More than three-quarters of all American consumers make at least some of their purchases online. For people who don't want to be bothered with crowded stores and long lines at the register, being able to purchase things online has been a lifesaver. More and more people are favoring online stores over the brick and mortar counterparts.
If you want your business to be competitive in the digital marketplace, you need a top-notch website. But what do you do if you don't yet have the resources for an in-house graphic designer or web team?
Thankfully, a few basic website design elements can make your website look sleek and modern. With Wix website design tools, you can build these elements of web design into your website yourself without relying on a web designer.
Keep reading to learn seven elements of good web design to help you take your business website to the next level.
1. Clean Navigation
Clear navigation is key for providing your users with a frustration-free experience on your site. The links between the pages on your site should all make logical sense, and all pages should be accessible through the main menu.
No matter what your site looks like, it should always be very clear to your user which page they need to go to in order to achieve their goal.
As the designer of the site, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether or not your site is easy to navigate. After all, you've probably spent so much time looking at the site that you know every part of the site inside and out.
To check what the average web user's experience is like, invest time in user testing the navigation of your site. Ask trusted friends or colleagues to try to complete a task. For example, you might ask them to place a specific product in their cart and complete the checkout process.
Watch how they attempt to complete the task. If they get lost on the site or express confusion about anything, make a note of their experience. Then, go back into the site and see if you can eliminate the obstacle.
2. Create a Captivating Home Page
Just like the cover of a book should be attention-grabbing enough to get a prospective reader to open to the first page, the home page of your website needs to be arresting enough to get your prospective customer to explore further into your site.
Use bold fonts and eye-catching graphics. Provide your user with a next step right away, whether that's reading content, scrolling down for more images, or clicking into the next page on your site.
3. Use Large, Serif Fonts
The best websites are visually pleasing and accessible all at the same time. A key aspect of web accessibility is using the right kind of fonts.
Stick to fonts that are 16 points or larger. Also, use serif fonts (fonts without the little tails on the letters) whenever possible. Try to limit your site to two fonts or less, and use bold fonts for emphasis rather than italics.
Make sure that the color of your fonts contrasts enough with the background color to make your text legible. For dark fonts, use the lightest background color possible, and for light fonts, use the darkest background color possible.
4. Design for Mobile
Most people use phones, tablets, and other mobiles devices to access the internet. If you only design your site for desktop users, you are excluding a huge percentage of your prospective clientele in your web design.
For mobile users, responsive web design is key. This means that the page will automatically change its size and the configuration of the elements on the page to fit whatever size screen the viewer is using. Many of the premade Wix website ideas are created with responsive web design built in.
5. Include a Clear Call to Action
Your customers won't know what you want them to do on your site unless you clearly tell them. Give them an action to complete as soon as they land on your site.
Do you want them to purchase a product? Make it easy for customers to access the online shop.
Should they check out your bio page, or contact you for more information about your services? Whatever the desired action is, give them a path directly from the homepage to complete that action. Customers will appreciate the efficiency of your site, and you'll see higher conversion rates because of this.
6. Brand Cohesion
Ensure that the design of your website is consistent with the design of other aspects of your company. This means using the same art and logos on your website as you use on other company deliverables. It also means aligning the graphic design elements of your site with your brand's persona.
Down the road, a graphic designer will help you to get more specific with your graphic design and how it relates to your company's brand. For now, try to think of what design elements your target customer would find appealing on a website. If you need help, Wix web design tools have several templates to help you get started with this.
7. Keep SEO in Mind
This final tip is more for you than for the user experience. SEO, or search engine optimization, is what gets your content noticed by the search engine algorithms and makes your content appear higher in the search engine rankings.
If all this is totally new to you, don't worry. Start by including an informative meta description for your site, and sprinkle your target keywords throughout the text content on your site.
SEO gets much more in-depth than this, but that topic could be a whole article on its own. When you're just starting out, following the basics and focusing on creating quality content for your users is more than enough to get you headed in the right direction.
Use These Website Design Elements on Your Site
Congratulations! Now you know seven ways to make your website pop! Keep these website design elements in mind, and your website will soon be wowing your customers and increasing your sales.
When you do get to a place where you're able to hire a web designer to take this work off your hands, you'll have the language and knowledge to engage in deeper conversation with your designer about their work. They'll be thankful for your expertise, and you'll be more likely to get what you need from them in the long run.
Interested in starting a conversation with us about your web development? Request a quote from us using our online form today!
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