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What are some of the essential tips for improving your web design? With a few exceptions, terrible websites are often no longer repulsive to the senses. Nowadays, a "poor website" is one that fails to generate traffic, convert users, or do any other necessary task.
A poor website can hinder business operations even when all other areas are operating at peak efficiency. Prospective clients leave websites when they feel out of place on them.
Websites provide a purpose beyond serving as a repository for your company's periodic updates. A successful website will increase demand, provide leads, and give your audience shareable material, but you have to get it there first.
Make sure you thoroughly comprehend your marketing funnel and the path you want your prospects to walk from beginning to end before developing or redesigning your website. This will facilitate website design by giving you a better understanding of the features your website requires.
The components of a website
Regardless of how they were constructed, all websites are composed of the same basic components. Your customers won't know if you created it from scratch, utilized an InDesign template, or even just wrote the raw code. They are more interested in whether your website appeals to them and speaks their language than anything else.
The majority of websites have standard elements that appear on every page. Although there are certain outliers that are industry-specific, such as e-commerce or web applications, the most prevalent and significant types are often used and should be recognized.
Value proposition
A value proposition in marketing is a succinct argument for why potential customers should work with you. A value proposition should make it very apparent what your business provides to its clients.
Value propositions differ from mission statements in that they adapt to match the needs of each audience, whereas mission statements are static document that never changes.
You may adjust your value proposition in each campaign to make sure it communicates to each audience if you've done your market segmentation. Smart consumers may respond favorably to a message that advertises a reduced price, for example.
Typography
Typography may be understood by someone who is not experienced with web design as simply "which font should I use here?" Typography is defined as "the style and appearance of printed content" by a dictionary. Our friends at CareerFoundry provide a better explanation, particularly for digital marketers:
The skill of organizing letters and words such that they are readable, understandable, and aesthetically pleasing to the reader is essentially what typography is. With the use of font style, look, and structure, typography strives to evoke particular feelings and communicate particular messages.
Strategic use of typography may captivate people and increase brand identification. Users will start to link a brand and typeface together when they see them used frequently by an organization or business, which promotes familiarity and speedier identification.
The user experience is improved by effective typography. Experts in typeface selection may choose typefaces and typographic components that subtly match a company's tone, style, and voice while yet being aesthetically beautiful and readable. Your brand is created by your font selection and usage.
Simple communications could be written in brief paragraphs with minimalistic fonts, but official-sounding messaging might use lengthy explanatory paragraphs with a professional typeface.
Technical images
Excellent ways to artistically express what you do without even using words include stunning technical visuals and process imagery. An effective technological image will convey a message clearly and without the need for much elaboration.
There are two main differences between technical and hero images. Technical images may be used anywhere on a web page and are intended to present the product and its advantages in a stylized manner, in contrast to hero images, which are intended to be a visually appealing method for consumers to land on a web page.
On their website, TSheets does a fantastic job at substituting tech photographs for hero images and symbols. Users of TSheets may be seen in the tech image above using timesheet management software on their workstations after using their phones to clock in and out. This technical representation earns an A+ because it accurately depicts what software users perform.
Call-to-action
To marketers, a call to action (CTA) is what a sales pitch is to salespeople. Marketers have the opportunity to ask their audience for anything in return.
A sales presentation has much higher stakes than a call to action. For example, "sign up for our newsletter" or "register for our free 14-day trial" are typical calls to action. In the worst instance, the user simply ignores it. No harm was done.
Graphically, calls to action frequently take the shape of buttons or other links that take the user to a different website, form, or download.
A call to action shouldn't require your consumers to carry hefty objects. Instead, it's preferable to provide meaningful methods to keep people interested without requiring them to commit much. Attempting to sell your product at the conclusion of every piece of content, for instance, is spammy.
Hero image
A hero image is any huge, banner-style picture that takes up the majority of the top of a web page so that visitors see it right away. A hero picture should be crisp and of excellent quality to avoid tiring the users or confusing them.
