Information Technology Blog - - Guide to an Effective Design for Business Websites - Information Technology Blog
The modern mobile devices and easy connectivity has changed consumer behavior as they have started to shop online. The people who used to visit malls for their favorite stores are now using their personal computers and mobile gadgets for shopping.
To cater to their needs and expectations, every business pursues an impressive web presence, which is not possible without effective web design. The design of a website helps users in forming an opinion that leads to a good first impression. It starts with the layout and appearance of a page and takes on to the navigation and usability features. A design can only be considered an effective one if it is creating ease and comfort for the users in browsing and exploring the website.
Failing to aid the visitors in deciding which option to choose, how to move between the pages, and what is the structure of the website will lead to sheer disappointment that’s why an effective design is a savior. It plays a vital role in taking an online business to success. This post discusses some of the strategies to follow in creating an effective web design.
Devise your business website strategy
For planning any kind of design, either a logo or a complete website, you have to know its purpose. The purpose of a business website design can be defined by the nature of products or services it deals with and the kind of people it aims to reach out to.
The designer may need to evaluate the industry of a business and ask the marketing head to find the value proposition of the business or a unique selling point of a product. He or she may understand them to make it reflect in the design. The internet buyers are smart that’s why they cannot be reached out with conventional design techniques.
Find the latest trends in design
Choosing different design elements may compel you to look into the prevailing design trends besides the usual standards for a business website. For your specific, let the designer find the usual practices in making a website and the prevailing trends. Select the elements suitable to your niche regardless of its freshness as most of the demanding trends may not address the issues you aim to highlight in your design.
Select a reliable platform
Making an agency to design a website right from scratch may cost you a lot of money and time. To have a quick solution, you can select a reliable platform such as Magento, PrestaShop, Opencart, WooCommerce, etc. Additionally, you can seek assistance from various website builders such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.
A small business that does not want to spend lavishly on web design would like to try website builders where they can design web presence with simple drag and drop actions of different blocks. Such platforms allow beginners to have a do it yourself project with the ability to scale the design as the business grows. They allow custom domain and a full-service consultancy with proven results.
Choose an interactive theme
The website builders, and different CMS and eCommerce platforms come with a variety of themes that are designed in general as well as specific to business needs. Various free templates are available on the platforms whereas paid themes can be installed and customized for business needs.
The website layout of most of the businesses in the service industry is similar. They usually have a five-page website design that includes a home, about us, services, profile, and contact us. Therefore, they are more likely to go for a general business theme.
However, websites for the fashion industry would like to add a store or blog section as well. So they will look into a theme that is specifically designed for their market. A particular theme or template instantly sets up a website with pre-filled text, images, and design blocks; which are simple and easier to customize.
Pursue design consistency for branding
Every business has a struggle or story behind its success that is helping them bring a quality product or service to the users. To spice up your branding effort, you need to narrate your business story with a bold color scheme, selective font style, and high definition imagery. These all combine to impressively communicate your brand story. While designing a website, you need to keep various elements in conformity with the vision, mission, and values of your venture.
Customize content presentation
The placement of content is more significant than its creation. Creating captivating content but putting it below the page fold may make it inaccessible to the users. So, whenever it comes to personalizing the content, think about its two major contents that are placement and optimization.
Placement of the content means how and at which position you will put the content on each page. You may need to prioritize between different forms of content based on its significance. For example, product images or videos must accompany the text above the fold so that users can read the text and view photography before scrolling down the page.
Content optimization is about improving its outreach and visibility in search engines. It may require you to keep on changing and editing content for maximizing its ranking in results. For example, you may need to add keywords naturally to the content, but alternative tags for images, and replace boring titles with attractive ones to increase the click-through rate.
Ensure mobile responsiveness
Mobile responsiveness is a pre-requisite for website design and search engine ranking. The users who want to visit your web pages may be using different variants of smartphones and mobile gadgets.
To make them visit and stay on your website, you must ensure a friendly website design that positively responds to different mobile devices and does not distort the design and layout.
The mobile website can either make or break your online business. It is a must in a competitive digital world where 50.44% of traffic is coming through mobile gadgets, as Statistica reports. You can consider this when selecting a website builder, a theme, or custom designing.
Add space for user interaction
Designing a user-centric website may require you to add multiple ways for them to reach you out. Adding a contact us page with a form-filling procedure is too mainstream and quite a daunting experience. It can be supplemented with live chat and quick inquiry forms to encourage the users in getting in contact with the sale and support team.
Buyers on the internet often need an explanation about a product or service in person. They are not satisfied with the content you provide on the landing page as they often come with a distinct query that depends on their personal needs.
To listen to whatever going through their mind, the designers need to step ahead to remove the communication barrier. If adding a live chat feature that is powered by artificial intelligence or personnel is difficult to deploy, you can try connecting Facebook messenger or business Whatsapp to welcome queries with faster replies.
Conclusion
An effective design is created around the business so that it speaks the brand language and provides easy access to different website sections. To have one, you can start devising a strategy that is based on business goals and vision. Guidance on the selection of platform and theme are also provided in the post that can help you acquire a rewarding design.
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