The first thing every web designer must do to create a profitable website is to think strategically rather than creatively. No doubt, designing is a creative pursuit. Still, when profitability enters the picture, you need to consider whether the website’s design can generate revenue for the client. After all, the purpose of every website is to market a business and its products and services. The design is a persuasive tool to help customers make the right buying decision.
The job of a web designer is to ensure all design elements come together to deliver a fantastic UX.
Let’s take a look at the 11 tactics which are used by professionals like Nestler Creation that can help do just that:
Understand the Project Brief
The first step in design is to understand what the client wants. This is important because it helps you know whether you can deliver a design as per the client’s requirement and whether the client has well-grounded expectations from the design. Sometimes, the client might have a design brief that is not well-fleshed out and lacks details. As a designer, it will be your responsibility to add the necessary information to the brief so that clients get an idea of the look and feel of their prospective site. The idea is to take charge of the design from the word go.
Identify your Audience
Audience
Who are you designing the website for? The website’s intended audience should determine your design decisions, in part. For example, a website catering to a teenage audience must sport many graphics and multimedia and offer an incredibly engaging experience. On the other hand, if you are designing a site for a middle-aged audience, you have to pick and choose elements that this audience will expect and which will appeal to them.
If you do not know your audience, there is a perfect chance your website design will fail to make an impression on them, leading to website abandonment.
Get Your Thoughts Sorted Out
The problem with contemporary web design is the range of options available regarding design elements, platforms, technologies, etc., which can confuse even the best and the most experienced designers. So, you need to identify the right resources for your project; pick the ones you know are absolutely crucial. Make sure your selections fall within the client’s budget and can help you design a project precisely as per the client’s requirements. This guarantees a design that delivers high ROI.
Impressing in Seconds
A website has as little as a few seconds to make an impression on its visitors; yes, that’s right, only a few seconds. So, website designers must design websites keeping the ‘few seconds’ rules in mind. The choice of design elements must be such that they can create an impressive value proposition immediately. Your design needs to start satisfying user requirements as soon as they land on your site. Any delay will mean they’ll move on to another site.
Did you know that the use of the correct images can help improve the conversion of a website? Yes, if your website has impressive imagery, it can result in better business profitability. One of the many reasons this happens is that relevant images help increase the website’s credibility. Visitors are also prompted to go through the website because of these images. The right photos with the right dynamic appeal can persuade website visitors to make a favorable decision vis-Ã -vis the products on your site.
Clarity of Purpose
Clarity
What do you want your website to do? Do you want it to trigger sales for your business, generate brand awareness, or use it to improve brand authority and reputation? If your purpose is clear, you can make the right design calls. In the earlier pointer, we discussed the use of images and seen from the context of purposefulness; designers need to use need-based photos; these are the kind of images that either deliver or enhance the delivery of the brand message. This is not possible if there is some ambiguity in their minds about the website’s goal.
The website design of the World Wildlife Fund is characterized by the use of compelling images that perfectly represent the website’s purpose. This is what clarity of purpose is all about. When visitors access WWF, there is absolutely no doubt about what WWF does.
Simplicity Sells
Some designers think websites with stunning visuals prove to be more effective. This might have been the case some years ago when visitors were impressed by the striking visuals of websites and formed a positive impression of brands based on the stunning visual imagery of their websites.
This isn’t the case anymore. What visitors are looking for is easy and quick access to relevant information. What’s more, simple websites have been scientifically proven to be better. A simple design shouldn’t mean a bad-looking website.
The Apple website is a textbook example of a simple website with lots of whitespaces that looks extremely elegant. It makes its point brilliantly.
Contact Information
Have you come across a site where the business’s contact information is nowhere to be found? This is a terrible design gaffe and tactical blunder. If a website visitor cannot find the contact information of the business represented by the website, it is a huge mark against this business. The business’s reputation will take a hit. Visitors can form the impression that the business, for some reason, doesn’t want to share contact information.
Every website needs a page to display the business’s contact information. Every successful brand website shows the full spectrum of contact information, from its physical address to email and fax number to directions to its office on Google Maps.
Good Use of Calls to Action
If you want to understand the importance of Calls to Action (CTA) buttons, go through this article on HubSpot. It takes you through 17 of the best buttons, which make you want to click on them. Your CTAs must be appropriately worded, easily visible, and display urgency. Your CTAs mustn’t force people to buy your products or services but convince them that your business offerings make the best choice for them.
Fresh, Always
Focus on fresh ideas all the time. Try not to take the route that everybody else does, as that can mean you come up with a boring site that doesn’t excite its intended audience. It’s important to understand that your website visitors are a jaded lot who spend a large percentage of their time going through all kinds of online resources, including websites. If your website design is similar to many of the websites they have visited in the past, there is a perfect chance it won’t make an impression on them.
Don’t Try Too Hard
Your website must not come across as trying too hard to convert visitors into leads/customers. It must try to make its point without the visitor feeling that the website is overwhelming in its use of sales-specific information. When designing your site, you must give the target audience subtle hints as to why your business is better than its competitors.
If you want to design a website that succeeds, you need to answer why and how the design elements and strategies can help achieve the website’s (business’s) goals. If you get this part right, there is no doubt that you will have a more profitable website.
Author Bio:
Priya is a Technical SEO at Hopinfirst, a leading mobile app development company that provides the best iOS app development and Android app development Services.
