There are always two things you have to keep in mind while designing your website. First is user experience and second is what your audience wants. The website is one aspect of your business that you simply cannot afford to get wrong as this is what is a representation of your brand in my ways. This is the place where you are able to nurture bottom-of-the-funnel leads which turn into conversions. Hence any faults in the website will in turn cause your bounce rate to increase.
The above mentioned aspect of what your audience wants and user experience are interdependent. When you know what your audience wants you should be able to provide them with a good user experience. But don’t forget that there are a lot more benefits that come from having a good website for not only your business but your audience as well.
Let’s have a look at the different reasons why a nicely designed website is good for your business.
- Brand Image: In simple terms, your website is a reflection of your business and its brand. It showcases what you stand for. In today’s world the first thing anyone does when they hear of a brand or think about getting involved with a particular business, is to go online and check out their website. You can’t have a bunch of random colors and images on your website. Each and every element on your website reflects your brand. Take Google for example. Their branding is consistent throughout their websites and the different features that they offer. Where is the main Google website or Gmail or Drive? It may have a different feature but you know it’s a Google product.
- Colour: The above mentioned point naturally moves into the second point of colour. Choosing a colour that represents your business is important. This is what will make your logo and your brand’s identity. If you are a brand that is already established then stick to the colours you have been using but if you are a new company starting from scratch then it would be wise to do a little bit of research into the various elements of color and their associations. There has been a lot of research that has been put into this. For example if you want to establish trust, use the color blue. If you want your audience to see high-quality then the colour for you is black.
- Layout: Keep it simple. That’s it. The more simple and clean your layout the more it will draw attention to it. Your audience should not see your website as a maze where they have to put in effort to find their way out. A nice well structured layout is all a customer needs in the end, nothing flashy or anything.
- Font and Typography: Some might not have expected this but an easy-to-read font with good background color is what is needed. Again this depends on the kind of audience you are targeting but in general people don’t want fancy calligraphy that one can’t read. Make sure to keep the font consistent throughout the website as it gives off a more professional look overall to your audience.
- Site Navigation: This can also be seen as an additional point to the third point. The way an audience member would determine and give the tag of “a good website design” is if it has good navigation. Whenever anyone goes onto a website their attention span is very limited. They want to find the information they are looking for as soon as possible, and if they can’t find it then they will just as easily move onto the next website that provides them with the same service. Users typically decide within a few seconds if they like the website or not and hence it is important for you to get all these points right.
