· UI developer experts at Fasthosts have detailed tips to help you design a professional website
In the modern business world, your website is an integral part of establishing your brand and customers. After all, it can make or break your business.
According to a recent report, 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience (1).
To support, Fasthosts reveal top tips to help you design a professional website and to elevate your business to where it needs to be.
How to design a professional website
1. Keep it free of clutter
Your homepage is the first thing most visitors will see, and if they’re bombarded with too much information, they might not be able to find what they’re looking for.
While your homepage is the first port of call, your visitors need to know where to go – so you need to include clear calls to action throughout your pages. These need to grab your user’s attention the most, as they usually align with what your website is trying to achieve – for example “Buy now” or “Join our mailing list” are clear actions that guide the user. Ensure there are plenty of these, and that they’re the most noticeable thing on the page.
2. Experiment, but stick to what’s known
Take a light touch approach to prevent over-stylising your website.
That’s not to say that every professional website does the same thing when it comes to design – however those that deviate the most are usually making a statement or trying to deliberately push the boundaries of design.
For beginners, or those who are trying to drive and maintain as much traffic as they can, following established design patterns is a safer bet.
3. Consistency is key
Consistency will help to ensure that your website looks coherent across all web pages.
The fonts and colours you choose to populate your website are key, and tie strongly into your branding. The fonts you use as part of your website design should match those that you use on all of your other branded material.
4. Make it accessible
One vital aspect of design that is often overlooked is making sure a website is accessible. You could have a brilliantly designed, professional website, but there are many people who use accessibility tools such as screen readers. If your website doesn’t contain ways for screen readers to accurately ‘see’ the content, you’d be alienating a section of your potential user-base.
5. Iterate, iterate, iterate
Chances are that your first design is not going to be what you end up with. This is a good thing! Rather than sticking to what you think is going to be the right design, make sure you try out different layouts, navigation options, and colour schemes as you create your business website.
And if you’re not sure, show your design to colleagues and friends, especially when trying to work out if the website is usable. If you’re building the website, you’ll know the ins and outs of navigation, so getting around will be second nature to you – but someone who isn’t familiar might find it a maze.
