If a business doesn’t have a website in 2021, does it even exist? We kid—sort of. Today, more than half the human population uses the internet and visits many websites each day. Last year, more than 85,000 businesses launched online stores in order to continue serving customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this kind of volume and consumer demand, it’s important for brands to have a website with compelling visual design. That means that consumers see something consistent, easily navigable, and visually appealing.
Creating a website design that draws people in
When it comes to first impressions, we all know how important it is to make a good one, fast. Studies have shown that it only takes 17 milliseconds for customers to form an opinion about your brand simply by scrolling through your business website and assessing its overall visual design. If customers don’t feel that your site is organized or visually appealing, they’re likely to leave and never return. So what can you do to keep customers from clicking out? We’ve listed four easy steps to take to make sure that your website’s design is leaving a positive first impression.
How to make your website’s visual design appealing
Keep your website design simple
Some brands feel that including every detail about their business on their website will help customers find the information they’re looking for in one, simple Google search. While this can be true, cramming too much information into one landing page will only cause headaches and stray potential new customers from ever considering your brand again. Your website’s visual design should be simple, meaning that your layout should be clean, organized and easy to read.
Make your website design mobile friendly
More and more consumers are using their mobile devices rather than a laptop or desktop to access the internet. It’s predicted that within the next five years, nearly three quarters of the world population will only use their handheld devices to access online information. This should tell you that if your website is not yet accessible to this demographic of customers, you could be losing out on a lot of business.
Here are three easy ways to make sure your site is mobile-friendly:
1. Compress your images. Website speed can determine where your brand’s site will rank in a Google Search. If your website is being weighed down by large image or video files, you could be missing out on a large number of viewers.
2. Include a search function. If your website has a large and complex menu, your visitors might feel overwhelmed. Including a search bar on your site allows your audience to find exactly what they’re looking for without having to deal with an overwhelming amount of clickable items.
3. Build two separate websites instead of launching one, responsive site. If you create one website for desktop use and one for mobile use, you only need to use the assets that you think are important to both groups of users. These seven mobile website tools can help you get started on building a mobile-only site.
Be consistent with visual design
The design elements of your business’s website should be consistent with your brand image. Logos, photos, videos, text font, and colors should all be uniform to who you are and what you have to offer customers. This allows your audience to better recognize your brand and associate your business name with a specific visual style. The last thing that you want is for your customers to visit your website, browse through your tabs for an extended period of time, and completely forget which business they’re seeking information from. To ensure that this doesn’t happen to you, include subtle visual reminders of your brand throughout your site.
Include images and videos
Videos and images on a website do more than just look nice on a webpage. Both allow and encourage browsers to engage with your brand. According to WordStream, landing pages that include videos can boost conversions by over 80%. This is a great way to retain your audience, enhance user experience, capture browsers’ attention and encourage them to stay on your site for a longer period of time. You’ll want to ensure that your images are optimized for quick loading times, and that your videos are embedded properly.
Focus on a call to action
A call to action (CTA) is a prompt on your website that encourages your audience to take some form of action. This could be an invitation to sign up for your monthly email list or an appointment pop-up form. Whatever the desired action, you should make sure that it is clear and concise. If you’ve already been successful in attracting customers to your website, seal the deal by creating a quick and easy ‘next step’ for your audience to follow. An effective CTA can help your audience know how to take that next step in the purchase-making process, which can in turn help you see an increase in sales.
In order to attract new customers and beat out your brand’s competition in 2021, your business website should be consistent, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. Creating a positive first impression through website design is guaranteed to attract new customers and increase sales.Try these five steps to improve the overall look of your website today.
Contact us for more information on creating a new business website or updating your existing website. We can also help update your visual brand if you need direction.
Resources:
- 85,000 businesses launch online shops as B2C and B2B ecommerce surge in lockdownFirst
- Impressions Matter: Why Great Visual Design is Essential
- Nearly three quarters of the world will use just their smartphones to access the internet by 2025
- Is Your Site Mobile Friendly?
- 7 of the Best Mobile Website Builder Tools in 2021
- 10 Ways to Effectively Use Visuals for Your Website
- 37 Staggering Video Marketing Statistics for 2018
