In today’s business scenario, where most of the customers research on Internet before purchasing a product/service, having a good website is very essential. Different factors like the aesthetics, functionality, usability and the like play a crucial role in making a successful online presence. In this article we have discussed the major things that you need to take care while designing a website.
Objective
First and foremost you should be clear about the objective of your website. Decide on whether you are selling a product/service in the website or providing information on various topics or just want to have a static business website. Having an objective in mind helps you design a website that rightly serves your potential customers.
Aesthetic aspect
Good design and layout is very important for every website. The aesthetic aspect of each web page plays an important role in retaining visitors, because the very first thing that strikes a visitor is the appearance of the website. For this reason, your web design should be kept simple and neat with balanced colors. Avoid using too dark colors or too light colors.
Usability of the website
Usability of the website plays a major role in engaging the visitors. If your website is difficult to use people will leave the website within seconds. Especially, the usability of home page plays a crucial role as it is the place where visitors will learn about the company, what it offers and what can a visitor do on the site. It should be easy for every visitor to go to the inside pages and come back with less number of clicks. By providing proper tools like search tab, product filters and with systematic navigation you can make it easy for the visitors.
Navigation
Navigation is another point you need to take care of. Ensure that navigation is easy with no broken links. Proper navigation makes it easy for visitors to avoid getting lost somewhere in the the site. It avoids the need to use the back button. Thus, your website should have a navigation menu on each page. This will help the visitors go to any page and come back to the landing page easily.
Content
Good content is always a good thing to have on the website. It not only draws more visitors to the website but also enhances its credibility. Post content that is original, authentic, relevant, unique, informational and educative. The content needs to be free from errors of any sort, typos or grammar issues. The fonts for writing text should be easily readable: with appropriate size and eye-friendly colors. Have enough white space around text and between lines. This will make sure the text is clearly visible. Regularly update the website with fresh content.
Functionality
No matter how great your website design and layout are, if it doesn’t work properly all your effort goes in vain. So, make sure that your website is free from the elements that affects its functionality. For instance, avoid using large images and backgrounds that may affect the page load time. Even the flash based animations and videos could slow down the page loading. Also see to it that your website doesn’t have any broken or non-working links.
You cannot afford to ignore these points when designing your website, whether for business or for blogging. If you are more concerned about your core business and do not find much time to concentrate on these things, you can take help of professional web designers who can design effective websites for your business.