Are you noticing a higher bounce rate after reviewing your website’s analytics?

A high bounce rate means people are leaving without clicking around. As your bounce rate increases, your Google search engine ranking will plummet. A low search engine ranking will make it difficult for you to reach new customers.

Since over 50% of website traffic starts on a search engine, you need a higher ranking. Meanwhile, almost 40% of people will stop engaging with an aesthetically unappealing website. Instead of losing those customers, reconsider your website design.

Whether you’re thinking of re-doing your existing website or ready to start fresh, keep these eight tips in mind. By learning how to design a website, you can wow your customers and draw them in.

Don’t fall behind the competition. Instead, get a step ahead with this wow-worthy website today!

1. Brand Consistency

First, take a moment to consider your company’s brand. Have you established brand guidelines for your business? If not, now is the time to start.

Your brand should include your:

• Logo
• Font styles
• Photo and imagery styles
• Color palette
• Voice
• Tone
• Personality

It’s important to keep your brand consistent across every page. Otherwise, visitors might think they’re visiting another website. They could also fail to associate your website with other branded materials.

As you use your brand throughout your website design, keep it simple. A minimalistic, clean website will keep people focused on your content.

It can also improve the user experience by offering ease of use.

After all, people don’t want to dig through your website, searching for what they need. Instead, make it easy for them!

Imagery

Imagery (photography, illustrations, videos, and other graphics) can communicate to your target audience as well.

Make sure the images you use are high-quality and crisp. Avoid using stock photography if you can. Using unique imagery for your business can make you look more authentic.

Imagery often draws the eyes first. In other words, images might make the first impression for your brand. Make sure they add to your website and express what your business is about. 

Type

What fonts are you using throughout your website? Make sure each font you use is easy to read. At the same time, you want your headers to attract the reader’s attention.

Limit yourself to three different fonts for your website.

Color

As you use color throughout your website, think about the emotions you’re triggering. Evoking an emotional response can help you keep people on the page. It’s also helpful when influencing customer behaviors.

For example, yellow conveys optimization and clarity. Green, on the other hand, communicates peace, health, and growth. That’s why you see green used for Whole Foods, Publix, and Tropicana.

Red can communicate excitement and youth, while blue can elicit trust and strength.

Think about the message you’re trying to send. When you choose your brand colors, try to stick to five or fewer. Make sure the colors complement one another as well.

2. Easy to Use Navigation

How are people getting around your website? Navigation is an important component to consider when building the best website design. Otherwise, people might get lost on your website. 

Organize your pages in a hierarchy that’s easy to understand. Simplify your navigation in a way that’s intuitive and easy to use.

3. High-Quality Content

Two out of three people prefer to read beautifully designed content. Meanwhile, users only spend 5.59 seconds reading a website’s written content. 

Adding videos to your pages could keep users on them for 88% longer.

When adding content to your website, make sure to use a visual hierarchy. For example, you can use headers and subheaders to organize your content.

As you improve your website design, focus on the purpose of each page. Why are visitors on this page? What are they looking for?

Keep your content concise and clear. Use short sentences and paragraphs to improve readability, too. 

4. Load Times

Consumers don’t want to wait 10 minutes for your website to load. When developing your pages, make sure to test their load times. You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to determine what’s causing the lag.

If your pages take forever to load, visitors will leave, which can hurt your search ranking.

5. Security

Consumers want to know their private information is safe. If your ecommerce website design plans don’t consider security, you might lose business.

Make sure your website has an SSL certificate before you start accepting purchases.  

6. Mobile Optimization

Is your website optimized for mobile devices? Consumers spend a lot of time on their phones. If you’re not mobile-optimized, you could lose those customers.

Work with an experienced website design company that can help you optimize your content for smaller screens. 

7. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) allows you to optimize your content with specific keywords in mind. When consumers search for these keywords in Google, your website might appear. Improving your search engine ranking will help you attract more site traffic.

You can optimize your website for SEO by using the right keywords within your content.

How you design your website can impact your SEO ranking, too. Consider using minimalistic and user experience design trends. 

8. User Experience Design

How do people interact with your website? Do they find it easy to use and navigate? Considering the user experience (UX) in your website design can keep visitors on the page.

You can improve your website with UX in mind by:

• Using negative space
• Speeding up your site
• Ensuring hyperlinks stand out
• Removing broken links
• Making sure your buttons stand out and work
• Breaking up large blocks of text
• Using headers and subheaders
• Using high-quality images
• Maintaining consistency in your design
• Optimizing your website for mobile devices
• Ensuring your website is secure
• Moving clutter

You can also help your website stand out by working with an experienced website design company. They can make sure you’re following the latest UX design trends. For example, augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D elements, and animations are popular this year. 

Design It Right: 8 Essentials for Good Website Design

Don’t let your website cost you customers. Instead, keep these eight essentials for good website design in mind. Whether you want to build a new site or redesign your existing one, these tips can help you stand out and make a good first impression. 

Need help from an experienced website design company? That’s what we’re here for!

Contact us today to get started with your new website.