With the online space only feeling increasingly cluttered with new websites and businesses popping up daily, curating a website which both reflects your brand and reaches your clientele can feel like a daunting task. An effective website can encapsulate everything that’s unique about your business and put your ideas in front of the right people, so it’s worth taking the time to consider every aspect of the webpage which dictates an individual’s first impressions of your brand.
In this article, we will break down five key things you should be considering when designing or developing your website in order to gain traction and convert initial clicks into interaction.
Clear Content
Most of us are aware that a website only has seven seconds to hold our interest from when we first find ourselves on the homepage. Therefore, it is crucial that your viewers do not have to work hard to find out about your brand.
To you, who may have lived and breathed this passion project or business for many years, it may be easy to overlook the fact that your ideas may be entirely novel for some, and so a clear description of your brand, services or ideas somewhere on the front page of the website can prevent people from clicking off due to confusion or frustration.
Having an outline of your perspective or business values will also help people to find your website. Search Engine Optimization is taken seriously by many with successful web pages, so consider what key words or phrases you associate with your brand and include them within the text on your website to gain attention from people looking for brands like yours.
Creative Visuals and Aesthetics
Likewise, with so much competition between web pages online, using high quality images and videos is an essential cornerstone in modern web design. Pixellated, stock images are not going to create the impression of a credible brand, so when building or developing your web page, consider whether the images or videos are outdated and whether they truly reflect your message.
Similarly, if you are not using videos in your web design yet, this can add a touch of dynamism and personality, plus it is a great way to get viewers absorbed in your ideas without having to read and click around your site themselves.
Responsive Web Design
Responsive website design can take many forms, but in order for your website design to perform in the modern world, you must check that your web design still functions for users on mobile as well as on a laptop or desktop.
After the hours spent perfecting your product or service, it is frustrating to not see clicks turn into action simply because the page is difficult to navigate on mobile. Thesedays, people are browsing on their phones while on transport, in bed, and while on their lunch break – less at a desk than ever. Take the time to check that the text is still clear, links remain clickable and pictures and images remain in suitable places in this different format to ensure your mobile web design is no reason to put people off connecting with the page.
Ease of Navigation
Following on from this, sometimes, clear and simple is best. Provide a few labelled pages on your website and check that they are all full of correct, up to date information and that all links take viewers to exactly where they should.
If you are uncertain about the background mechanics of this, it may be worth consulting with experts in this field. A website that is tricky to navigate could be holding back your entire brand unnecessarily.
Call to Action
Lastly, a successful web page will always offer a call to action to viewers of the site. Your site should have a clear purpose and goal, and for those interested, contact details and next steps should be made easily accessible to guarantee that viewers do not feel like they’re working hard to get in touch with you.
Maximise your interactions by eradicating this burden; provide updated phone numbers, emails and links to get people in touch.
Final Thoughts
Looking into these five aspects of your web design can help you to reconsider your page with a critical eye and reshape your online space. After all, there may just be one issue preventing your web page from reaching its full potential online.
Checking your website frequently to ensure that its navigation is as smooth as possible is key, and sometimes, speaking to an expert about the aesthetics or the technical aspects of your web page can be transformative if you feel as though your skills are limiting your brand from expanding.
