The average adult spends almost seven hours on the internet per day; this includes all types of streaming and platforms. You want to make sure some of that browsing time includes visiting your website as a business!
One of the most important things you can do to make sure you’re getting traffic is designing a website that represents your business and is inviting. There are so many ways to personalize your website and make it unique. But all of those options can make it challenging to know which web design tips to follow and which to leave behind.
We’re here to make it as easy as possible for you to create the best design for website traffic. So follow these 15 tips for the best results and the most active site!
1. Create A Design That's Easy On The Eyes
All of the most popular websites have one thing in common, no matter their subject; they are easy on the eyes. But, unfortunately, bad design choices can make it hard to distinguish what’s happening on the screen.
Every design decision should be made with the ultimate goal of making the page look pleasing and unique at the same time.
An easy way to do that is to choose one color palette and stick with it through everything. This makes the whole site flow together and develop a strong brand identity. That palette should include some calm colors for the backgrounds. Harsh colors (like red or yellow) make it difficult to read type, so avoid those as backgrounds.
2. Provide Valuable Content
No design, no matter how amazing, can take the place of valuable content. A design package is only as good as the information it shares, so make sure everything you add to the website has a purpose.
That purpose will depend heavily on the type of business you own, but it should always give something to the visitor. That could mean information that makes using your product or service more intuitive. Or it could mean ways to incorporate your business into their daily life. It could also mean bringing joy or fun into an otherwise dull day.
Whatever you decide, the content shouldn’t be added to fill out the website. Avoid nonsense at all costs!
3. Include A Search Function
When you’re adding all of that valuable content to your website, you want to make it as accessible for your visitors as possible. That means you must add an easy-to-use search function to the foundation.
The most important aspect of a working search function is adding keywords to the content so visitors can find what they need. This is a process that needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully. It shouldn’t be rushed and done halfway, or else you’ll be left with more confused visitors than anything.
Often, business owners find getting professional web design help through this process to be beneficial.
4. Focus on Your Specialty
Since the internet is such a broad, vast place covering every facet of every industry, it’s easy to spread yourself too thin. It’s a common misconception among business owners that they should try to have their hands in every aspect of their industry. But the opposite is often more true; focusing on a specialty within the industry helps you become an expert.
When you have a clear purpose, those who visit your website will quickly be able to see what you can offer them.
This focus makes it easier to find and engage customers through the whole process, all the way to purchasing. They’ll be less likely to get distracted and lost with extra information or services you don’t want to offer.
5. Integrate Keywords Throughout Your Site
After you’ve figured out what niche area you want your website to portray, it’s essential to make sure it’s searchable. This is the only way those potential customers will be able to find you among all the other options.
The best way to do that is by adding search keywords strategically through your site.
There is an actual science to picking the right words to add to drive website traffic. Figuring out these skills will translate to a lot of success as your website continues. This is another excellent way to get help from your professional website design team.
6. Add Attractive Graphics
Websites are an inherently visual medium, so the graphics you choose to add are critical.
Graphics are really what the visitor looks at first, and they have the power to either draw a visitor in or lead them away. The pictures you use should be high-quality, clear and crisp. It should be obvious what is being portrayed and how that relates to your business offering.
It’s also a good idea to mix up the graphics used on your site. Think about adding other elements like graphs or charts to help share the information. The key is making sure it all works together towards the same end goal.
7. Use Modern Typography
A design element that is often overlooked, especially when building a website, is typography. The simple choice of which font to use on your website can drastically change the overall look and appeal.
So many elements go into choosing just the right font. It’s helpful to have a professional design eye there to steer you in the right direction.
Ultimately, the most essential aspect of the font should be that it’s easy to read from a distance. This way, there’s no confusion over your message. It should represent your brand and fit with the identity and story you are working to build. There’s room for just a few fonts in a website, so choose wisely!
8. Create Exciting Landing Pages
With so much emphasis placed on the content and substance of your website, it’s easy to see why many types of websites skip the landing page altogether. They want you to jump right to the meat and potatoes of their business. But this is a huge mistake that you should avoid.