Hero photos act as a visually engaging landing element to positively influence consumers right away. A hero image may be just a picture or it can include text and buttons on top of it because of how versatile they are.
A hero image is any huge, banner-style picture that takes up the majority of the top of a web page so that visitors see it right away. A hero picture should be crisp and of excellent quality to avoid tiring the users or confusing them.
Hero images act as a visually engaging landing element to positively influence consumers right away. A hero image may be just a picture or it can include text and buttons on top of it because of how versatile they are.
Hero images may be anything, from technical graphics to video material, as long as it effectively communicates the brand's message. While some businesses use hero photos to promote their goods and highlight their advantages, others utilize them to foster feelings of trust or elicit strong emotions. Using visuals that are consistent with your brand is key.
Using hero images with high quality will cause the website to load more slowly. Make sure to adjust them to fit the screen.
Icons
Small, simple images called icons are employed in web design to speed up user comprehension of the material. To help their brand be recognized by more of their potential clients, several businesses employ symbols with a similar design throughout their whole portfolio.
Icons in web design are typically used for:
- accompany text on pages with a lot of text.
- draw focus on certain elements
- improving infographics
Paragraphs
It's crucial to maintain an intriguing and engaging design while designing websites. Wordy sentences, walls of text, and protracted paragraphs will only serve to bore your readers to death and lower the quality of your material.
Look for methods to express more with less. Keep in mind that you don't have to summarize the complete narrative on your landing page. If people are interested enough, they will click around and read the entire article.
A few succinct blurbs and words, together with some symbols, can help your visitors determine whether or not they want to learn more. Save the lengthier material for later in the marketing funnel and keep them brief and to the point.
Trust icons
Icons of a brand's customers and partners that they can trust are among the most popular sorts of iconography. It's simple to show your users that you're trustworthy by including their logos on your website. Social proof is a phenomenon that has a huge impact on marketing.
Social proof is the phenomenon of "they did it therefore I'm going to attempt it too," to avoid an excessively psychological explanation. Because of this, claims like "40,000 tech businesses in the US utilize our product" have more of an impact than "tech companies enjoy our software." Future clients must be aware that you have a loyal clientele.
Testimonials
Once more, social evidence is really helpful for enhancing the credibility of your brand. You're in luck if any of your company's clients are open to being highlighted on your website.
Depending on the kind of goods or services you provide, customer testimonials may come from another company or from a single person. The structure, however, can be whatever suits your particular situation the best.
You can format testimonials as follows:
- typical quote (with photo)
- testimonials in video
- postings on social media
- Google/Yelp reviews
- a case study (written by you about your customer)
- research case (written by your customer about you)
A customer's testimonial can be applied in a number of different contexts. The same material may be repurposed outside of your website and shared on social media or utilized in adverts to spread the word as much as possible.
For prospects who are searching for guidance, long-form testimonials like case studies are the ideal content. They could even go to the next pipeline step after hearing a tale of a buyer who is similar to them.
Essential Tips for Improving Your Web Design
There should be a purpose for every web page. Every page on your site needs to offer a certain benefit, whether you're increasing familiarity, offering information, or outlining your product.
Take into account the depth of your website. The goods and "about us" sections are a little bit deeper than your home page and content. As a result, these pages' appearance and content should correlate to the relevant level of the marketing funnel.
Starting from scratch? Check out the List of the Best Web Hosting Providers
Homepage
Your site should clearly explain the "big picture" of what your firm performs and the benefits of working with you.
Given that homepages are frequently the most frequented pages on any website, here is where your branding takes center stage. A strong homepage serves as a display of your brand's personality and premium services. Later on, the web pages handle the specifics.
Pro tip: A decent homepage should have excellent visual appeal. Finding a professional designer could be worthwhile, even if it's only for this page if this isn't your area of expertise.
