By Sharon Lee
Creating a website that becomes a major revenue driver can be fun. Or it can be a nightmare.
There are some basic guidelines that can be applied to any design process and, if done so correctly, will make the design process easier and more likely to achieve the results you want.
Here are some rules that are most critical to modern web design:
1. Begin by mapping out the user experience
The best websites hold users’ hands and guide them through a specific workflow. The best websites are so intuitive, users don’t have to think at all in order to find their way around it—they are able to navigate through it on their first visit as quickly and nimbly as if it were their tenth.
So, how do you accomplish this?
First, resist the urge to include everything on your site. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about what information they’d want to find, in what order, rather than what information you want to share with them.
Then, think about what visual cues you can incorporate to draw eyes to the right places at the right times. I’m talking about things like large, high-contrast fonts, sharp visuals and specific trigger words users will be looking for, such as About, Contact or even Start Here.
78% of website views are happening outside of desktops. This means we’ve officially reached the point where you shouldn’t just be considering mobile devices in our design, but designing for them.
And that 78%? It’s only going to increase as mobile navigation improves, and as more and more devices are released. Tablets are the latest craze to throw the design world for a loop, and smart TVs might just be next.
3. Keep copy lean
Back when the phrase “content is king” started lighting up the internet world, some people accidentally misinterpreted it as “write a lot.”
As the internet becomes more and more sophisticated, people have grown progressively less tolerant of the word-vomit-style sites that used to be the norm. Now, we’re thrilled with websites that are bold enough to fill a screen with nothing but a single sentence—and we’re happy to scroll through five extra screens to read five more sentences (which, if they’d all been presented on one screen, we might have skipped).
4. Find a story that resonates
You’ve probably heard it at least a thousand times: good storytelling is critical for good web design. By telling users a story, instead of just checking off pieces of information, you’re engaging them in a real, human way, and you’re also helping them understand and remember your message.
The trick is to find a story that resonates with and intrigues people. Your story is not the history of your business (not even if that’s a cool story about how a couple of young, inexperienced guys launched something great out of their garage…or what have you).
Most importantly, your story must do two things:
- relate directly to your target audience’s problems
- present a way that the target audience can make their lives better.
5. Show your authenticity
Avoid stock photography as much as possible. Instead, use photos of things we found around your office, like shoes, mugs and office tchotchkes. Alternatively, use images that are descriptive and unique to your business.
Why does authenticity matter? Because in today’s marketplace, it’s not the biggest, strongest, most well-established companies that win—it’s the relatable companies. The ones that seem to understand us, not just as prospects, but as fellow human beings.
6. Remember that the site isn’t done when it’s live
I can’t stress this one enough. Too often, people view the go-live date for a new design treated as a finish line, when it’s really just another step in the journey. There are plenty of things you can and should be doing with your website post-live to both maintain and optimize your web presence.
Designing a website involves many factors and, when done right, produces results. There are pitfalls, however, and I’m hoping this post will help you avoid them.
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