What is the Secret to a Great Website Design?

Understanding your audience and their expectations from the web design is key to a great website design. Your team and you may think a website design is great, but it could be exactly the opposite of what your target audience expects. When designing your website, you need to have a clear vision that will help align your business goals with your target audience.

Here are six secrets to building a great website design: 

1. Survey your audience

Get a head start on designing a great product. Ask your target audience what they want from a great user experience. Great questions will help you get great feedback.

• Which website layouts are you most fond of?
• What functionality do you want from your website?
• Is there anything about our website distracting you or providing no value for you as a user?
• What would you suggest to make our website more interesting or better?
• How is our website working?

You will get more information and feedback from the surveyee if you ask more thought-provoking questions than just “yes” or “no.” Your goal when surveying is to get a better idea of your users’ expectations and tap into their psyche. You can provide a better experience for your users by learning more about how they use your site.

Prioritize the common issues or feedback that you need to fix, and then do the same for any features or functionalities your users request based on available resources.

2. Place your focus on appearance and time.

Your website’s appearance goes beyond a simple layout. Website design includes all the following:

• Fonts: Choose a font that is easy to read. Fonts that are too difficult or overwhelming to read can distract from the information or content on the page. You should also consider the size and spacing of your fonts.
• Images: Use images that are relevant to the content surrounding them. Avoid stock images whenever possible.
• Colors: Be sure that your website’s colors are a reflection of your brand. Use them with care. Too many colors can distract or overwhelm users.
• Navigation: Make sure all navigation is organized in a logical way. Your navigation should be consistent throughout the website. It should also be easily accessible for users at all times.

All of these elements should be incorporated together to ensure your website layout and design reflect your brand’s voice and presentation. Inconsistencies between your brand and your website design can lead to confusion and decreased engagement, ultimately leading to lower conversions.

3. Give your audience the content they want.

Right now, content marketing is hot, and the reason for that is obvious. It’s clear that 88% of marketers use a content marketing strategy, and 73% of major companies hire someone specifically for content. This means that content development should be a big effort for your brand.

You should not create content just for the sake of it. Your audience will digest your content in a certain way. It’s important to engage them in the most effective way. While some audiences prefer video, others might prefer how-to guides and downloadable PDF articles. You should conduct thorough research about your audience and competitors.

When creating content or designing a new one, consider how your audience will read it. This could make the difference between a brand legacy that is highly engaging and one that is easily forgotten.

4. Make sure the website Is functional.

When designing a website, it is important to consider the functionality of your site. Why? It must work and adhere to web design best practices. No one will want to use it. Consider the load times of your website as well as responsive and mobile usability. These are ranking factors in Google’s search results.

It’s important to make sure your website works on all devices, with 75% of internet usage expected to be mobile by 2017. You should also ensure that multimedia such as images and videos render correctly and appear as they should.

5. Search Engine Optimization is important to keep in mind.

A website with a great design is useless if it’s not easily found. Google handles approximately 57,000 searches per minute. This is roughly 2 trillion searches per year. While your industry may not account for all those searches, it is safe to assume that many of your users found your website through search (consult your Google Analytics).

Incorporating a solid Search Engine Optimization strategy in your website design is crucial. You can focus your attention on:

• Search engines can crawl content that is easily accessible (don’t include text in images or infographics which can’t).
• Use relevant keywords in your content
• Avoid using too many codes that slow down site loading times
• Use alt tags to describe the contents of your images.
• Google and other search engines prefer responsive design.

Your users are the most important thing in any SEO strategy. You should not design your entire website around search engines. Prioritize the needs of your users and how your design will help them and then focus on the best SEO practices.

6. Test and tweak.

It is highly recommended that users test your website before you publish it online. This will ensure that it meets their requirements and functions properly. Ask customers and clients to take a look at the site. You can give them a list of tasks and questions to answer. 

Take, for example:

• What do you think about the page’s layout?
• Are you able to find the information you are looking for?
• Are you able to find the next steps or calls to action easily?
• What would you like to see changed on this page?
• What would you like to see on this page?
• Is there something distracting?

Conversion Rate Optimization also allows you to test new designs against existing ones using A/B testing. This would mean that half of your website traffic would see your current website layout, and the other half would see your new design. You can then measure engagement for both designs and determine if your new design has higher conversion rates.

Before you go live with your new website design, it is highly recommended that you test it. This will allow you to see if your new design will result in more engagement and conversions. You’ll be glad you took advantage of the testing.

Conclusion

Understanding your target audience’s needs and goals is key to creating a website that works. You will have higher engagement and conversion rates if you provide an experience that addresses both these needs. Digital is no exception. Any marketing strategy must be focused on the audience. Your website is the center of your digital marketing strategy. As such, it’s important that your visitors have a consistent, easy-to-use web experience that exceeds or meets their expectations.

Build a robust website with TFT’s Custom Web Application Development Services

TFT offers a range of Web Design and Development Services for small businesses to big corporate houses. Our Web Application Development Services are leveraged by our diverse and experienced team of website developers and UX/UI designers to ensure your website is top-notch and user-centric. 

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