Do you feel your competitors breathing down your neck? Does it make you nervous? Good.
I hope it inspires you too.
When it comes to your website’s design you can’t allow mediocrity. You need to stand out among the myriad of websites online today.
If you don’t you’ll never attract new clients.
I’m sorry to say but you can’t rest on your achievement of having the most informative website. If your aesthetics don’t match your content you can just as well leave the competition.
You must be on par in every aspect of your website. With continuous developments in web design how do you do that in 2017?
1. Significant SEO
If you’re planning strategies to win a war or game you can’t always be on the defence. You need offence too. Make sure you stand out from the start of the fight.
This means you have to trump everyone in SEO.
Search engine optimization allows your website to rank high when search engine algorithms look for valuable sites.
High SEO ranking requires:
- User friendly processes on your site. The algorithms determine which sites people love browsing through instead of simply glancing at the landing page.
- Quality written content. Search engines want to offer users solutions to their problems. They look for content of certain lengths and excellent grammar. You may think you’re back at school with a teacher checking your work. Make sure you score high marks!
- The correct keywords are essential. Use analytics tools to determine which words your potential clients use to search for your type of website. Add these keywords to your content otherwise you’ll never be found, never mind stand out.
If you can reach the top of search engine lists you’re already ahead of the crowd. Now let’s see what your visitors will find once they reach you.
2. The Look
This is the fun part. I think we all have some creativity in us.
Pour this into the aesthetic value and overall look of your website.
White space
Website aesthetics don’t mean you have to use all available space. Quite the contrary.
The blank areas—where no text of graphics are placed—are called white spaces. These are essential. White space accentuates important information below or above that space.
You also don’t want your website to look cluttered. White space communicates order.
Color
Turn colors into weapons. You can fight the online war by simply using colors correctly:
- Learn about the subliminal meanings all colors carry. Use these to enforce your messages. If you want to convey power use red. If you want your customers to believe your company will grow use green.
- Use color to brighten your website. No one likes a boring store. Think of your website in the same way. If you prefer using plain styles you can simply apply color to accentuate main features.
3. Use Layouts to Your Benefit
Part of your website’s aesthetics is the layout. Expert web design companies know the science behind layouts that:
- Make your website stand out
- Increase interaction with your visitors
- Keep them browsing instead of navigating to other sites
How can you achieve this?
Type of Design
Websites have their own fashions that come and go. You should keep the main features of your website the same to keep loyal customers comfortable. But adjusting your website may show you’re up to date with trends. These current trends may simplify your website and garner more clicks:
- Scrolling sites: These sites allocate different information on one long page instead of different tabs. Your customers have access to more information without the effort of clicking. People seem to love it!
- Flat designs: Simple two dimensional designs with less stylistic elements are a hit. There’s nothing to distract attention so your customers find answers quickly.
Features
Make it easier for your customers to get to necessary buttons:
- Ghost buttons: These buttons are an additional layer over other text or graphics. They present well and you don’t waste space on buttons.
- Fixed navigation bars: When your menu bar stays on a fixed spot on the screen your clients can quickly navigate without scrolling to the top each time.
This is what turns an ordinary website into a winner.
Your users remember sites they enjoyed using. They will return.
4. Use Stories not Facts
Here’s what you may not know. People won’t visit your website because you have the best information or products.
Many people browsing online are on the lookout for experiences.
Among many clinical websites yours can stand out if you use stories instead of only facts. This is why ‘About Us’ pages are so essential.
Become Human
The online world can be very impersonal. The best website designers know how to incorporate a company’s story with its services.
These stories are a way of making the business more human. Make sure your website isn’t seen as the robotic version of you.
Be Remembered
Stories are easier to remember than a list of facts.
If you want your visitors to tell others about your company give them a story to relay. Your past experiences can become your best sales campaign without you even doing the work.
Build Trust
I do business with people I trust. This requires relationship. I would love to meet everyone online but that takes time. What I can do is check out their backgrounds. Now I form a shortlist of people I want to approach for new ventures.
Will your website make me put you on my shortlist?
5. Mobile is Essential
If you want to stand out and remind people of your website you have to continuously be where people are.
In 2017 people are on their mobile devices. People browse more on their Smartphones than they did a year ago. If you don’t have a mobile friendly website your customers will think you’re out of date and visit your site less.
These days web designers develop responsive pages that adjust to any size screen. Mobile applications give browsers an easy way to navigate a site via their Smartphones.
Advertise these features on your normal website. Your customers want to know they can easily reach you even when they’re on the road.
[notice type=”info”]See? It’s easy to increase the value of your website’s design. That’s what people want: value for the time they spend on your site. Give them what they’re looking for. Your website will stand out among boring competitors. You can turn visitors into loyal customers. [/notice]