Websites are one of the most important assets of a business. Having a credible, professional and engaging online presence requires work and patience.
A good website grabs your attention, wakes up your emotions, and gives you easily what you need. Here are some very important things you should consider when building a website for your business.
Why to have Good Website?
It sets the first impression
It aids your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy
It sets the impression for customer service
It builds trust with your audience
Your competitors are doing it
It creates consistency
How to make good Website Design:
1. PURPOSE
Your website needs to accommodate the needs of the user. Having a simple clear intention on all pages will help the user interact with what you have to offer. What is the purpose of your website? Are you imparting practical information like a ‘How to guide’? Is it an entertainment website like sports coverage or are you selling a product to the user? There are many different purposes that websites may have but there are core purposes common to all websites;
Describing Expertise
Building Your Reputation
Generating Leads
Sales and After Care
2. SIMPLICITY
Simplicity is the best way to go when considering the user experience and the usability of your website.
Below are ways to achieve simplicity through design.
Color - Color has the power to communicate messages and evoke emotional responses. Finding a color palette that fits your brand will allow you to influence your customer’s behaviour towards your brand. Keep the color selection limited to less than 5 colours. Complementary colours work very well. Pleasing color combinations increase customer engagement and make the user feel good.
Type - Typography has an important role to play on your website. It commands attention and works as the visual interpretation of the brand voice. Typefaces should be legible and only use a maximum of 3 different fonts on the website.
Imagery - Imagery is every visual aspect used within communications. This includes still photography, illustration, video and all forms of graphics. All imagery should be expressive and capture the spirit of the company and act as the embodiment of their brand personality. Most of the initial information we consume on websites is visual and as a first impression, it is important that high-quality images are used to form an impression of professionalism and credibility in the visitors’ minds.
3. NAVIGATION
Navigation is the wayfinding system used on websites where visitors interact and find what they are looking for. Website navigation is key to retaining visitors. If the website navigation is confusing visitors will give up and find what they need elsewhere. Keeping navigation simple, intuitive and consistent on every page is key.
4. F-SHAPED PATTERN READING
The F- based pattern is the most common way visitors scan text on a website. Eye-tracking studies have found that most of what people see is in the top and left areas of the screen. The F shaped layout mimics our natural pattern of reading in the West (left to right and top to bottom). An effectively designed website will work with a reader’s natural pattern of scanning the page.
5. VISUAL HIERARCHY
Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of elements in order of importance. This is done either by size, colour, imagery, contrast, typography, whitespace, texture and style. One of the most important functions of visual hierarchy is to establish a focal point; this shows visitors where the most important information is.
6. WEB CONTENT
An effective website has both great design and great content. Using compelling language great content can attract and influence visitors by converting them into customers.
7. GRID LAYOUT
Grids help to structure your design and keep your content organised. The grid helps to align elements on the page and keep it clean. The grid-based layout arranges content into a clean rigid grid structure with columns, sections that line up and feel balanced and impose order and results in an aesthetically pleasing website.
8. LOAD TIME
Waiting for a website to load will lose visitors. Nearly half of web visitors expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less and they will potentially leave a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds. Optimizing image sizes will help load your site faster.
9. MOBILE FRIENDLY
Many people are using their phones or other devices to browse the web. It is important to consider building your website with a responsive layout where your website can adjust to different screens.
10. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
When people are looking for information online, they go to search engines, especially Google. Usually, they find what they are looking for on the first page of the search results, so that is where you want your company to appear. Google and other search engines have their own proprietary algorithms that they use to rank sites for search terms, also called keywords. Search engines use three ways to determine where your listing appears: crawling, indexing and ranking. Crawling means that they find your site through links from other sites. So, make sure that links to your site appear on as many outside websites as possible.
The Tech Platform