The goal for every business owner with a website is to make it attractive to potential customers. An effective website design might not be something potential customers notice immediately, but they will definitely notice a poor design. Whether you’re creating your website from scratch or revamping an old design, here are some do’s and don’ts to consider.

Do: Ensure Every Piece Of Content Is Valuable

Your content writing is one of the most valuable components of your website design. Whether you’re looking at your homepage, location pages, service pages, or even blog posts, wordiness is your enemy. Clear and concise content that’s easy to understand will be more valuable than long blocks of text. People likely won’t even read those blocks of text anyway. Tell people everything they need to know about your company and products or services in as few words as possible. This will ensure every word is meaningful so consumers will find value in your content writing.

Don’t: Go Overboard With Fonts And Colors

Designing your website can be fun when you think about all the different fonts and colors you can mix and match. However, it’s also one of the worst mistakes you can make for the effectiveness of your site. While it’s ok to use a creative font for your logo or headline of your website, keep the vast majority of the text in a basic font that’s easy to read. Colors should reflect your brand and not be hard on the eyes.

Do: Make It Easy For Site Visitors To Navigate

Seamless navigation is often an overlooked component of an effective website design. Think about why your customers visit your website and what they will click on to find the information they need. Start with clear headers with links to point them in the right direction. Most of the time this will include products, services, FAQs, your blog, and other essential links. Having too many links could make them seem less important, so make sure every link is meaningful.

Don’t: Compromise Functionality For Aesthetics

A key to effective web development is simple functionality. But a mistake business owners often make is creating a pretty and attractive website without considering functionality. Common issues include using horizontal scroll bars, having a background that makes the text difficult to read, and more.

Do: Use Images To Break Up Text

Images can be incredibly valuable to enhance your website design. When used effectively, they can break up chunks of text to make it easier to digest for readers. Images can also highlight products or services to bring your words to life. People tend to respond well to useful images, and even videos, so they should be considered a priority in your website design.

Don’t: Use Too Many Images That Slow Response Times

For as valuable as images are in an effective website design, too many images can create the opposite effect. Pay attention to the number of images on your website and the sizes of those images. If you notice the response time on your website has declined, then you need to consider removing some. This goes back to the point about prioritizing functionality over aesthetics. Choose your images carefully and only use the most valuable ones so they are more meaningful to your visitors.

Do: Create Clear Calls To Action

Never assume your customers know exactly what to do on your website and will spend a lot of time seeking the information they need. The truth is if you don’t have a clear call to action, they’ll leave your website for a competitor’s quicker than you think. You don’t have to blast your call to action in a big red pop-up button, but you should have it in the header, footer, and a few times throughout the text on any given page. Whether you want them to call, text, email, fill out a form, or anything else, be clear with your instructions.

Don’t: Overcomplicate Your Website Design

Designing a website can seem a little overwhelming. One of the main things to remember is if it seems like your website design is too complicated, it probably is. Keep things simple and subtle as much as possible. People won’t stay on your website long because of a lot of fancy images, fonts, and colors. But they will stay on it longer if you provide valuable content and insights that solve problems they have. 

Do: Hire An Experienced Website Design Team To Cover All Bases

Working with an experienced web development team is one of the best investments you can make as a business owner. Experienced teams have designed numerous websites and know what features to include and what to avoid. Going back to the point of not overcomplicating your website design, keep things simple by hiring a website design team to do the work for you. 

Our team at iwebcontent has the expertise to handle your website design no matter what it looks like now. We have experience in many different industries and want to help your brand outshine the rest. After a brief consultation with our team, you’ll see the value we bring to the table. The time is now to contact us and learn how we can help you revamp your website design.