Is Your Website Customer Ready? Web Design Frameworks For A Successful Website

Image: canva.com

Last week, I discussed steps to create more exposure and generate customer leads on

your digital advertising website. In today’s digital world, a company website is the most

important digital aspect for business visibility, connection, and growth. Today’s article

will cover a few foundational web design principles and how you can use them to

create an engaging website for your viewers.

The Basics Of Web Design

When it comes to website design, one of the most important aspects is how easy it is

for viewers to complete your desired action. Whether it is a sign-up, purchase, or

contact form, your website should be designed to guide your visitors to complete that action. To accomplish this, a website should apply the following concepts:

• A Focus on the Desired Action

• High User Experience

• Eliminate Distractions

• Avoid Blocks Of Text

• Follow Typical Website Conventions

Following the concepts above will help create a blueprint for you to work with while

deciding the tone and theme of your business. To fully understand how to apply these

principles, let’s take a look at each one.

A Focus on the desired action

As mentioned earlier, your primary focus for your website is to get your viewers to

complete an action. I will use email sign-ups for this example. For a website to

generate leads through email sign-ups, the action must be easy and obvious. Take a

look at this example of a website. The Guardian uses an organized layout, with obvious

and convenient sign-up options in many locations on the page. This focuses on their

goal, which is to collect subscribers via email.

The Guardian Newsletter Landing Page

Focus On User Experience

How the user feels about your website will directly impact how (and how long) they

interact with it. Just as The Guardian made the signing-up process straightforward and

obvious, their overall layout, color schemes, and navigation are user-friendly. When

constructing your site, ensure the colors, layout, and navigation are adding to your

focus, and not a distraction. One of the best ways to measure this is to have someone

take a look at your website and run a short user testing session. Ask them if the

website is easy to navigate and their overall thoughts on the experience.

Eliminate Distractions

Have you ever encountered a website that contained too much information and too

many elements? With all of the information your company has to provide, it can be

extremely easy to add too much text, images, or buttons. It is important to evaluate

what information the customer needs in order to make a decision. A good way to think about this is to ask yourself the following:

• What is my company offering?

• What makes my company stand out?

• How much does the viewer need to know?

When it comes to information on your website, sometimes less is more. You want to

provide enough information to inform your viewers, but not blocks of text or a complete

company life story. Doing so will allow readers to skim your website for information

without being overwhelmed.

Avoid blocks of Text

Blocks of text can be a major distraction for viewers. According to retired principal and

co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, Jakob Nielsen, website visitors spend very

little time reading written content. According to Nielsen’s study of website visitors and

their reading habits, readers typically spend “4.4 seconds for each additional 100

words.” This means that the more information you put on your page in one block, the

less likely your readers are going to fully read and understand your information.

Instead, focus on writing a brief Call To Action (CTA) to encourage viewers to take the desired action. Read more about the study here

Follow typical website conventions

Take a look at some websites of major companies and think about what they are

doing on their websites. Most likely, you will see a conversion-centered

approach, meaning the desired action is the focus of the page and is easy for

the viewer to see and interact with, a great user experience, an organized layout,

fitting color schemes, and little to no distractions. Most importantly, the website grabs and holds the attention of the viewer. For examples and inspiration

for your own website, take a look at these websites.

Conclusion

Building a consumer-focused website can be challenging in the oversaturated online

world, but it can be accomplished. By following some simple rules of web design, you

can create a website that inspires, motivates, and leads customers to do business with you. What will you create today? For more posts like these, check out last week’s post below.

Last Week's Post