The design of a website defines its marketing potential. If you want to power your website with high-converting abilities, you should focus on the design aspect, without fail. Often, a poor website design leads to low conversions, even if you have a powerful marketing team and excellent optimization of your pages. For a small business, it is important to integrate the right design tactics in the website. It should be easy to navigate, clearly branded and free from all sorts of interruptions. All these add to the converting abilities of a website.
Here are some effective web design principles and tricks that will boost up the conversion rate of your website.
Web design principle 1#: Easy understanding
Incorporate a clear value proposition
You would want to establish a distinctive identity of your brand. Your value proposition sets your brand apart from your competitors. Your overall design should revolve around this value proposition, so that your website reflects your uniqueness. Integrate necessary elements of web design, including color and graphics that establish your value proposition in the website.
Ideas must be communicated concisely and clearly
Online audiences have limited attention span. They want to scan through information and understand the theme quickly. A good website design is one where information is communicated in easily readable and understandable format. To achieve the same, you may
- categorize the information under relevant headings and sub headings,
- highlight key points using bullets
- eliminate flaky matter
- Keep the sentences short with proper pauses
Web designing principle: 2# Accessibility
Use a few images, large in size
Images speak louder than written materials, which makes it an indispensable element in your website. However, they should be relevant to the content. Instead of using too many images of small size, use a few large ones. They look more inviting and prominent. Retain a uniform style in the imagery you use in the website. For instance, if you use black and white pictures in your website, do not mix it up with other types of images. These images should be compatible with the overall design of your website.
Color combination
Well, you may have to do a little study on the psychology of colors in web design. Each color has its own essence and creates a particular mood. The colors you use in your website design should create a favourable impact on the psychology of your visitors. You also need to retain a consistency while using these colors. People should be able to recognize the patterns each time they see a product. Creative web designers always make use of optimal color combinations.
Typography and fonts
When you design your website, take care to keep your branding consistent. You may use logos or symbols related to your brand in all the pages. Make sure that they are of the same design, color and style even in case of eCommerce web designing. Varying design elements like fonts and image styles in the pages weaken the visual impact created by your website. It should remain uniform in the contact form and other elements you use on your website. Take care to place these design elements at the same position in each of your pages.
For website, the preferable fonts are from Sans Serif group like Verdana and Arial as they lack embellished finish and are easy on the eyes. 16px size is recommended for web text to facilitate ease of reading. The site design can be optimized by using 3 typefaces at the most in not more than 3 point sizes.
Simplify your navigation
Simplified navigation (breadcrumbs) or page hierarchy of your website enhances user experience (UX). You may include categories and subcategories to make the navigation easier. Your visitors should readily find the information they are looking for. Integrate the ‘chat’ option on your website; it increases the rate of signups by 30%. The navigation should enable your customers to get the desired information in minimum time. Cryptic websites make it difficult for the customers to access it. Keep it as simple as possible.
Web designing principles 3#: While spacing & layout designing
Use predictable layout
A predictable layout is ideal for small businesses to boost up their conversion rate. It makes it easy for the users to locate the desired information. For instance, phone numbers are generally placed on the right-hand corner at the top of the page. Logos occupy the left hand top corner. The services are placed horizontally in the website. Do not overload your website with unnecessary materials and widgets. Keep it clean, it enhances the conversion rate.
Maintain Site Design in F” Pattern
The common pattern in which readers browse through web content is “F” as has been revealed by eye tracker software’s reports. Commonly, text in screen’s right side is ignored as the reader quickly runs thought the screen’s top and left side. One of the important website design basics is to get webpages designed in smart manner to complement the reading pattern of readers and offer them optimum actionable information in one go.
Choose perfect grids layout as per suitable CSS framework
If you choose to organize your content in random manner across the webpage, it would convey an unprofessional look. As per web design principles of successful websites, content needs to be formatted in grid layout. This would make the text and multimedia to appear in sections or columns which would adhere to a specific line which is aesthetically pleasing.
When selecting a grid layout suitable for your website, you should not get influenced by easy to implement version. The layout must be strategically chosen for ensuring that some key optimizations, as discussed below, have been done.
- All web elements are visually aligned as per your site design
- Proper strategies are in place for horizontal and vertical alignments
- All elements must be balanced as per the need of the topic
- All site objects must be synced properly
You can present the content on a web page in visually appealing manner with the help of grid layout. All elements can be collaborated and synchronized for optimum impact on site visitor. Grid layout must be implemented by an experienced web designer for best effect.
Minimize the site load time (website speed)
Visitors get distracted by sites which takes longer time to load completely. In order to ensure that the website load time is minimal,
- Optimize the size and scale of images on page
- Combine code under a centralized CSS
- Optimize JavaScript file size for reduction in HTTP requests generated
- Compress CSS, JavaScript and HTML for expeditious page loading
Powerful call to action (CTA)
The problem with most under-performing websites is the mildness in their call to action. The words should be powerful, yet regulated. The call to action elements should be placed in the centre of your page. The button or link for call to action has to be at the left of the related text, or in the centre. You should also consider the number of call to action elements in each page. It should not resemble aggressive marketing. Also be sophisticated with your tone.
Reduce the number of clicks
In order to increase the conversion rate of your website, you must ensure the comfort of your users. Reduce the number clicks to the minimum. They should get the required information in least number of steps. Besides, it is wise to keep away interruptions and pop-ups. Your users get irritated when these elements come up on the page. These delays push back the checkout process by a considerable time. In short, keep away interruptions and minimize the number of clicks.
Simplified design forms
This is one of the most vital tips for designing a website layout.The design elements should be kept simple, so that the text gets its necessary attention. Too much caricature with the design grabs full attention from the viewers. In these cases, the most important information in the form of text remains ignored. A logical and simple design, incorporating the appropriate elements increases the conversion rates. Designs are important but no one places order without reading the text. So, make sure that the text never fails to get attention.
Build mobile friendly websites
Responsive websites are user friendlier to mobile devices. Around half of the global internet users get access to websites through mobiles, smartphones and tablets. You should keep your website design compatible with these devices. Developing a website solely for desktop users simply deprives your business of half the targeted customers. When you make your website accessible to mobile users, the conversion rate is likely to increase. So, responsive website designing is something smart to do.
Web designing principles 4#: Regular testing
Test at regular intervals
One of the essential tips to maintain a website optimally is to resort to the philosophy of Test Early and Test Often (TETO). The usability tests must be conducted periodically by site owners for seeking insights into flaws, design aspects and layout related factors that may be compromising the site performance. Your site may often run into problems. Regular testing would get everything streamlined and can moderate the challenges posed by issues. Your site visitors would enjoy the experience of staying longer on your web-pages. In order to sustain the interest of site visitors, you need to update and upgrade the site at regular intervals.
While testing the webpage or site, you need to consider certain key aspects.
- Test the experience of one user at the project start
- Don’t wait for feedbacks of more number of users before initiating updates
- Always seek out scope for improvement
- Note down factors that drive traffic and improve sales; focus on those areas
- If flaws are rectified in real time, your expenses would be significantly lesser
- Fixing issues after they have amplified can cost you dearly
- Test frequently even if everything seems ok
- Design, test and fix and keep iterating this cycle
- Certain minor issues can get overlooked during initial testing and implementation
- Address all issues irrespective of scale and importance comprehensively
These guidelines will enable you to make your websites highly converting. You may hire an experienced and reliable responsive website designing company for this purpose. A strategic website has immense marketing potential; you simply need to design it flawlessly to increase its captivating power.