The landing page is the perfect opportunity to introduce your visitor to your business and help them get the general vision. The, once it’s done its job, the visitor can look further for the information or product they need.
Make this page fun, exciting, and intriguing. It should leave the visitor wanting to know just a little bit more.
9. Lean Towards Educating Website Visitors
If you’re building a website for any business, the end goal is to make some kind of sale from your visitors. This is an important goal that should be brought into every design decision.
But it shouldn’t be the only goal.
Customers can feel when you’re just trying to push a product or a service on them. Instead of doing that, lean more onto your educational roots and try to be a resource for them. Both of these aims work hand in hand and help develop the customer’s trust in your voice and offerings.
10. Streamline Website Navigation
Nothing is more frustrating than working through confusing navigation on a website. Most people want to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible without being led all around to too many extra pages.
This is why streamlining your navigation system is so important. The easier it is to work through, the more likely the visitor will return. In addition, they’ll know that they can come to your website for more without worrying about wasting their time. One of the best ways is to create sections with many specific sub-sections.
The more compartmentalized, the better in many cases when it comes to creating a navigation route.
11. Integrate Social Media
These days designing a website isn’t enough to reach as wide of an audience as you need, even with the best search optimization available. You also need to integrate social media platforms as well.
Social media plays a significant role in businesses across every industry. It’s the most common way potential customers find, reach, and connect with new companies that fit their needs or interests. These connections are why it’s so essential that your website and social platforms are all connected.
This way, a customer can seamlessly move from one to the other and never miss an update from your business. It’s as easy as linking to your handles and having your website attached to the social bio.
12. Develop Interactive Elements
The last thing you want is for someone to visit your website and be so bored that they leave altogether. A great way to combat that feeling is to create some interactive elements to add to the design.
It’s important not to overcomplicate this piece of advice. You don’t want to include something that will overwhelm the visitor or the website design itself. Instead, this kind of element should enhance the other features and bring the visitor closer to the end goal of making a purchase.
A little bit of interaction makes the visitor feel like it’s a personal space and not a cold, general one.
13. Invite Guest Contributors
Sometimes building a website and then keeping it running can feel stale. It’s hard to come up with content that feels fresh and new all on your own all the time.
We highly suggest bringing in guests to contribute to your content in ways like blog posts or editorial comments.
It livens up the whole space, and makes it feel more like a fun place to hang out and collaborate than one that is just spewing information all the time. The key is to be highly selective in who you invite to contribute. They must match your brand and be appealing to your audience, or else the whole exercise will have the opposite effect.
14. Build Relationships
Along the same lines, a primary focus for increasing website traffic should be doing all you can to develop relationships with your visitors. This creates a loyalty effect where they’ll be tied to your brand for longer because they feel affection for it.
One of the best ways to build those kinds of relationships is to show the company’s personal side.
That can look like more behind the scenes looks at the process or introducing the prominent team members. Whatever you can to bring out the human side and show how the company and the visitor are the same. This kind of brand loyalty pays off tenfold over years of visits from the same customers.
15. Make Your Website Fun
So much of business can become too serious. It becomes stuffy and boring and just another thing to cross off the to-do list. But building and designing a website should be the opposite; it should be fun.
When you have fun completing this task, it will show in the final product. Customers and potential customers will be able to tell that the business brings joy and want to have that in their lives. The most exciting and engaging things are the ones that make us smile and laugh, so bring that into your design for the best results.
There is a way to share all the pertinent information and still have a good time; try to find that!
Web Design Tips to Draw People In
These days, it’s challenging for a business to survive without having a website. This is because so many people turn to the internet to do research before making a purchasing decision or interacting with a company.
Following these web design tips will give you the best chance to have a functioning, beautiful, and fun website. It’s the best of all worlds for both you, your returning customers, and the new ones just finding out about your services. You’ll be proud every time someone new finds your site, knowing they’ll get a good understanding of who you are and what your company is about.
If you’re interested in getting more personalized help with your website, contact us today!
