Your corporate website plays a significant role in highlighting the online presence of your business because it is generally the first place where your audience interacts with your brand or product offerings.
According to Adobe’s research, 38 percent of people revealed that they will stop using a website if its content or layout is unattractive. Similarly, according to Jeff Torczon, Founder & CEO of InfinityHR, 94 percent of first impressions are related to your site’s web design.
This means that the design of your website can either make or break your business.
Apart from this, we are all well aware that the market’s landscape is getting competitive day by day. Thus you need to ensure a well-designed website for attracting your target audience.
So, if you are struggling with business growth in 2020, you definitely need a good website design that drives success.
Wondering what the must-have components of good website design are? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! We have curated a list of tried and tested website design principles that can help attract your audience and ensure high conversions.
#1 Ensure Readable Website Text
It is no secret that tiny details, including your website text, play a crucial role in enhancing your website’s overall look and feel. Think about it yourself!
Will you ever revisit a website where the font size is too small or too big, making your eyes uncomfortable? You won’t.
Similarly, the font size that you select for your website content should be easy to read and reflect your brand tone. For instance, for a classical or traditional appeal, you should select serif fonts. On the contrary, for an artistic look, handwritten fonts should be your go-to choice.
Apart from this, it is best to use a mix of 2-3 font types for your website’s text, but it is better to select different font types from the same font family.
#2 Optimize Your Website Speed
Research shows that your website speed impacts several factors, such as the bounce rate, user satisfaction, and lead conversion ratio. This means that your website load time affects the conversion rate considerably.
Do you know why? This is because a faster site means satisfied visitors and a better user experience, thus resulting in higher conversions.
The image below shows how the conversion rate decreases with an increased page load time. This means that you should pay attention to your website speed for ensuring an effective website design.
#3 Leverage the Power of Visuals
The use of relevant visuals, such as images and videos in your website content, can help grab your audience’s attention and convey your message in a meaningful way. Besides this, visuals allow you to tell your story effectively, thus improving your overall brand image.
Still not convinced? Here are a few visual marketing stats to make you believe that visuals are one of the most critical web design elements:
- According to Digital Apeel, 75 percent of people form their opinion regarding a website based on its aesthetics.
- A survey revealed that 68 percent of marketers identified visual content to be either essential or very important to their marketing strategies.
- According to a report by Cisco, 80 percent of all internet traffic will be video by 2020.
So, if you want to ensure a good website design, you should add the right set of visuals in your content. Below are some best practices that can assist you in using visuals in your web design the right way:
- Use pictures of humans to draw attention, but avoid stock photos for originality.
- You can point at essential things, such as a CTA (Call-to-Action) button using an arrow, for drawing attention towards main elements.
- Never underestimate the power of video content.
- Try not to use dull or blur images because they might turn your visitors away.
#4 Avoid Clutter
Previously, to streamline business operations, you were required to keep your files organized and sorted; however, this isn’t the case anymore. It is a known fact that in the digital era of today, a significant portion of sales comes from online sources. Consequently, you need to keep your website clutter-free.
Imagine that you are visiting a website overloaded with flash animations, auto-play videos, and pop-up ads. Will you be able to find what you’re looking for? Certainly not because of the unwanted information overload.
Therefore, the real question is, how do you eliminate clutter from your website? Here are a few simple yet amazing tricks that can help:
- Apply the golden rule, ‘less is more.’ Get rid of all unnecessary elements from your website.
- Ensure that your website has a clear hierarchy to help lead your website visitors to the information they are looking for.
- Do not go overboard with your color palette or font types. Otherwise, your visitors might get distracted.
- Don’t fill your website with text and organize it logically.
#5 Get a Professional Logo Designed
We often hear that your company’s logo is the centerpiece of your business as it reveals your identity, facilitates brand loyalty, and sets you apart from the competition.
All in all, it is imperative to note that a poorly made logo won’t serve this purpose. Instead, it might give a negative impression regarding your brand image. That being the case, if you want a logo for your company which reflects your brand’s values, you should consider hiring a reputable logo designer, like the logo design valley, that help create an affordable yet high-quality logo design for you.
#6 Add Social Share Buttons
When you visit a company’s website, you might have noticed social media share buttons either on the top or right side. Do you know why? This is because of the increased contribution of social media marketing platforms in establishing your brand image. Social share buttons help your audience share your website content on their social media, thus amplifying reach and enhancing brand identity.
If you want to ensure an effective website design, you should definitely incorporate social share buttons on your website’s home page. Besides this, it is essential to ensure that your social media buttons are prominent enough to catch the visitor’s attention. You can also customize the buttons to make them stand out.
Not sure which social share buttons to place? According to CoSchedule, below are some of the most used social buttons on the web.
#7 Ensure Seamless Navigation
If your target audience fails to find where the information required is present on your website, they might just leave altogether, thus resulting in increased bounce rates. Therefore, while designing your website, it is significant to remember that smooth navigation is key.
Not sure how to ensure seamless navigation for your website? Here are some effective tips that can help ensure smooth website navigation:
- Your website’s navigation should be consistent.
- One of the best practices is to link the company’s logo to the home page.
- It is best to reduce the number of clicks that the visitors need before reaching their destination page.
- You can avoid visitors from getting lost by placing the navigation bar either on the top or left side of the web pages.
- Make sure that the website links are descriptive so that the visitors are well aware of where they are heading.
The Bottom Line
By now, you have learned the tips and tricks of optimizing your website design for achieving business growth, but don’t forget that you can’t excel at it overnight. Impactful website design requires patience, creativity, and a lot of testing to figure out what is working and what’s not.
Last but the most important thing, you should always remember that the final goal of an ideal website design should be to provide a seamless user experience to visitors for skyrocketing conversions.
