virtual front door. If people don't like what they experience, they will hit the exit button and never get back. This is ironic but still true that people still use to judge a book by its cover. If the appearance of your web presence is off-putting, you are unlikely to achieve the desired results.
A good business site never fails to drive traffic and conversion. To achieve your business goals, you need a website equipped with engaging, dynamic user experience. A good user experience is definitely something beyond eye-catching graphics. You must understand the principles of good website design.
Everything in a web design, from visuals to navigation, must be meaningful. If you want to redesign an existing website, audit various elements on your site and focus on what is necessary. If you are looking to design a brand new site for your business, use wireframes and sitemaps to prioritize tasks.
Itโs time to understand what kind of design practices help create high-converting, effective business websites. ย Here are 10 simple steps to follow:
1. Switch to responsive web design
According to Statista, 51.12 % of global web traffic originated from mobile devices, up from 48.33 percent in the corresponding quarter of the year 2017. You are likely to lose that 51% of the traffic if your web design does not look great on devices with varying resolutions.
Once you adopt a responsive design, it will allow your site to adjust automatically based on the screen size of a user. ย Responsive design is also advantageous when it comes to search rankings. On top of that, you don't need to build two separate sites for desktop and mobile devices.
2. Think from conversion perspective
As mentioned earlier, design goes beyond aesthetics. Everybody loves the stunning visual appearance. However, as a designer, you must also think from a conversion rate optimization perspective. People look for quick and easy solutions. They do not always admire the facade. Let your design help your audience find whatever they are looking for.
A successful business site understands the needs and preferences of its users. The conversion potential of your site is an integral component of the design. Conversion-driven sites turn casual visitors into paying, loyal customers.
3. Use white space effectively
Your business website should not look like a newspaper. One of the most important properties of a modern web design is the effective use of whitespace. It is not a good approach to stuff your design with so many distractions. Whitespace around images, CTA buttons, text, and every other element can create an incredible impression and make things easier for users.
4. Pay attention to typography
Videos and amazing graphics may win most of the attention online. The reality is that most of the content on the web is text-based. This means a siteโs typography can go a long way. Good typography makes it effortless to read the text while bad typography can annoy users leading to poor conversion. This is why it is said that web design is 95% typography.
It is the job of a web designer to be well-versed on the main discipline of shaping information. If you are thinking to build a website for your business, make sure to optimize typography to improve readability and legibility of your text-based content.
5. Follow Hickโs Law
The law explains that the time it takes for a person to make a decision is directly proportional to the number of available choices. ย Which means more the choices, more time a user will take to make a decision. This law clearly applies to web design.
You can boost conversion rate by eliminating unnecessary choices, making it super easy for your audience to complete a conversion process. Do not bombard your audience with too many distractions and links. When applying Hickโs Law to your web design, find out which actions are the most crucial for your bottom line.
6. Apply 8-second rule
While designing a business site, make sure you understand how much time do you have to get a visitorโs attention. The 8-second rule refers to the attention span of humans. What can you do to impress a visitor within 8 seconds or less?
Use purposeful images to convey your message and drive users to your main call-to-action. Large sign-up buttons, catchy headlines, multimedia, and hover effect are some of the great tools that you can use to grab the attention immediately.
7. Use faces
It is natural that when we see a face, we are driven to feel something about that person. A considerate use of faces can make visitors feel connected. Using faces in landing pages, opt-in pages, case studies, articles, etc. can boost conversion.
Itโs great if you are the face of your brand. If not, you can use stock photos or hire models for your brand. Make sure the faces you select clearly represent the voice of your brand so that users can relate to that face.
8. Have fun
Leaving lasting impressions on visitors is the primary goal of a good business website. To make a good impression on visitors, you need to add a fun factor to your design. Enjoyable experiences are likely to turn into memorable experiences. Adding fun to your design does not mean you have to add silly things. A site can be professional and fun at the same time. All you have to do is identify the mundane elements and replace them with more lively ones.
9. Add less, be effective
Your design can be perfect when there is nothing left to take away. It is advisable to resist the temptation of adding more stuff. Clients always want to add more information to their site but there must be a limit. Too much information can be off-putting; additions add clutter instead of clarity. Therefore, pay more attention to what you can remove and be more effective in terms of conversion.
10. Build logical layouts
A visitor on your site must be able to go from one idea to the next with great ease. One of the simple ways to make it happen is to ensure your layouts adhere to human reading patterns. F-layout is the ideal concept to understand human interaction with a web page. You will experience a considerable improvement in conversion when your design let users take actions in natural, frictionless manner.
With these tips, I am sure you will be able to design a high converting website for your brand. Let us know what you want to improve in your website design.
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