Make careful to limit the number of wordy explanations on your homepage. It's OK to include a "what we do" statement and perhaps some content describing how your goods operate. The entire explanations should, however, be available in the appropriate locations, such as specialized pages on the business itself, the goods, the partners, etc. because it's simple to get carried away.
Include your icons there to spice up the material. Even your value statement may be broken up with appropriate iconography, which can also be utilized to denote various goods and services and give your homepage's design some breathing room.
A good homepage has easy navigation built in. Save the overwhelming number of alternatives and offers for the lower (in the funnel) pages so that visitors can choose the route that most appeals to them.
Not least, the homepage requires obvious CTAs to prevent visitors from reaching a dead end. After the value propositions, the first CTAs should appear, in the page's middle. So that users don't have to scroll back only to continue on the website, the second CTAs are placed at the bottom of the page. If your page is short, only provide one CTA at the bottom.
Landing pages
During the course of a marketing campaign, a landing page is a tactical page that is produced. A call to action (CTA) will provide the URL of a landing page in a newsletter, commercial, or another piece of material. Users who click the URL have their clicks recorded, allowing for analysis of the campaign's efficacy.
The strategic intent of landing pages prevents them from being as open-ended as homepages. A landing page that is a component of a marketing campaign only has one CTA and one specific offer.
The only goal of a landing page is to persuade visitors to convert by clicking the CTA. Content like paragraphs, business summaries, and other things might divert attention from the page's objective. Keep the content of your landing page straightforward and concise. That CTA is the key.
Typically, an all-star landing page looks somewhat like this:
A hero image to captivate users. Even if your hero picture is just a plain blue wave design, it still serves to establish the visual tone for the remainder of the page because first impressions count for a lot.
Title and subtext. The reason the users are on the page and why they ought to be interested in your offer is reiterated in your page title. The subtext draws the reader in and provides further information. The hero picture can be placed directly over the title and subtext.
Social proof. Customer testimonials are usually a fantastic idea, especially if they come with a custom image. The user is quietly reminded by this combination package that other people, just like them, also enjoy your goods. Social proof can be inserted between the value statement and the CTA itself as long as it doesn't detract from the design or aesthetic.
A value proposition to encourage users to opt-in. The value proposition has to be clear, and focused, and do an excellent job of articulating what your users will get if they click your CTA. The advantages you list should be customized for the audience of this specific landing page. Typically, the value proposition appears immediately beneath the main picture.
CTA. There is often only one call to action (CTA) on a landing page, and it may be placed either at the bottom of the page after all the information or right underneath the title on the hero picture.
Bonus: Check out this list of landing page builders.
About Us pages
Almost every business has a page on itself. An About Us page will often include information about the company's operations, history, personnel, and goal.
According to Blue Acorn, clients are five times more likely to make a purchase after visiting an About Us page than those who don't. Customers reported spending 22.5% more on their purchases after visiting an About Us page. Why is that so?
There are two dominant ideas, both of which may be true in certain circumstances. According to the first idea, clients who are about to make a purchase would frequently visit the About Us page to learn more about the company they will be purchasing from, mostly out of curiosity.
According to a different perspective, the About Us page is actually an engaging piece of content in and of itself, making visitors more likely to convert just based on what they see there.
The About Us page may be designed in a variety of ways. Some businesses adopt a graphical strategy, including images of their staff and work area. Other businesses focus on telling their narrative verbally, with images serving as supplemental material.
Whichever strategy you use, attempt to build the website around the queries that your potential clients could have:
- When did your business start?
- What city are you in?
- How many staff members work there?
- How would you describe the staff at your company?
- Are you genuinely a good fit for me and "the real deal"?
Final thought
Building a brand that supports your messaging and pulls potential buyers deeper into the marketing funnel is the key to successful web page design. The principles are different for e-commerce, talent portfolios, and B2B websites, but the marketing facets are constant.
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