With so many elements all pulling together to create a website it can be all too easy to get lost in the small details and forget the basics which are crucial to help a website be a success.
By sticking to the basics and creating a great design around these basics, you will quickly find that your website can become an invaluable tool in your marketing arsenal.
From simple navigation and ensuring that you project an obvious call-to-action to other crucial elements, we have compiled our list of the top 10 elements your website must include to help maximise the chances of success.
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Navigation – Keep The Navigation Simple
Simple to use and easily accessible navigation is absolutely essential if you want to ensure that visitors to your website do not get confused.
Establish a hierarchy of pages so that the most of important information is highlighted.
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Colours – Choosing The Perfect Colour Scheme
The majority of businesses need continuity and therefore basing the colour scheme of your website on any existing colour scheme is without doubt the way to go.
Based upon your logo, your stationary, your uniform, if you already have an identity, your shiny new website should be an extension of this.
Again, keep it simple, it is very easy to fall into the common trap of forcing too many colours into a website. Your pages should be easy on the eye and not hard to look at.
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Images โ Use Striking Images To Stand Out From The Crowd
As the saying goes, โa picture can tell a thousand wordsโ. Keep the written content on your website to a minimum and use striking and attractive images wherever possible to paint a picture illustrating your products and services.
Stunning visuals on your web page can play a pivotal role in helping to draw visitors to your website.
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Call To Action โ Make It Clear!
What do you want your customer to do? Do you want them to make a purchase? Do you want them to contact you? Do you want them to call you? Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter?
Each and every page on your website should offer an easy to follow gateway to an action.
To ensure that any visitor knows exactly what they need to do, make sure that all on-site โcall-to actionsโ are obvious and highly visible on the page.
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Important Information โ Who Are You? What Do You Do?
Not everyone who visits your website will know exactly what you do. They may visit your website looking for one thing but you may offer a product or service which is even more perfect!
Ensure that you offer a snippet of information at the bottom of each page (possibly in the footer of your website) which gives a small breakdown of who you are, what you do and where you do it.
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Business Contact Details – Easy To Access Contact Information
Your NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) should be clearly visible on all pages to ensure that visitors do not have to go hunting for the correct details should they want to contact you.
People have little time nowadays and even less patience. If the required details arenโt readily available, they wonโt go looking for them!
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Social Media – Add Links To Your Social Media Channels
Social Media is perhaps the best possible way of opening up lines of communication with your customers. Free and easy to use, if you have any plans of utilising this fast moving method of online advertising, ensure that links to all of the main channels are linked to your website.
The main channels to target are:
- Google +
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Mobile Friendliness – Take The Steps To Ensure Your Website Is Mobile Friendly
The balance has officially tipped. More people are now conducting their online searches via mobile devices (phones and tablets) than via desktops and laptops. Therefore it is now absolutely essential that your website displays in a user-friendly method on all devices.
Please Note โ The development of a dedicated application could also help to enhance the usability of your website still further.
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Loading Speed – How Quickly Does Your Website Load?
How quickly do you move on to another site if the site you wish to browse doesnโt load straight away? If you are the same as us, it wonโt take long!
If you feel that way, you should certainly expect your visitors to the feel the same. You should ensure that your website is optimised to load quickly and choose a host offering a fast service.
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Optimisation – Ensure Your Website Is Fully Optimised
An effective, well functioning website doesnโt just look good, it actually works! Broken links can damage the user experience. A poorly worded page can damage the user experience. Too many steps to make a purchase can damage the user experience.
Creating a website which delivers the ideal experience for any visitor will not only help to increase the chances of them turning into a paying customer, it also increases the chances of them passing your details to family and friends in the form of recommendation.
In Summary
There are many different elements of web design which pull together to help create the perfect website. We believe that by following the list of 10 elements outlined above, you will be well on the way. However, itโs much easier to leave it to the professionals and the wealth of experience offered by the Footprint Web Design team can help to ensure that your website ticks all of the right boxes.
Contact Us
Weโd love to talk to you about your project and itโll cost you nothing to have a chat. Why not give us a call onย 01883 372488ย or contact us viaย Facebookย to see how we can help your business to create an online presence with our web design services that will help you leave your competition behind.
