6 Website Design Tips for Small Businesses

30 Apr ‘19

In: Web Design & Development, / By: Ripe Media

According to Forbes, the average user will immediately leave a website if they find the design unattractive.  Since your site is one of the first places a potential customer will visit, failing to impress can be a major hit for your business. That’s why so many business owners turn to website design tips to create beautiful websites.

The good news is that you don’t have to be an advanced web designer to get the basics down.

Read on for more information on what should be included for your web design to create an ideal user experience for your visitors.

Using the Best Website Design Tips

The following tips can be quite useful in building your own website. However, it’s important to have a few key factors addressed before starting your work on your site.

For example, you should know your target audience, SEO strategies, and website goals prior to beginning this project.

Consider the Emotion

Top marketers know that in order to sell, they have to be able to tap into primal human emotion. This means that the moment your visitor enters your site, a specific emotion should be triggered.

Ideally, this will be created through image, video, or text. However, it’s important to remember that videos and other elements have the potential to slow your website down.

Consider your brand and products along with what problem will be solved when a customer chooses you. This will help you get a clear idea of what emotion should be experienced by the visitor.

For example, if your website features a yoga studio, the customer should experience feelings of calm and tranquility in your yoga classes. This means that the same emotions should be invoked throughout your site. You may choose to use photos of meditation or even rock gardens to create this feeling in them.

Know Your Story

Storytelling is another major aspect of any great marketing strategy. Whether your brand is a funky startup targeted towards millennials or a major corporation that will build upon one simple idea, narrow down your story and maintain that story throughout your site.

While most websites have one dedicated “our story” or “about us” page, you want a similar theme to be captured in every element on the site.

For example, if your business offers financial services that came as a result of your own financial struggle, you may have a portion of your site dedicated to financial education.

Make sure the viewer understands that your service is not just a way to make money but a part of your overall identity.

Easy Navigation

One mistake many businesses make when creating their site is only focusing on aesthetics. However, as much as your visitor wants to see a beautiful website, they also need to be able to easily navigate it.

Narrow down the places in your website that a visitor is most likely to look for. For example, a potential customer might be looking for the prices of your products, your hours, or a way to contact you.

This means that each of these areas should have clear and obvious links throughout your site, allowing the visitor to find exactly what they’re looking for quickly and painlessly.

You also want to identify what direction you want to point your customer to. For example, if you have a new product that you’re looking to send traffic to, be sure to link this product in several sections of your website.

Even opting in for your newsletter should be a simple task for any of your visitors.

Design Accessibility

If you’re operating a site that doubles as an online tool or e-commerce store, make sure that using these features is relatively easy as well.

For example, a customer should be able to easily find various sizes, color options, and pricing information.

If you have to include a “how to navigating through your site section,” chances are that it’s already too difficult.

Design for Shopping

If you walked into a supermarket or other retail store, you may have noticed that the more popular products are placed to the right. This is due to the fact that shoppers tend to look right first and then turn their heads left. You can design your website in a way that’s appealing to shoppers as well.

While it may not be as complex as knowing what direction your visitor will turn their head, it may be as simple as framing specific products in bright colors where you want more attention to go.

You may even consider highlighting key products in your slider to make them the first thing your visitors see when entering your website.

Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

Having a website that was also mobile-friendly used to be a luxury, but now it’s a necessity. Not only does the majority of site visitors come to you from a mobile device, but Google now penalizes sites that are not mobile-friendly.

This means you can actually hurt your search engine ranking by having a website that cannot be easily seen on the phone or tablet.

The good news is, most website builders come with the option to view how your site will look on the mobile device. However, these previews are not always accurate and will vary from device to device, so it’s important to test out any changes that you make on a phone or tablet before making it public.

Get the Help You Need When You Need It

While knowing important website design tips is a great first step towards designing a beautiful website, it may not be enough. Which is why there are always professionals there to help create a website that makes an impact.

If you’re looking to create a stunning website for your business and need some extra help, contact us today to see how we can help!

You Might Also Like