Websites have to produce results. Same as a traditional brick and mortar store must produce results. Otherwise, the business will go out of business without customers and results. Websites are the digital version of a storefront. This is even true for regular business websites without e-commerce. Those types of websites must also produce results.
Graphic design is a major part of websites, especially when creating and developing websites for a business. Often, these websites are not professionally created or poorly and therefore lack the expected and often needed results. Graphic design is not just adding pretty pictures to a website, but much more. It is what often makes or breaks a website. Visitors can quickly be annoyed by websites or intrigued.
To improve the results of a website, it often starts with graphic design, page layouts, and navigation structure amongst several other things. Here are the top 10 graphic design tips for results oriented websites.
Top 10 Graphic Design Tips For Results Oriented Websites
1. Only use Responsive Design for websites.
This is not a choice anymore. Google is changing their website rating system on April 21, 2015 and will start negatively ranking websites that are not Responsive Design. Responsive Design means it is graphic design and programming in HTML5 and CSS3. This is the standard now for websites.
2. Have contact information clearly visible across all pages.
Even though it is a website, the contact information such as phone number and email address should be clearly visible on each page of the website. Often, professional graphic designers will place the contact information in the top of the website for easy access.
3. Place conversion tools throughout the website.
To many websites do not produce results because they are missing the proper conversion tools. Conversion tools are often “call to action” elements that through wording and eye-catching graphics invoke a response from the website visitor to sign-up, buy, or submit contact information. These should be on the home page and key website pages.
4. Use colors with purpose and carefully.
Colors are a critical part of website design and graphic design. Certain colors, create certain emotional responses. When developing a website, color has to be used throughout the website with a specific intend and strategically to support the desired website goals.
5. Write unique and quality text copy for each page.
Website content (text, images, videos) must all be unique, quality driven, and relevant to what the website is about. Poorly written text often results in poor results. There are numerous benefits to creating unique and quality driven text for websites. Text that is optimized and the proper length for websites.
6. Create intelligent website navigation structure.
Website navigation is not a simple task. The navigation of a website must make sense for the business. the results a business desires, and most importantly to the potential customer and website visitor. Website navigation should be clear, simple, and not confusing for best results.
7. Website pages should be optimized for search engines.
For a website to be indexed by Google and other major search engines properly, they need to be optimized for search. This is done through the content on each page, but also by creating unique and relevant title tags, meta descriptions, and keywords for each page on the website. This drastically increases chances for being found online.
8. Know your target market and competitors.
This is an important step with website graphic design best practices. Knowing the target market and what will be expected is key to create a website that will produce results. Furthermore, the competition should be carefully reviewed. The “look & feel” of the website can than be tailored to the specific target market.
9. Quality test new website across multiple browsers.
Many graphic designers do not test their new developed website across multiple browser platforms. Not all browsers view a website the same way. A website may work properly when viewed through Google’s Chrome browser but not with Firefox or Safari. A new website should be tested across all browsers for quality assurance.
10. Use proper applications and technology for websites.
Graphic designers must use the proper software applications and technology to achieve the desired results. Often, a website’s potential depends on the technology used to power the website. One of the best applications is WordPress. It is open-source (free) and easy to work with.
Companies and organizations should always work with professionals who have enough experience and the proper skills to produce a results-driven website. A free proposal and consultation can be provided by most agencies and professional website design firms. This enables a business to ask questions, review work already done, and discuss details about the business needs. Professionally designed and developed websites produce the best results.
