5 website design tips to guide you in creating an effective website
Your website is always around to interact with your audience (even when you are not), so it is essential that you are intentional when designing it. Below, see five website design tips to guide you in creating an effective website…
Be consistent
Pick your design elements (colors, fonts, etc.) and stick to them; look as put together as you are. Potential clients need to feel confident that you will be able to help them and, and in order for this to happen, you need to showcase why you are worthy of their trust.
Create a seamless experience
Make it easy to navigate throughout the website; it should be designed in a way that aligns with users’ natural intuition. Do not overcomplicate things; sometimes simpler is better. You do not want to lose a potential customer because they could not and/or did not want to take the time to figure out how to navigate your unnecessarily confusing website. Make the most important information the focal points of the pages and create a positive experience that entices them to return in the future.
In a previous blog post, Conducting User Interviews (+ 10 Non-Leading Questions for Website Feedback), we developed a list of 10 sample questions you can ask to get feedback on your website through a user interview. The goal of these questions is to garner a deeper understanding of the user experience and provide you with additional insights regarding the desirability of the website from a user’s perspective. If you would find this useful, you can find the blog through the link below!
https://www.enticedge.com/blog/conducting-user-interviews
Be intentional about which images and graphics you include
It is important to include images and graphics, but do so for a purpose. Avoid sticking random images throughout your website just to beef up the pages. If used properly, graphics can really help to elevate your site, but you do not want them to get drowned out by those that serve no purpose.
If you are using stock images, find a selection that is cohesive but not too similar to one another that they fail to add value. Oftentimes, though, you can offer more to users by creating custom graphics as opposed to using stock images; they can be made to perfectly coincide with the pages of your website and include information specific to your brand. If you do, however, have to use stock images, pay attention to the temperature and lighting of the images so that they feel like they’re from the same family – rather than using a very warm tinted photo next to a very cool tinted photo, or animated images next to live images, etc.
Implement calls to action
This one is simple. If you want users to do a certain thing, make that action clear and easy to find. Calls to action should be in obvious places, those that users would naturally come across while perusing the website.
Some of our top tips for strong calls to action are:
Pay attention to the design and the copy. Try to draw users in with an enticing call to action on your button or link, rather than just “get started” or “continue.”
Make sure that there is an effective user journey to each call to action, and afterwards. What designs and copy precede the call to action? Are they reinforcing your ask of the user? On the flip side, what’s the journey after the user clicks on your call to action? Where do they go? Is there a follow-up even after they leave your site?
Buttons and links that direct users to the same place should have the same copy. You want to do what you can to eliminate the potential for any confusion.
Make your website a reflection of you (or your brand)
Let your voice be heard through the pages; be who you are in your designs and the messages you put forth. As cheesy as it sounds, nobody is you and that is your power. Advertise why you are different to separate yourself (or your brand) from the crowd. What can you offer that others cannot? Be yourself; do not be afraid to make a statement!
Additionally, your socials and website should have the same feel. They should be sisters in terms of design, tone of voice, calls to action, etc. If users navigate to one from the other, you want the experience to be as fluid and frictionless as possible.
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