A well-built website will help you build your brand, generate leads, drive conversions, and stake your claim in digital marketing. Setting up a business website on and offline can offer many benefits. And with the right tools (and ideally, some professional support), learning how to make a business website is doable, even if you need to be tech-savvy. In other words: you can do this!
However, there are a few things you should be aware of before moving forward... precisely ten items. A guide to the top 10 errors business owners make when creating a website provides you with a list of things to avoid doing when creating your own. You can build a high-quality website to help your company develop by avoiding these typical mistakes.
Many brick-and-mortar business owners are trying to make an online presence to expand their client base and reach a wider audience. It takes more than just an online presence to stand out from the crowd and gain customer trust. There are thousands of websites covering every niche. Your website should be visually appealing and engaging while providing the information your customers seek. Here are the facts and benefits of web design.
What is Web Designing?
Web design is designing websites in a functional and user-friendly way. The web design process is centered on user experience. Websites are easy to navigate because they have many elements. Web design focuses on all aspects of a website users interact with. It should be simple, efficient, easy to find what they are looking for, and visually appealing. These factors are all important in determining how well a website is designed.
What is Responsive Web Design?
Responsive web designing is a method of making changes to a website to adapt to different screen sizes and orientations. Websites designed for larger screens may not be able to fit smaller screens smoothly, which can cause inconvenience for users. Responsive web design is a key factor in user experience. People use their smartphones and tablets to browse websites.
What do Web Designers Do?
Web designers design websites using their technical knowledge and expertise while considering clients' needs. Web designers have a solid understanding of UI (user interface) and UX (user experience). They are skilled at using design software to create visual elements. Web designers can capture the brand's identity through the website's design elements.
The website's aesthetics and ease of navigation are the main factors in visitors' rates. To make a website interactive, web designers can use Adobe, CorelDraw, and Inkscape to create graphics, logos, and icons. Web designers are also focused on the visual aspect of the website. They use various design principles, including symmetry, color systems, and proportions. To engage visitors. They also work on layouts, coding languages, and placement of images and videos.
The Key Benefits of Good Web Design
Good web design can make your brand more memorable to your target audience. Professional web designers are a must-have for organizations that place more emphasis on web design. These benefits include:
A First Impressions That Matter
Making a great first impression with a professionally designed website is easier. Brands are all about how clients or potential customers view their business. This is greatly affected by how their website is designed. Web design can make a strong first impression.
Google Rankings Improved
Many elements in web design can help your website rank higher on Google. These elements include mobile-friendliness and readability. They also include sitemaps, URL structure, website navigation, and sitemaps. These elements are incorporated into a website to give you more visibility for your audience and search engines.
Brand Consistency
Your brand's key assets, such as your logo, color scheme, and fonts, can help your audience remember your brand and make it stand out from the thousands of other brands. Professional web designers consider all aspects of your business and incorporate them into your website to enhance your brand's credibility and present consistency.
Minimized Bounce Rates
Your website should be engaging and informative. This encourages people to explore more of your site. Visitors may leave a website that appears complicated or difficult to navigate within seconds. Your website's credibility and ranking can also be affected by bounce rates. Your website should be designed to keep visitors on your site for longer periods. This will help you avoid premature exits and reduce bounce rates.
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What are the Components of Web Design?
Web designers can adapt to individual preferences and offer effective solutions. Every web design has a few standard components, such as:
Layout
The layout is the way the content is presented on a webpage. The designer is responsible for choosing the layout. It should be easy to use, simple, and intuitive. To organize elements on a site, web designers can use white spaces (or blank areas) to create grid-based designs.
Designers can design specialized layouts compatible with desktop and mobile screens. Because many people access websites via their smartphones or tablets, mobile-friendly websites are essential.
A responsive template can be used to adapt to mobile screen sizes. The designer can also use a mobile-only design that activates when a non-desktop device connects. Trust is built by the consistency between the supports.
Images
Images can be illustrations, photos, icons, and other graphics that add information to the text. Designers can choose images that complement each other and represent the brand the website is about to create the desired effect.
Visual Hierarchy
The order in which information is presented on the website's visual hierarchy. It is created by the designer applying a visual pattern on the website. The visual pattern describes how the design guides visitors' eyes and behavior.
F-Patterns and Z-Patterns, for example, emphasize the top section of your website's horizontal section. This is where navigation, the logo, and sometimes a search field is placed by most designers. These elements encourage interaction and build brand recognition.
