Your website is perhaps your most powerful marketing tool. Whether your objective is to boost brand awareness or to sell a service or product, effective web design can be the difference between a new lead and a lost prospect. So, if you’re losing visitors within 5 seconds of landing on your site or you’re not ranking highly on search engines, you should take a hard look at how your website is designed and optimized. The following are 5 simple ways of creating an effective website:
- Make it aesthetically appealing
The design and presentation of your website are powerfully visual and visitors are known to make aesthetic judgments of a website in an instant. It takes about 0.05 seconds for visitors to form a first impression of your website. In that lightning-fast moment, visitors’ perception induces different emotions and attitudes towards the content, advertised services/products and the brand.The important question here is – what makes a website aesthetically appealing? Well, here are some things to keep in mind:- Use high-quality graphics and high-resolution photos
- Invest in your own photography as opposed to using stock photography
- Replace blocks of text with infographics
- Choose a color palette that has a perfect balance of contrast and harmony
- Choose a font type and size that conveys the nunace you want your site to engender
- Choose a simple design layout
When it comes to effective website design, simplicity is key. Simple, sleek designs are known to withstand the test of time. In fact, some of the most effective website design layouts are the simplest. Simple layouts are effective in the sense that they are user friendly. This means that they allow visitors to navigate the website easily and to find the information they want quickly. - Optimize it for search engines
You can have the most aesthetically-appealing and user-friendly website in the world, but if your target audience can’t find it, then all your efforts will be in vain. Therefore, your website should have basic on-page SEO elements that will make it easy to find. The elements that help with website optimization include Meta titles, Meta descriptions, and relevant keywords and phrases. You should also optimize your images, and remove broken/dead links. More on how to SEO your website here. - Use social proofing strategies
To fully convince new prospects that you are reliable and can be trusted, you must provide social proof that shows that others have been happy with your products or services. There are various social proofing strategies to adopt. One of them is testimonials. Be sure to use real customers and photos, as well as feed reviews from third party review sites to ensure authenticity. In case there are websites or blogs you’ve been mentioned, be sure to provide links to articles with the mention. - Include calls-to-action buttons
Call-to-action buttons are a key element on a website. They act as a signboard that tells visitors to take a specified action such as ‘Buy Now’, ‘Sign Up’, ‘Download Now’, ‘Join Us’, etc. You can include several calls-to-action buttons on your website if there are several desired actions for the visitors to take.
Creating an effective website sure sounds like an intricate task. Good thing is that you don’t have to do it all. You can delegate the task to a professional. A professional will not only incorporate the latest design trends and coding standards, but will also match the look and feel of the website with your brand. A professional will also know the steps to take to optimize your website for search engine ranking results.
Want help with your website? Contact UmeWorks in Torrance at 323 638-9328 or info@umeworks.com to discuss your website needs.
