How to Design a Website You Can Be Proud Of
Creating a Website that You’re Proud to Share with the World
Your website is the virtual storefront of your business — so it’s vital to make it an online space that you can be proud of! I’ve worked with dozens of companies to design their websites, and along the way, I’ve discovered a few common elements that can make or break a website.
These are my top tips for designing a website that accurately reflects your brand and that you can be proud to share with the world!
Why website design matters
A thoughtfully designed website delights and builds trust with your audience. It sends a clear message: a brand that puts effort into a quality website is likely to be the kind of brand that puts effort into the quality of its work.
Website design is about more than just appearances, however. Your website branding is also a chance to build an emotional connection with your audience to unearth your message and unique personality.
Let’s explore my top tips for making a website as elegant and fabulous as you.
Sticking with a cohesive color palette
Color is one of the most critical aspects of your website design. The colors you choose will impact the emotions your customers feel when they land on your website and draw attention to specific parts of it whether you intend for them to or not.
Choosing a color palette can be challenging for the indecisive among us. The most important thing is to stay consistent and use the same colors across your website as you do in other areas of your branding. Consistency builds brand recognition.
A palette, however, is more than just the colors you select. Whether your colors are bright and saturated or more muted can change their effects on your customers. It also makes a difference whether you’re using a particular color as the primary background of your website or if it’s used more sparingly as an accent color.
Start by asking yourself:
How do you want your customers to feel when they see your website?
What story is your business trying to tell?
How can we use color to tell that story and evoke those emotions?
Ensure visual design and photography complement each other
The colors, fonts, and layouts you choose should work together with the photography on your site to create a cohesive web design. Your photos also significantly impact the story you’re trying to tell with your website, so it’s essential to select these elements intentionally.
While stock photos can work in a pinch, the best way to control your website design is to invest in a professional photographer to create photos that synchronize with your branding and tell your story.
Keep the most critical message above the fold
We’ve established that people don’t read every word on your site. That’s why your most important message should be kept “above the fold.” This refers to all content your site visitors can see before scrolling. It should be clear what your business offers and why it’s special without having to scroll or click.
This brings me to an essential point: don’t make it hard to find your call to action button! This should be the clearest button on your page; you shouldn’t have to scroll to see it. Make it easy for customers to find out how to get to the next step, or you’ll find that many of them won’t.
Compatible on all devices, especially mobile
There’s nothing worse than showing your website to someone, only to realize that it doesn’t look the same as when you previewed it at home on your laptop. Because more and more people are visiting websites from their phones, it’s just not an option to ignore it. Besides being an important factor in your website’s customer experience, it’s also critical for ranking in search engines.
A professional web designer will be able to optimize your website for all devices and screen sizes, from large desktops to the smallest phones. Knowing that no matter where someone views your site, they will have a sensational experience will give you peace of mind.
Design with accessibility in mind
Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought — we should always design our websites with all our customers' experiences in mind.
Some of the most important ways to make sure your website design is accessible include:
Maintaining sufficient contrast between your text color and background color to improve readability.
Adding descriptive alt text for all images on your site. Visually impaired individuals rely on screen readers to dictate the alt text of images to them.
Using language that is understandable by all. We sometimes want to use fancy words and jargon to seem “more legit,” but using layman’s terms and explaining things clearly is the best way to help people of all backgrounds and classes understand who you are and what you do!
Make your text visually easy to read
You don’t want huge blocks of text on your website — they are not inviting or readable. Even if you have incredible copy, if your design and layout prevent your customers from wanting to read it, your message will get lost.
Keeping your paragraphs small and using graphics, bullet points, headings, and formattings such as bold typeface and italics allow readers to scan your site for only the most crucial information.
The big message:
Web design is a craft that takes significant time and effort to perfect. But by following these tips, you can set up your website for success by avoiding the most common pitfalls.
Need some help with your website?
If you want to take your website to the next level, We’d love to work with you to create a truly sensational design. You deserve a site that you can be proud of! If you’re ready to get started, inquire here.
