Imagine, for a moment, that you are walking around at a mall looking for a good place to buy a specific product. There are two stores right across from each other that sell exactly the same items. In fact, the only notable difference is the exterior appearance of the stores: one of them has dirty windows and a door that is falling apart and the other has a neat, normal looking storefront. Now if you knew you could get the same product at both stores, would you be more likely to go into the clean, well maintained shop or the shop with a sketchy looking storefront?
The question is a complete no brainer: we are more likely to go shopping in stores (and restaurants, for that matter) that look professional, clean, and well cared for. Not only does the environment in such places make for a more pleasant shopping experience but we are more likely to trust that a professional looking store will sell high quality, reliable products. For obvious reasons, stores that want to draw good business need to make sure they have a good image.
Although you may not realise it, the same logic applies to your business website. Think of the storefront example, and then think about how the appearance of a business website can influence whether or not a consumer will shop there. An unprofessional website is the equivalent of the dirty, dilapidated storefront no one really wants to go in to browse.
If you want your own business to be successful, you need to pay attention to the details. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you ensure you are using a professional website design. Read on for some concrete ideas about how you can enhance your website and get on the path to better business!
1. The Design
We get into more detail about website design in other blog posts, but for now, one of the most important basics is functionality. You want your website to be visually appealing, certainly, but you should never trade function for appearance. Of course, the ideal is to
have both, but if you had to choose just one, at the end of the day, it is more important for your website to work properly than for it to look beautiful. You also don’t want to make your website’s appearance so extreme or colourful that it becomes distracting—or worst of all, annoying for customers.
The most effective business website design is typically a responsive design, meaning that it is designed so that the pages will adapt in different conditions, based on factors like the size of the browser. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not you should use
Adobe Flash, so you will need to make the decision that is best for your website.
However, be aware that the overall movement of the Internet appears to be gradually moving away from Flash and towards other systems. If you want to stay current, you need to make an effort to update your site technology so that you don’t become obsolete!
2. The Logo
Returning to the mall storefront example, if you were trying to choose between a store with a recognizable, clear logo and name on the front versus a store with a small, crumpled up sign tacked to the window displaying only a hand drawn, barely visible logo, it should be obvious that you would feel safer going into the store with the professional logo. Sometimes, it is easy to get so caught up in the differences between online shopping and in person shopping that we forget how many similar fundamentals they share!
In a virtual context, if you want your business website design to suggest that you are a high quality and trustworthy company, then you need your business’s logo to look professional. Here are some simple steps:
- Make sure that your logo image has a high resolution.
- Make sure your logo is reasonably sized – this means it needs to be visible but
not over the top. - Pay attention to the placement of your logo – it should be featured and easy to
find.
In addition to those tips, some marketing professionals also recommend that you link your logo directly to your homepage. This will make it easier for your customers to navigate back to the homepage.
3. The Contact Section
One pretty common website design error on many business websites is the lack of a clear contact information page. If you want potential consumers to contact you with inquiries, you need to make it easy for them to figure out how they can reach you. The easier it is for users to access your business’s phone number and email address, the more likely you will be to receive questions or expressions of interest in your business.
That’s not all, though. A professional website design needs to not only include a contact section, but it also needs to make the contact information simple to locate. You want to set up your business’s website to be straightforward because this will enable potential customers to quickly and conveniently navigate your website and find the information they are looking for without a hassle. The “cleaner” and more professional your website’s contact section looks, the more likely it is that customers will contact you with inquiries.
4. The Visuals
As websites become increasingly sophisticated, a professional business website needs to incorporate visual aesthetics, but it also needs to avoid extremes. Generally speaking, it is best to start out with neutral colours. Some website designers are tempted to attract attention with lots of bright colours or fancy fonts. However keep in mind that for an elegant website, less is usually more. You do not want your website design to be uninspiring and boring, but making an attractive website does not mean you should bombard your viewers with too much all at once, either.
Many web design professionals agree that it is best to use colour intentionally and strategically. You should also pay attention to any colours within your company’s logo, as these might help you develop an overall colour scheme for your business website. A balance of text and visuals is equally important. If you use photos, make sure they are high quality ones and thoughtfully spaced on the page.
5. The Experience
Lastly, but certainly not least, it is imperative for you to test out the experience of your business website for yourself! You may not pay very much attention to the details of your website design while you are putting it together, but you also need to be able to look at it with a more objective perspective, thinking about how it will come across from the eyes of the consumer. The only way to know for sure what the user’s experience of your
business website will be is to try it out for yourself and then ideally, to eventually gather
feedback from other users. The more you actively try to incorporate an understanding of the user and the user’s point of view, the more likely your business website will be professional and geared towards your customers/clientele.
These five steps are only general examples of advice for how to put together a more professional website design, and many of them may seem obvious at first glance. However, if you pay careful attention to these tips and try to implement them thoughtfully, you may be surprised to discover what an immense difference the smallest details can make! By following these steps, you will put yourself on the right track to bolster business and build a more successful company. For further information or a quote on your business, contact us today!