Color Scheme
A color scheme combines colors harmonious with the industry and brand it represents. They will choose a dominant color and add a few other colors to make a palette. A color palette may be monochromatic (different colors), analogous (colors that are close together), or complementary. Designers must also consider which colors are most appealing to users.
Typography
Typography refers to the style or font used in writing. Web designers choose one of several font styles or combinations that are attractive and easy to understand. They should select a font suitable for the intended audience to make the best choices. Some sites will be more successful using serif fonts than others, depending on their industry, purpose, and typical user.
Readability
Readability refers to the ability of text on a website to be easily readable and understood. Because visitors are likely to spend very little time looking at websites, they should be able to read the text. This can be achieved by choosing the right size and pixels for the text. It also helps to improve readability by increasing the contrast between text and background colors.
Navigation
Navigational elements allow users to navigate within a website. Depending on the website's structure and layout, they may be found in its header, footer, and body. These elements are crucial as they direct site visitors to the information they need as quickly as possible.
Designers have many options for navigation layouts and designs. For example, a button that hides or reveals navigation menus. You can incorporate one-click and other buttons to direct users to the top of a page.
Content
All information on a website is called content. Because visitors are looking for information quickly, content is crucial. It is easier to convert visitors into customers if the website communicates clearly. This can be achieved by the designer using the correct tone and providing relevant information throughout the website, including the Contact and About pages.
Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Websites for Your Business
Ten Biggest mistakes Business owners make When setting up a Website
Neglecting to Create a Responsive Website
In our modern world of mobile devices, online users don't just appreciate a responsive website; they expect it. You may have heard the term before, but what is a responsive website?
A responsive or mobile-friendly website can adapt to various viewing environments to provide the best possible user experience. So, whether a user is viewing your website on their laptop, smartphone, or tablet, the site will automatically adjust its layout to ensure easy, hassle-free usability.
We've all experienced the annoyance of trying to browse a website that needs to be more responsive, with a layout that's too big or clunky to fit on the screen of our mobile devices. And suppose you're anything like most people. In that case, you're likely to leave a non-mobile-friendly site in favor of a better-designed website from a competitor. 85% of users say that a brand's mobile website should be as good as (if not better than) their standard desktop site (Swear). Even Google expects a mobile-friendly design; your search rankings will take a hit if you still need one.
Whether using a website builder platform or hiring a professional website developer, ensuring you get a responsive web design is essential.
Failing to Customize the Website Theme
Access to all those free themes can be a major perk if you're setting up a business website using a content management system. These pre-made themes put an aesthetically pleasing and functional website design within easy reach, significantly reducing the time and experience needed.
However, it's more complex than choosing a theme and calling it a day. Customizing the website theme to align with your unique branding is key, especially because you don't want a generic design that looks exactly like thousands of others. Today's online users are smarter than ever before, and you had better believe they can spot a basic website theme a mile away - do you want to risk ruining your chance at a good first impression? Research shows that you only have about 0.05 seconds to impress a user because that's how long it takes them to snap judgment about your website (and, by extension, your brand).
There's no denying the convenience of website themes, but customizing them is hugely important to create a professional-looking final product. And if that task is beyond your tech or design skill level, don't hesitate to call in the experts.
Getting Wrapped up in the Websites of your Competitors or Industry Leaders
It's always a good idea to check out the competition, including looking at their websites. There are many opportunities to learn from your local competitors' websites and those belonging to large-scale corporations in your industry niche.
Don't assume you can recreate their online success with a "copy/paste" approach. It might be tempting to try to replicate a high-performing website. Still, web design is just one of the factors that can contribute to impressive rankings. For example, if one of your competitors has an established presence in the market (and has had one for several years), that can help keep their page high on the search rankings. So, even if you were to copy every last detail of their website, your results would be different.
Instead, take note of the aspects of successful websites that work and those that don't. Then, think about how to make a website for a business that is entirely yours while incorporating similar strategies. Ultimately, it's all about balance.
Forgetting About Readability
You already know that the actual text content on your website should be made up of well-written copy. Still, readability is largely about how that text looks, not just what it says. Users should easily read all website text without any visual distractions.
A few rules of readability include the following:
- Use consistent font sizes thoughtfully: A good rule of thumb is to stick to a maximum of three to four different font sizes, relying on size to indicate importance. Use larger fonts to tell users to pay extra attention to specific content and smaller font sizes for more detailed, in-depth information.
- Stick to simple, classic fonts: Even if certain "fun" fonts catch your eye, opt for fonts that prioritize readability over personality. Generally, sans-serif fonts are the best, most reader-friendly option for web design.
