Most of the businesses have clearly realized how crucial it is to have a sound online presence in a competitive environment where it is hard to win the battle for attention. The design, being a critical aspect of a business website, can either make or break your marketing efforts. A company which relies heavily on its online assets cannot afford to have a poorly designed website as it can lead to high bounce rate, low conversions, and low time on site.
First impression matters – whether it’s your employee greeting a new customer at the door or a potential customer landing on your site. A well-designed site can attract and convert a lot of customers and promote your business beyond limits.
What is a good website design?
Aesthetics and usability are two major factors that determine whether or not a website design is up to the required standard. It is the user who decides everything. This is primarily why brands now increasingly focus on building user-centric web experiences. Following are 5 of the important web design practices that will help you build a visually appealing and high converting website:
1. Keep it simple
Users want instant gratification and quick solutions without going through even a single pain point. In most of the cases, people are looking for the information rather than the design. It is recommended not to overcrowd your design with unnecessary content and visual elements so that a user can easily find whatever solutions you offer. When you prefer simplicity over complexity, this approach will drive you to eliminate barriers and build a wonderful user experience.
2. Make good use of whitespace
Simplicity and whitespace are two interconnected concepts in web designing. Just imagine how hard it would be for a user to process a web page which is completely filled with content and visuals. Complex structures are difficult to comprehend, scan, and analyze. It is advisable to use whitespace solution wherever you have the freedom to separate two design segments. Using whitespace to group elements together and break up layout will make your site more sophisticated and balanced.Apple makes a remarkable use of simplicity and whitespace, making users focus on its great products.
When it comes to designing a business website, whitespace is crucial from the aesthetic as well as conversion optimization standpoint. An effective use of whitespace will turn your site into a comprehensible, conversion-friendly, and easily navigable experience which encourages your users to convert. Therefore, do not be afraid of whitespace.
3. F-Pattern layout
When designing a web page, it’s important to consider how visitors are likely to view it. By understanding where users’ eye-gaze is likely to go, you can develop a better visual hierarchy and place important information such as CTAs and contact info in the best locations. Studies reveal that web surfers read digital screens in an F-shaped pattern – more focus on top, upper left and left side of the screen. The F-pattern layout works for it enables users to scan through content in a natural way.
4. Communicate effectively
Your business website is nothing but a platform where you communicate with your audience. It is important to organize your web design in terms of consistency, layout, and navigation. Consider simplicity, distinctiveness, clarity, and emphasis as your tools to create a website that can communicate information effectively. Typography, readability, symbolism, and creativity are also important tools that you must use to build a highly profitable site.
5. Pay attention to visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy plays a critical role in building conversion-focused websites. It is about how we use colors, size, font, texture, alignment, etc. as tools to organize information in terms of significance. Certain elements on a website are more important than others. You need to follow and use visual hierarchy to make important parts more prominent.
Conclusively speaking, think from the user perspective and you will be able to understand what makes your users happy. By using these 5 techniques, you can dramatically improve the appearance and performance of your business website.
About Reach First
At Reach First, we work with clients across industries to design ROI-focused business websites that are developed with business goals in mind. Being a reputable, one-stop digital marketing agency in Canada, we provide brands with top-notch branding, web design, development, SEO, paid advertising, and social media marketing services. Feel free to discuss your design or redesign project with us.