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We’ve all experienced the frustration of stumbling through a poorly designed website. For some users, this experience is an inconvenience, but for many, it’s a dealbreaker. We’ve all also experienced the ease of navigating a properly designed website, and thus we’ve formed a collective standard of expectation. In today’s digital world in which the internet is woven into the fabric of our lives, it’s essential that your business’s website meets this standard.
Whether you’ve been running your business for years and have an outdated website, or you’re a new business deciding whether hiring a web designer is worth the cost, this article highlights the importance of giving your customers the experience of a well designed website, and how it can be achieved.
While there are tons of technical elements that go into creating a well designed website for your small business, we’re going to focus on a few simple yet essential concepts that will ensure your users are getting the experience they expect. Namely, function, responsiveness, and visual appeal. Let’s unpack these concepts together.
For the purpose of this article, let’s define function simply as your website fulfilling its intended purpose(s). This may seem obvious, but if you don’t know what you want your users to accomplish on your website, they won’t know either! In order to achieve your website’s function, let’s break the concept down into two distinct yet connected categories:
You’ll likely have a primary function, such as getting users to buy your goods or services, and secondary and tertiary functions, such as requesting a quote or setting up an appointment. Users should be guided through these functions through specific Call to Actions (CTAs) which often come in the form of prominent “buttons” users can click to fulfill the specific action. Therefore, it’s important you clearly define the actions you want your users to take in order to fulfill the function of your website.
Furthermore, It’s necessary that your visitors have a clear understanding of how to navigate through your website. If we imagine your website as a tiny planet within the metagalactic expanse of the World Wide Web, your customers should be able to easily navigate to each location, or page, of your planet. Therefore, you and your web designer should determine which pages your website will include and write titles that easily clue your users into the content they’ll obtain on each page.
When we visit a new place, we use a GPS or map to help us get where we want to go. Similarly, well designed websites have navigation menus which contain organized lists of items that link users to key pages within the website. Similarly, your web designer should also include a complete list of the pages on your website, often in the footer section of your website. Not only does this give users another tool to easily navigate your site, but it also gives search engines an understanding of the content of your website. Without getting into too much detail, this can help boost the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking of your website.
Your website’s responsiveness is its ability to automatically adapt to various screen sizes and orientations. In today’s world in which approximately half of web traffic occurs on mobile devices, responsive web design is non-negotiable.
Given the widespread use of non-desktop digital devices when browsing the web, it’s critical that your users be able to effortlessly use your website across all types of screens. Many older websites were built prior to the omnipresence of smartphones and tablets and thereby weren’t designed with these formats in mind. Most of us have likely tried to access websites such as these and were met with chaos. In this event, we have two options: try to access the website using a desktop/laptop, or simply exit the site and find a website that was built responsively.
Therefore, whether you have a website that hasn’t been updated in years, or you’re a new business looking to build one, ensure your web designer is using responsive practices so potential customers can access your site with their preferred device. Remember, we want to make the user experience as seamless as possible. Plus, search engines will penalize your website if it’s not responsive thereby crushing your SEO ranking.
When it comes to the visual appeal of your website, a good practice is to keep things simple, clean and elegant. Remember, your website has a clear function, and distractions should be minimized as users fulfill that purpose. Yet simplicity shouldn’t equal ugly and boring. Rather, your website should look good while fulfilling its function, and thus the aesthetic of your website should help to accentuate your content. Think of your website as a thoughtfully designed garden path leading to a specific destination. There's plenty of beauty along the way, but ultimately the website seamlessly facilitates movement from point A to point B.
Therefore, you and your web designer should establish key visuals for your small business’s brand to optimize the look and feel of your website. For example, thoughtfully leveraging your website’s color palette can be a great way to optimize aesthetics while fortifying function. A few key colors displayed consistently across your site will give life while evoking intended emotions representative of your brand. However, too many colors can quickly cause disorder and distract from the function of your website.
Consumers expect a certain level of quality when visiting your website, and it’s up to you and your web designer to give them a positive experience. Remember, your website is often the first point of contact between potential customers and your business. Their experience using your website will inform their judgment and will likely determine their decision to do business with you or not.
With the proper implementation of function, responsiveness, and visual appeal, your website can be a tool to grow your small business. Here at GLW Design, each website we build promotes these key principles to create meaningful web experiences for your users. If you want to make sure you’re optimizing your small business’s website, drop us a line and we’ll help you reach your goals.