In my honest opinion, a well designed and properly executed website design can be a real boost to your business, but a poorly designed website could actually be costing you money.
If your website appears amateurish or hastily thrown together, potential customers may take one look before going elsewhere to get what they need. That is why it is so critical for business owners to use the same care and consideration they put into other facets of the business when designing a website.
No matter what your line of business may be, a professionally designed and well polished website is an integral part of the success of your firm. Your website should not be an afterthought.
It is vital that the website you create projects a professional image, and that the site incorporates a consistent design throughout all pages.
One of the biggest mistakes newcomers to the web make is not using the same look and feel for all pages on the site. In some cases the pages look so different that visitors may think they have left the site altogether. If you want your customers to stay around long enough to purchase your products you will need to provide them with a consistent and pleasing web browsing experience.
The next biggest mistake newcomers make is thinking that their taste and aesthetic judgment is sufficient. While flashing banner ads and gimmick sounds may appeal at first blush, it’s possible the newcomer won’t realize these website components are almost a decade out of date, and moreover, look that way to the vast majority of web users.
If you don’t have a degree in graphic design, then it might be worthwhile working with an established website designer, who is abreast of some of the latest trends in website design.
This is crucial because once a trend is set, the vast majority of website designers tend to follow en masse. Working with a designer who is ahead of the curve now, will ensure your website stands out from the crowd, and may prove to be your competitive edge.
Amongst the many trends that have emerged over the last 12 months, that you may want to consider are:
- User interfaces which not only feel like classic desktop applications, but utilise the latest developments in web technology to offer users the same dynamic interaction that they have come to expect from advanced solutions like MS Office.
- Adaptive user interfaces, such as buttons which change their appearance after they have been pressed, provide subtle but important feedback on visitors’ interaction with the website, and make them feel in charge of their experience.
- Carousel slideshows allow content to rotate, vertically or horizontally, and give the site a sense of being live, and therefore more interactive – just like on the home page of our blog at Compila.com. Carousels allow visitors to quickly scroll through available content, rather than having to hunt it down in different parts of the site.
- Semi-transparent backgrounds, which help to highlight key elements such as headline announcements.
- Media Blocks sounds complex, but these are essentially embedded media, such as YouTube videos, which can be used to present content in a simpler, more relaxed way. Users arrive at the site, click on play, and, then sit back while the video explains your value proposition, and purpose. While media blocks will never replace conventional design elements, or, should be overused, they can add additional functionality for those that prefer to listen, than read.
Whatever path you take, with or without a website designer, even if you are reasonably web literate, it can still be hard to spot a website’s flaws and make the necessary adjustments. Therefore, you may want to have an independent observer take a look at the site and give you some feedback. This type of honest feedback can be invaluable when you are building your site, since it helps you see your design through the eyes of a customer. A good way is to enroll a small group of trusted customers, to act as your review panel, while the website is being designed, not after.
The bottom line is that if you are attracted to clean designs and sites that are easy to navigate chances are your potential buyers will be too. Thinking about what makes a good website can help you design a website that gets real results.
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A nice website Design has always been good for a business. To bad that these days you often have to compromise in the Design for SEO reasons …
Limo Mike