- Contrast is key: Your website's color palette should be about more than aesthetics; readability should also be considered. Contrasting colors ensure that your background and text hues are close enough for comfort.
Misunderstanding the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A solid SEO strategy is the basis of any website's success. Search ranking is almost always among the top goals of any site creator and business owner. However, there aren't any hidden secrets to instantly achieving top rankings; SEO takes time, strategy, and a certain amount of financial investment. You can't cut corners, no matter how hard you try.
Instead, start with the top keyword you'd like your website to rank for and optimize accordingly. From there, you can continue to build your SEO strategy from the ground up. Here are a few SEO tips to keep in mind:
- Skip Keyword Stuffing and Create Quality, Long-Form Content Instead: Back in the early days of SEO, it wasn't unusual for website builders to stuff as many keywords as possible into the content. This resulted in content that could have made more sense and wasn't enjoyable or useful for users. But now, Google rewards websites that take the time to create content that serves users' needs rather than the search engine. The algorithm will reward you for quality, so focus on developing content your users will appreciate.
- Use Heading Tags: Heading tags matter more than you think. They add structure to your web pages, and headings make it easier for Google bots (and readers) to consume and interpret content.
- Always Include a Call-to-Action: Let's say an online user reads a top-notch blog article you've written and really loves the content - what now? It could all end there unless you close the deal with a call-to-action (CTA). Ensure you direct users to take a specific action, such as contacting you, purchasing a product/service, signing up for a newsletter, etc. CTAs spur conversions and provide a sense of direction for Google.
Going Overboard with Pop-ups
Have you ever been on one of those websites that just inundate you with pop-up messages? Oddly, you didn't spend much time browsing the site because you got tired of closing out pop-up boxes repeatedly.
Even though pop-ups can be useful for the user and your business, it's important to use them carefully. Don't go pop-up crazy because that will have the opposite effect of what you're hoping for. Aim for one pop-up that asks a user to complete one action, like joining a mailing list. (Pro tip: offering something in return for these requests never hurts, such as a discount code!). Figure out what user action provides the greatest payoff for your business, and then use that as a jumping-off point - and leave it at that.
Settling for Slow loading Times
Did you know that nearly 50% of online users expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less? So, if your website is taking even a fraction of a second longer than that, you need to make some serious changes. One of the most common causes of slow load times is images with large file sizes. As beautiful as those high-resolution images may be, they could detract from the user experience, SEO, and overall success.
Google offers a free tool for checking web page loading speed, so pinpointing a problem takes just a few moments. We promise it's worth it. And if you still need convincing, here's an eye-opening statistic: slow-loading sites cost retailers more than $2.5 billion in lost sales annually.
Making it Difficult for Users to Find your Contact Information
Locating your business contact information on your website should be minimal effort. And yet, so many businesses need to remember this incredibly basic piece of the puzzle. No matter what you're selling, there should be multiple ways for users to reach you.
The easiest route is to add a "Contact Us" section, accessible via an easy-to-see button or navigation link at the top of every site page. Users should find your mailing address, email address, and phone number on the contact page - bonus points for an online contact form. It's also wise to feature these details at the bottom of your website because many users look for contact information there. Even if you rarely get a call or email, having this information supports your credibility.
Taking a "Set it and Forget it" Approach
Once you've put the finishing touches on your brand-new web design, you're done, right? Wrong. While you can certainly celebrate being done with the bulk of the work, there is a better time to remember your site.
Much maintenance goes into keeping a website up-to-date, both in terms of functionality and the overall quality of the user experience. Some of the many website maintenance tasks to put on your to-do list include:
- Security updates
- Refreshing outdated content
- Fixing broken links
- Reviewing your hosting/maintenance plan
Trying to do it all on your Own, Even if you aren't sure What you're Doing
Sure, using a website builder to create a business site is doable for many people. But in many cases, crafting a website that excels in both form and function is a job better left to a professional web designer.
Web developers and designers undergo extensive training and education, which is why they are the people we trust with the important job of building fantastic websites from scratch. They have the skills and resources to create a great website and can employ specific strategies tailored to your business goals and needs. For many businesses, small and large alike, hiring a professional web development team is an investment that's well worth it.
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Get Set Up with a Website That's an Asset to Your Business
If you're prepared to maximize the potential of your business, an outstanding website with a professional team is what you need. Together with our SEO specialists, social media team, and a wide range of other specialized experts, our web developers and designers create a site that perfectly fits your brand, demands, and long-term objectives.
