4 elements for enhanced website development and growth
Design is a major consideration for any web development project whether it’s the first website you have created or you’re just revamping your existing website. Spending money and effort into improving your website’s aesthetics is a must especially for stores with a physical location. Your online presence speaks volumes about your brand. Think about it being as important as the appearance of your brick and mortar store and how your employee’s treat walk-in customers.
In redesigning your website, you can:
- Take care of all the changes by yourself.
- Hire the services of a professional web design company.
When making a choice, think about your skills, budget, and time. Irrespective of the route you take, expect web development to be stressful and draining especially if you are a novice in redesigning websites. Things always take longer than expected and most people underestimate what goes into creating a fully loaded website.
If money is not an issue, engaging the services of a web design agency to customise your website is the best choice.
If you have the skills and confidence that you can do a great job with your website, then go for it!
What are the building blocks of good design?
You don’t need to be an expert in design to judge whether a website is good or bad. You only need to remember four things when analysing a site’s web design, which are:
- Design
- Grid structure
- Mobile
- Navigation
Grid Structure Mastery for a Cleaner Web Design
A website’s grid structure is basically the layout expressed in a technical way. The grid serves as the backbone your web design. A proper grid structure is akin to the rule of thirds in photography, it is the building block of an excellent website design. Among the best examples of a website with an impressive grid structure is Apple’s website. Apple has evenly-spaced grids which makes the website attractive to customers.
To gauge how impressive grid structures are, you need to watch out for a few things:
- Content spacing
- Margin Distance
- Maintained Proportion
Apple considered all these things, hence an impressive landing page. Grids serve as a guide towards an organized website layout.
To understand grids better, read up on the different kinds of structures including the four-column structure and the 12-unit structure. With this knowledge, you will be a better judge on the site’s web design whether you DIY or hire professionals for the job.
Improved navigation
Attracting visitors to drop by your shop is just 50 percent of locking in a customer. The truth is if a customer gets confused on what to do after reaching your website, it’s a sign of failure.
Navigation should not take a back seat in web design, it is a priority.
The first step in web design or redesign is to map out your business structure to create a logical sequence without veering away from your website’s main concept. List down potential actions customers will take after landing on your homepage. Think about your story, the information you want to convey, and the pages where visitors can see all of that. The last step is to allow customers to have ready and logical access to those pages.
The New Yorker is a classic example of a website with an impressive navigation integrated into its web design. Thanks to the sticky navigation, readers will find articles in line with their interests right away.
While you are at it, optimize your website for mobile users. Creating a website which is responsive on mobile is as important as having access to the perfect website on a desktop. You may have to alter your website’s layout for mobile optimization. While planning your website’s layout, always think about navigation. If a feature makes the website harder to navigate, throw it out of the window.
Design a website to reflect your brand
Branding plays a crucial role in web design. You need to create a distinct identity for your business and stick to one concept.
Your website is no different from other marketing ventures, it is an extension of your brand and you have to consider this in all the decisions you make. Stick to all the principles in your brand book, use colours and fonts representing your brand. Make sure all background colours and images are readable and high-resolution.
The biggest thing you need to emphasize is user experience. If visitors find your website boring and uninformative, they won’t rush for a second visit. You need to avoid this at all costs since this is a big sign of failure. Think about the shopping experience in making all decisions, minor or major. If an element will have no bearing on improving experience, it’s safe to scrap it from your web design plans.
When it comes to acing this aspect of web design, Y-7 Yoga is your go-to site. This boutique fitness studio’s website has striking contrasts, buzz-worthy collaborations, and easy to find content to cater to the needs of all its visitors. This web design is perfect for this studio given their identity for having hip-hop inspired mantras during sessions in its candlelit studio.
Always optimize for mobile users
Optimizing your website for mobile is also a priority in web development. Mobile traffic makes up more than half of all internet users since more people use smartphones to access various websites. One study revealed a 62 percent increase in sales after optimizing their website for mobile users. This proves how valuable mobile optimization is for your business.
Mobile optimisation may seem like a simple process, but it demands time and effort. You need to collaborate with designers and developers to make sure your website is responsive on mobile devices. One piece of advice is to stick to a single-column layout which works best for mobile. Autofill forms and visible call to actions are also necessary. The mobile website needs to be a mirror of your desktop site although you need to make alterations to make the website easy to navigate using a mobile device.
Adidas has a website perfectly suitable for mobile users, browsing their shoe collection or buying a shoe through your phone is easy. The website doesn’t stop there. They also have discount codes and promotional offers in the banner of all product pages. This makes it impossible for buyers not to know the latest deals from Adidas.
Verdict: Web Design Makes or Breaks Your Business
When it comes to web development and design, all four elements are equally important. Strong websites emphasise all these things, and the payoff comes in a website with impressive conversion rates and greater brand loyalty. Websites without regard for these things make customers feel like they don’t care about their clients. With the tips above, aim for impressive results for your web development project to provide a lovely shopping experience.
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