You just launched your new startup, and things are looking promising. You followed the startup tips, and you're quickly establishing yourself as a possible contender in your market. However, your website could use some serious design work. In short, you need to create a beautiful website to solidify your presence in your niche.
But what does it take to create quality websites that pull in eyeballs, captivate customers, and help move people through the marketing funnel?
Let's dive in and see how to create a beautiful website for maximum exposure.
Keep It Simple (And Consistent)
When you start making your website, it's important not to overburden visitors with too much information. Your brand could be flawless in quality but have a messy, busy site design, and it sends the wrong messages.
When considering the branding in a website, keeping things consistent is a key to your success. You may have heard 'less is more.' While this isn't a universal M.O. to have with picking out elements of your website, it still has a lot of power overall. Power rooted directly in psychology.
Studies performed by Swiss Psychologists at the University of Basel found that more simplistic, less intense websites performed much better than bold, brash, and loud designs. Additionally, a customer's first impression occurs within milliseconds of the website initially loading.
To sum it all up, tone down the colors, keep it simple, and be aware of how quickly a first impression occurs.
Create Attractive Visual Aids
Everyone loves a good visual aid. Whether it's a pie chart, bar graph, or comprehensive infographic, seeing raw data in graphic form communicates multiple ideas in a digestible way.
Communicating ideas through images and video is a powerful way of pulling viewers in and hopefully helping them move down the marketing funnel.
More importantly, visual elements on your website should encourage the visitor to engage with your products and services.
Fonts Are Important, Too
You have a considerable collection of blog copy ready to launch on your website. The only issue? You can't decide on a proper font.
Along with graphics and images, fonts are fantastic ways to flaunt creativity and promote good UX/UI.
A big mistake businesses make is choosing too many fonts for your text. If you decide on multiple fonts and implement them in a haphazard, inconsistent way (remember the importance of consistency), it can result in reading difficulty.
Choose text themes and fonts that gel well with one another on your page. When you choose fonts that click with both the content and the website as a whole, it can make a huge difference in how customers view your business.
And whatever you do, don't use Comic Sans and Papyrus.
Remember To Test Your Website
A/B testing is crucial to launching a website for your business. A/B testing is the method in which UX/UI designers use to determine which version of a website works better. Following on the heels of creating responsive website elements, testing ensures everything is running smoothly.
When designing a website filled with content, web copy, and graphics, it's more important than ever to ensure everything is working optimally.
Master the Call To Action (CTA)
We love a good call to action.
Calls to action encourage website visitors to directly engage with your business. With that in mind, what action would you like the website visitor to take? Buy your main product? Sign up for a mailing list? When designing website elements, including attractive calls to action to spur on visitors is a must. Include these actions, (Sign Up Now, Donate, etc.) to responsive web elements to encourage the reader.
Another valuable outlet for calls to action is your website's meta description. Usually, you write a meta description to briefly outline your page's content. After a short summation, include a call to action to get the user to make that all-important 'click.'
Create a Beautiful Website With a Website Template (If It's Your First Time)
When giving web design your first shot, it's a great idea to use website templates. Some quality resources for quick and effortless web design are Canva or even WordPress. These two are some of the leading choices website designers have at their disposal.
Canva and other options give designers the possibility to customize colors, layouts, and more. It's actually pretty comprehensive. Not to mention impressive.
But if this isn't your first foray into web design, it's well worth going the custom route.
Why Build a Custom Website?
When it comes to website templates vs. custom-made options, a few stark differences become apparent early on.
For example, while many website templates are fantastic beginning options for quickly crafting online content, creating a custom site brings a lot of benefits.
The number one benefit of custom-made websites is comprehensive brand identity. The downside to pre-made website templates is that many other businesses will likely use the same formula to advertise goods and services.
With a custom look and feel, you set yourself apart from the rest of your competitors.
Wrapping Things Up
When it comes right down to it, crafting an attractive website isn't rocket science. Much of the process includes common sense graphic design choices. You should still approach website design as a crucial arm of your business, however. When in doubt, keep it simple, consistent, test your elements, and use a good font.
Follow the steps to create beautiful websites, and we guarantee you'll be turning potential customers into solid conversions.