94% get their first impression of a business based on its website design and 38% of people will stop browsing if a site is unattractive. These numbers demonstrate how important design is to a business’s website. Many companies are still hesitant to pay for professional website design services because they find it’s unnecessary. These people still fail to understand that in 2021, your website is just as important, if not more than, your physical store.
Your store is limited to the people in your area. However, your website can be reached by anyone in the world. Additionally, people are shifting more towards the online sphere for all their shopping, news, and entertainment, so if you want to keep your business afloat, you need to stabilize your online presence. One way you can do that is to invest in a professional web design company to maximize your revenue, improve your brand reputation, and expand your consumer base.
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What to do to improve website design
1. Adopt an organized and intuitive layout
Your layout impacts user experience in a big way. For one, it determines the order they receive information. Remember that readers tend to go left to right, up to down, so when you’re arranging the site wireframe, important elements should be placed accordingly, like your logo being on the top left corner of the navigation bar being on the left or upper part of the screen.
For two, site layout determines readability. Your site layout should also include proper margins, spacing, and placement of white space. Some business owners may think white space is a waste of real estate, but these blank areas give users a chance to rest and give your site a more balanced look. Jam-packing too many features and information on your webpage will only give users a poor experience and discourage them from browsing.
2. Use the right color palette
As tempting as it is to use all your favorite colors, using too many will leave your site looking unprofessional and garish. Studies show that color has a significant influence on the human psyche and can affect how we interpret messages and what emotions are invoked when we see something. For example, red is generally associated with hunger and impulsiveness while blue is associated with serenity and trustworthiness. Knowing how people perceive color will help you pick the right one to represent your brand.
Typically, websites adopt a triadic color scheme, consisting of three colors:
- The primary color. Your primary color should be the dominant color in your brand logo, as this is the color typically associated with your brand. This color will typically be assigned to major site elements like navigation bars, headlines, icons, etc.
- The secondary color.This secondary color can be one of the less prominent colors in your logo or a color that complements your primary color. This is used to highlight other site elements that aren’t as important like subheadings, active menu items or buttons, text dividers, etc.
- The neutral colors.The neutral colors generally comprise white and black, or grays and creams. These are useful for text and background to balance from the elements emphasized by the primary and secondary colors.
If you’re not confident in your ability to pick the right colors for your website, a web design company can offer advice on which colors go well together and what colors are best for the message your company wants to convey.
3. Keep visual hierarchy in mind
An average user has an attention span of 8 seconds. That’s how long you have to convince them to continue browsing your website, and one of the easiest ways you can maintain user attention is through visual hierarchy as per Toronto SEO company. This design principle uses design elements like size, color, placement, etc. to display content interestingly and effectively. Through visual hierarchy, you can direct users’ eyes exactly where you want them to go. Highlight important site elements by making them larger, using a different font style, or placing them in prominent parts of the screen.
Visual hierarchy is about balance. When there are large site elements, others should be small to avoid stealing the attention. If links are represented by a bright red font color, the rest of the paragraph should be a neutral color to emphasize the difference. This balance keeps your site from looking overwhelming and confusing.
4. Ensure a smooth and functional navigation
The longer users spend on your site, the higher the chances of conversion. If you want your users to thoroughly explore your website, you need to give them an uninterrupted and seemingly endless browsing experience. Keep them interested by recommending related products or articles for further reading. Ensure that all your pages load quickly to avoid users abandoning the site. Sometimes, when you change domain names or delete web pages, links can lead to error pages, and if you don’t fix these links as soon as possible, they can create poor user experience. To avoid this, audit your site regularly to spot any malfunctioning links.
5. Implement responsive design
There are various devices that people can use to access your website, and review response service design guarantees that your site will display as it should regardless of the device it’s being viewed on. These services often include design changes to your website to improve mobile browsing experience like spacing links farther away to make it easier for users to press specific links with their fingers. They can also develop a mobile version of your site to cater to mobile users exclusively.
Remember that good design is subjective, and that while there are general rules to design, in the end, your web design should reflect your business. If you want to present yourself as fun and quirky, drop the trendy minimalism design and go with something more spontaneous and creative. By working with the right web design company, you’ll surely get a website that represents your brand. You should also note that your site is for your users, not you, so even if you’re personally happy with the design, you should still gather data on user response to gauge their feedback.