There are numerous factors to consider when creating a new website, from the design to ensure that it will be a useful tool for informing clients and generating leads. Our experts have put together a shortlist of the best web design tips for businesses that are building their first website or thinking about a redesign.
Web Design Tip #1: Don’t Forget, Your Website is an Extension of Your Brand
Before making a new website, you should decide on your brand’s colors, images, and messages. If you follow brand guidelines, your business will have a consistent look, and your style and tone should be used on other platforms, like your business’s social media accounts.
If you’re just getting started and don’t have a logo or brand guidelines, we suggest putting your logo and brand guidelines first. One of the most important aspects of a new website is branding, which will help your company stand out and be recognized by clients. Plus, you don’t want to have to redesign your website soon after it launches, so be sure you like your style and how it will connect with your target audience.
Branding and Web Design Do’s & Don’ts
- Do: Stick to a brand guide that tells you how your brand’s colors, images, and style should look.
- Don’t: Add colors and graphics that aren’t in line with the style and look of your brand.
- Do: For your website content and callouts, focus on a voice and message that aligns with your brand objectives and engages your audience.
- Don’t: Create information that is redundant, difficult to comprehend, or unrelated to your target audience.
- Do: Keep your website’s overall design and style professional and consistent.
- Don’t: Avoid using generic stock photos or content that has nothing to do with your brand.
Web Design Tip #2: Simplify and Organize Your Design to Optimize Performance
Every business wants to boost its earnings, so we tell clients to keep this goal in mind when making a landing page. There are two important things to consider while creating a new website, namely, writing that gets people’s attention and clear calls to action all over the site. You’ll also want to add certain crucial homepage features, such as one or two obvious call-to-action (CTA) items that direct consumers to do the appropriate next actions.
The homepage text should be straightforward and convincing. Tell them why you’re the solution to their problem and how they can reach you. Too many people think they need to tell customers everything about their product or service to win them over. However, this is not necessary for someone who is just starting to think about buying. If you give them too much information right away, they might not want to get in touch with you.
A good website’s layout and navigation should make it easy for users to find the content they want, not send them on a treasure hunt. Make your CTAs clear so the user knows exactly how to do what they need to do on their own, like buying something, making an appointment, or contacting you to find out more.
Do’s & Don’ts That Help You Earn More Leads
- Do: Set up the main navigation so that it shows the most important services and goals of your business.
- Don’t: Put ALL of your service options in the navigation, which could overwhelm or confuse the user.
- Do: Create areas of focus and a sense of hierarchy in your content by putting subcategories in subfolders under related parts of the website.
- Don’t: Try to put too much content and information on your pages all at once.
- Do: Set priorities for your objectives and establish various pathways or chances for users to convert.
- Don’t: Give the user too many CTA options, which could make the user’s path harder to follow. On the other hand, don’t count on having all of your key conversions in one place.
Web Design Tip #3: Keep Your Audience’s Interests and Customer Experience in Mind
One point that always surprises our clients is our insistence on finding their niche and narrowing your attention to a small segment of loyal customers. One should design their website keeping those users in mind. Why? Because websites can’t make everyone happy, you should focus on the customers who are most likely to buy.
By thinking like a customer and putting your audience first, you can make the user’s experience better and improve your brand’s reputation. Depending on what you sell or do, there are many things to think about for your new website that could make the customer’s journey easier. . For example, if you offer a home service that needs to be done quickly, like pest control or HVAC, you’ll want to reassure the customer that you’re qualified for the job and can be trusted in their home.
At AppleTech, before we start making your new website, we conduct a user experience audit that takes all of these ideas and more into account. With UX research or user experience research, you’ll be able to better serve your customers by making a website that’s tailored to their needs.
Do’s & Don’ts for a Better User Experience
- Do: When designing your new website, keep your most loyal clients in mind.
- Don’t: Make a website that tries to please everyone. Most of the time, this won’t get anyone’s attention.
- Do: Describe your services in a manner that gives a helpful solution for the user.
- Don’t: Spend too much time trying to oversell or get too technical and lost in your processes.
- Do: Show the user how to take the next step or encourage them to do something you want them to do.
- Don’t: Assume that someone who just found your site will know how to use it best.
Web Design Tip #4: Mobile Compatibility Should Be the Priority
Your website has to be mobile-friendly! Mobile usability should be a key concern when picking a web design and development business to work with. Creating website layouts for multiple devices may need more web development, quality assurance testing before launch, and other considerations for your new website upfront, but it will be worth it in the long run. People are spending more and more time on their smartphones, and if your website isn’t mobile-friendly or simple to use, they’ll soon find another company that can provide them with what they need on their preferred device. For mobile success, follow our responsive site design tips below.
Responsive Web Design Do’s & Don’ts
- Do: Put the user’s tasks in order of importance based on how they use the site. You won’t be able to show as much in a smaller space, so the most important information and calls to action should go first.
- Don’t: Assume that the user experience is uniform across all devices and that they will be able to discover what they need without your assistance.
- Do: Change the size and function of interactive elements so they can be used on smaller devices. For example, you could cut down the size of buttons or add a small hamburger menu.
- Don’t: Accept a mobile-friendly design or a non-responsive website that requires users to manually adapt on smaller devices.
Web Design Tip #5: Take Steps to Ensure That Your Website Appears In Search Results.
When we create new website designs, one of the most important things we tell people to think about is search engine optimization (SEO). Your website should be optimized for search results. After spending time, money, and effort on a new website design, you’ll want as many people as possible to see it.
We understand the fact that not all businesses have the money to fully invest in a professional SEO strategy and implementation, but one shouldn’t overlook the same. Purposeful keywords, an internal linking strategy, and compelling content are three SEO elements to consider for your new website to improve your ranking prospects. Using these basic SEO best practices can help your business show up in search engine results.
Web Design Do’s & Don’ts That Impact SEO
- Do: Conduct keyword research to determine what language people use to locate your company – oftentimes, individuals believe they know what keywords or phrases their target audience uses to find them, but the data may surprise you.
- Don’t: Make content without a plan and without thinking about what keywords or related topics your audience would find useful.
- Do: Make sure your website has long-form content that is useful to people who visit it.
- Don’t: Have irrelevant content or pages with almost no information. Search engines like pages with at least 500 words.
- Do: Spend money on SEO if you can. Best practices change all the time, and relying on professionals to do keyword research and write good content and schema can help your search rankings.
- Don’t: Ignore Google’s suggestions for search engine optimization that could help your site rank higher in search results.
Conclusion:
Let our web design and development experts show you how to make a website that works well for users and mobile devices. AppleTech offers flexible options for businesses that need help with their website support, market, and user research, and other aspects of the website launch process. Contact our team to see how we can help you elevate your next website and grow your business.
