As web designers, we’re perfectionists when it comes to handing designing and developing our website projects…down to the smallest pixel. Unfortunately, too many cookie-cutter site builders can cause some pretty disastrous mistakes. Take these three website design tips into consideration and your site will beat out the competition, we promise!
First Impression
First impressions really do matter. The importance of an insanely great visual design goes well beyond a pretty picture on a splashy page. People make their first judgement in a split second; literally, it takes only 1/10th of a second to form a first impression about a person and websites are not that much different. Studies have shown that it takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for a viewer to make their opinion about your website determining whether or not they’ll stay and look around or click the back button. Your site’s design is more than just a compilation of graphics, it’s how your brand says “hello” to your customers. Maintain consistency with design elements (logo placement, page template, etc) and resist the urge to overdo the use of animations and effects…which leads us to Flash. We know you think your Flash looks super fancy, but the reality is that these super fancy pages just annoy users and complicate mobile site access. Get with it and don’t use it. Period.
Navigation
Creating user-friendly navigation is a key component to the functionality of any website. Our website designers are tasked with finding a way to make every user’s experience a natural one so that navigation across the entire website is smooth. Also, not all users will visit your site on a computer (mobile is leading the pack!) so it’s important to make sure that your site is mobile friendly and accessible through a multitude of different devices. Unfortunately, if the user experience is poor, frustration quickly sets in and they will likely look to bring their business elsewhere. This lost customer can occur just based on website experience alone.
Contact Information
People have questions and they want their answers quickly. Failing to put a phone number and contact information in multiple (easy-to-find) locations is a huge mistake. Putting up a “contact us” side bar as well as a link that leads to complete information such as mailing address, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. will drive conversions for your company. Also, a conveniently located search form is a very important feature especially for large sites.
Creating Website Design Synergy
It’s important to realize that website design and content work synergistically and both are indeed crucial for getting visitors to stay on your site and click around…turning them into customers. Done properly, website design builds initial trust, providing a great first impression and giving your online marketing more power and persuasion to build your business. The CMDS web design team knows exactly what to do to break through barriers and create visuals and content that defines the real value proposition of your brand through web design.