Designing a website for people who have never done it, can seem a bit scary. I’m sure there are a bunch of questions you are having like, “what will get traffic to my site” or “I want my site to work properly to make customers happy”. These are all important questions to ask. I’m going to give out some tips and tricks on how to make an effective website.
Building a successful website is both a skill and an art form. There are a lot of different variables that you have to worry about. I’m going to make a couple list to make you feel more comfortable when it comes time for you to build your own website.
Let’s Start with what NOT to do:
- Add a bunch of color: This could bring attention to your site yes, but it could be bad attention. You want your customers to be able to see things clearly and not over stimulate them
- Too many ads: Starting out you probably won’t have to worry about this too much. But as your company becomes bigger you could take advantages of the ads. Too many ads are a bad thing. People will get frustrated and just leave your site before finding out what they want to know.
- Big Bulky Pictures: I know what you’re thinking, Bigger is better though right? WRONG! Big pictures will slow your site down and can make your site even buffer when scrolling. So stick to the smaller clearer pictures.
- Over Compensating: Don’t let your website make you feel like you have to over compensate for your business. If you are a small business, it’s okay to have a website that is reflective of that. Customers will come to your site because of the service you provide. Not because your website looks like its from the future and you paid big bucks for someone to make it.
These “Don’ts” are going to save you a lot of time and headache when you are first starting you design. People tend to want to go big or go home when they first start doing anything. But in reality slow and steady wins the race. You can always go back and work on your website and update it as your business grows.
Now for the Do’s for you web design:
- Speed kills: The fast the website you have the better customer review you will have. Studies have shown that the longer people have to wait, even if it’s one second, the least likely they are going to be spending money. So ensure that your site is scary fast.
- Keep It Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.): Keep the design nice and simple. white space is going to be your friend! It’s common for people to want to fill up every inch of a website with something. The more space you have ultimately the better because it won’t strain the customers eyes when they are browsing your site.
- Put important things up top: As soon as your customer opens your website, what do you want them to see? That should be the first thing they should see. If you are having an awesome sale then make that the first thing they see! The more scrolling someone has to do the less likely they are going to see it, or even buy it for that matter. So put all of your big sell ticket items on the front page
- If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: When you go to a website where is the search bar, or the menu? Make your website like everyone else’s. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Theres a reason that every search bar is in the upper right hand corner, and the menus it in the upper left, because it works!
