Whether you are trying to design your website yourself, or hire a professional to do it, you may have some pre-conceived ideas on what a successful web design should be like. Because our artistic tastes are different, not everyone will agree on which formats, themes, or choice of colors are best for a website. However, there are a few facts that may surprise you about what an efficient web design should do and how it can drive up your sales. Your web designer might not be telling you everything you need to know about web design. This article lists a couple of interesting things to know about effective web design in Australia.
Maintaining and Hosting a Website Does Not Have to be Expensive
Performing maintenance and hosting your website are services that may be offered by some web design companies such as Shopify. However, if you are told that you will have to pay a hefty fee for these tasks, the professional might not be being 100% honest with you. Editing content, posting graphics or creating/deleting new pages should not take a very long time. Avoid sending in your updates or maintenance request separately and ask your designer for half-hour rates. Sometimes it might be faster for a web design professional to do several tasks on your website at once than at different times. If you don’t want to pay a designer to do your web hosting, you can chose to rely on a CMS (Content Management System) website. These platforms enable you to modify or post your content and website format easily and without the help of a professional. Once you have more knowledge and experience in web development, you can transition to a more customized platform easily and start designing and updating your website yourself.
The Design is Not Everything
Although some professionals may try to convince you that the creativity of your site is everything and directly affects your sales or business performance, it might not be true. A nice design and attractive layout may attract visitors and set you apart from competition, but quality low-price services or products is what can make your online store really standout. Instead of focusing so much on the appearance, colors and fonts used on your site, make sure that it is easy to navigate and that purchasing items or services is made as simple as possible. Effective payment portals, shopping cart platforms and an organized product selection should be your priority. Also, be careful if you are told that you need a web design ‘makeover.’ If you are struggling with your website, its design isn’t always the problem. Check your marketing strategy, content quality, and web hosting features. Do you need to change these? Sometimes hiring someone to survey the overall functioning of your site or asking for feedback from your customers can be a great way to understand exactly what can be changed. Internet marketing experts, web developers, or marketing professional can be helpful in giving you a few tips on how to improve your website.
Web Design in Australia is not Always Search Engine Friendly
Your website may have a killer web design, but it is a waste of money if you fail to attract visitors. Asking a specialist can enable you to build your website around content that will attract customers and avoid being downgraded by search engines. Your web designer may also have these qualifications, make sure to ask if he or she has knowledge of the subject, or offer such services in his or her web design package. Sometimes you may have to hire someone separately to take care of your content needs. Also make sure that your web designer actually has coding and programming knowledge and isn’t just a graphic designer. Although these creative skills are important, they may not be sufficient to know how to build and maintain a website properly. Look for extensive coding experience or specific certifications in web design. These may be a great indication of the professional’s knowledge in the trade.
Effective web design isn’t all about the artistic aspect of the job. Most people forget that an efficient web design has to be search engine friendly and focus on making the purchasing or visiting experience easy and simple for your visitor. Web designers should not charge you an enormous fee for hosting and maintaining your website. An easy way to avoid having to deal with such situations is to hire an efficient, skilled, and qualified web designer, by researching potential candidates extensively. And of course, a quality website design is not free. Focus on finding a long-term, quality business relationship with a web designer that will yield great results for your website rather than just focusing on prices.
