A good website design will play an important part in whether your business is a success.
It needs to be easy to use and informative. It could be your first point of contact with potential and existing visitors, therefore presenting a professional look could be the deciding factor between a customer staying and buying from you or clicking onto your competitor’s site. Everything a person sees on your site should portray an image that is consistent and instills confidence.
Here are a few pointers that make a good website design.
Basic Design Principles
Use a limited number of colours (see our choosing colours guide)
The use of contrasting colours will help make text on your web pages more legible e.g. black writing on a white background
Try not to make your site overcomplicated (cluttered) or with too much text. People scan websites rather than reading them
Make use of white space
Use short sentences and paragraphs. The use of headings and bullet points will focus visitor’s attention on the information you want them to know
Make sure every image or picture you use has a purpose
Home Page
Make sure your logo and business name are clearly visible. Have a brief statement outlining what your business/service is, and/or what it does (25-30 words)
Have you got a clearly, visible call to action i.e. do you want them to phone you or e-mail you for a quote, enquiry etc
Keep the content to a minimum. Only include what your visitors really need to know, you can use the other pages on your website to add more detail
Research shows that most people like to see information in chunks of 3 e.g. (show screen shot of homepage)
Try to keep the number of choices a visitor has to no more than 7 e.g. choices on your navigation bar
On your web pages
Your company logo and call to action should appear consistently on every page
Your company logo can link back to your home page
Navigation should appear consistently on every page. Navigation generally appears near the top and/or down the left-hand side
Visitors should know what page they are on e.g. changing the colour of the navigation tab or breadcrumb navigation (homepage – services – website design)
A consistent layout of pages, especially product pages, will allow easy browsing
The most important information is always above the fold (can be seen without having to scroll down)
About Us Page
Should have a company description, background and history
Could include a mission statement
Include information about the team or employees – you can include a photo or drawing of each member, this helps your visitors know who they are working with
Contact Us Page
Ensure there is a link for this on every page or somewhere within the text
Include all contact details – landline number, mobile phone number, e-mail address, fax, business address, VAT number
You could embed a Google map for free to show your location
Include a contact form, make this as simple as possible by only asking for the information you really need
Include information about data protection
Inform your visitors if you are on social media e.g. Twitter, facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn
