As a business owner, you need a website that will encourage your customer to explore your services and products, then take action! If you want to gain more customers and traffic to your site, you must understand your clients’ preferences and behaviors. Of course, each company is different, so your customers will look different from, say, our customers. However, it’s safe to say that potential customers want three things from a website design:
1. Clean & Professional Website Design
Have you ever left a website—never to return—because you didn’t like the way it looked? If your site looks too busy or dated, your customers won’t spend much time learning about your company and its services. But what constitutes good design? The answers can vary, but these three website design rules are universal:
Website Design Rule: Display a Pleasing Color Palette
The colors on your website should reflect your branding, but they shouldn’t be overpowering. Choose colors that display well on a computer screen and avoid colors that are too bright or too dark. In addition, too many colors can overwhelm your customers. Choose one main color and two accent colors and use those accent colors sparingly. It’s wise to consider how colors make your customers feel, as well. Colors in general can have a psychological effect on people in any situation. When you’re choosing which colors you want to use to identify your company, consider their meaning:
- Red – energy, strength, power
- Blue – loyalty, trust, stability
- Orange – excitement, fun, action
- Purple – luxury, mystery, ambition
- Yellow – joy, happiness, optimism
- Pink – caring, hope, friendship
- Green – harmony, safety, growth
- Black – strength, wealth, style
Website Design Rule: Have the Right Amount of Text
There’s truth to the saying “Content is king.” Without enough quality content, your kingdom (website) is an empty shell. But there’s a fine line between too much and too little text. Too much text and no one will read your content; too little and your content won’t answer anyone’s questions. 300 words minimum per page is a good guideline to follow—that’s actually the number Google recommends to improve your SEO. Keep in mind that your customers will scan your content rather than read it closely. To help them scan, consider these tips:
- Keep your sentences short.
- Use headings and subheadings.
- Divide your content into bulleted or numbered lists.
Website Design Rule: Modern & Professional
Before our graphic designers begin creating your website design, we talk to you about what image you want your business to portray so we can understand your vision. To appear organized and modern, your website design should look current rather than one that looks like it’s straight out of the 1990s. The M&R graphic designers will create make sure your website design has clean lines, understated graphic elements, and smart use of white space. It will boast your brand’s colors in a subtle and complementing way.
2. Simple & Intuitive Navigation
The information on your website is important, so it should be as easy to find as possible. If customers can’t figure out how to get from point A to point B, they might leave your site and never come back. Follow the “three-click rule:” anyone visiting your site should be able to find what they’re looking for in as few as three clicks. Your customers should always know where they are and where to go next. Make sure your home page is easy to navigate to, no matter where your customers end up on your site. (We will talk more about why simple navigation is a must in part two of this series. Stay tuned!)
3. Informative & Well-Written Content
The content on your website needs to answer your customers’ questions or concerns in a straightforward and easy-to-read way. Here are some practices our copywriters implement while writing engaging and informative content:
- Closely edit the content and ask at least one other person to edit it, too.
- Think of questions the customers regularly ask and try to answer those questions in the content.
- Divide up the text with headings, subheadings, and numbered or bulleted lists.
- Make sure the contact information is visible on every page.
- Include calls-to-action (CTAs) on every page to tell the customers how to take the next step.
- Write to the point and avoid unnecessary fluff.
Keep in mind that you are writing your text for people first, search engines second. If your content is stuffed full of keywords and keyword phrases, it will feel unnatural to the reader and he will exit out of your website and search for a solution to his problem elsewhere. As a general rule of thumb, your website content should read as a conversation. Don’t let the word conversation mislead you – it must be professional, informative, and grammatically correct, but still a conversation.
M&R Marketing Will Custom-Build Your Stunning Website Design
A professional, well-built website design is the foundation of your online presence. Everything online will link back to your website, so it’s vital that your website is up to par. Our team of web developers are the best in the business, and they are ready to create your website! If you’re ready for a stunning website design that can turn potential customers into loyal customers, give us a call: 478-621-4491
Stay tuned for parts two, three, and four of our website design marketing series:
- Part 1 – 3 Website Design Elements that Your Client Expects to See
- Part 2 – Why Simple Navigation is a Must in Your Website Design
- Part 3 – How Informative, Well-Written Content Optimizes Your Website Design
- Part 4 – Why Your Website Design Must Be Mobile-Friendly & Responsive