You have got around 5 seconds to make it clear what your brand is all about when someone visits your site. If your site is hard to navigate, your pricing isn’t easy to find or you have seen a high bounce rate, it might be time for a design refresh. With so much business happening online, having a well-optimised site is crucial. Even if your website looks great, it might not be performing as well as it could. Regular updates to your web design can help ensure it is clear and engaging for visitors.
We brought in Reactive, a web design London agency with over 19 years of experience, to share their expert advice on improving your web design. We have put together 10 web design tips to help you make your site more user-friendly, keep visitors around longer and improve your brand’s reputation.
Top tips to improve your web design
1. Think about UX
Good UX (user experience) web design helps visitors navigate your site effortlessly. No matter which page they are on, they should quickly figure out where they are and find what they are looking for with just a few clicks.
Tip: Have an employee or family member check out your website’s homepage. Their thoughts can help you spot what’s working and where you might need improvement.
2. Easy navigation
Visitors should find it easy to get around your website and always know where they are. They should also be able to quickly return to the homepage. A clear site map and a simple menu can make navigation a lot easier.
Tip: 1. Write down a common question customers ask.
2. Go to your website.
3. Time how long it takes to find the answer.
3. Build a colourpalette
Picking a colour scheme for your site might seem simple, but choosing it carefully can make key parts stand out and affect how visitors see your site . Brands that use the same colours consistently in their marketing can see up to an 80% boost in brand recognition.
Tip: Use the 60/30/10 rule for your colour scheme. Pick a primary colour to cover 60% of your site, a secondary colour for 30%, and an accent colour for the remaining 10% that either contrasts with or complements the primary colour.
4. Update your content regularly
It is important to keep your website’s content updated. If your service prices change, update your site to avoid confusing customers. Also regular blog posts will draw in new visitors and keep current ones interested.
Tip: Set a schedule to regularly update your content. Whether it is once a month or twice a year, keep track of your updates so that your site always has new and relevant information for your visitors.
5. Implement CTA buttons
A call-to-action (CTA) tells visitors what to do next. It’s an important part of many pages, especially if you have specific goals. For example, if you want people to download your PDF brochure, putting a “Download Now” button in a noticeable spot can help get more downloads.
Tip: Use short and clear CTAs to tell visitors what to do next. Common ones include:
- Learn more
- Download now
- Sign up
- Try for free
- Get started
6. Use social proof to build trust
Look at how social proof and trust signals can make your brand seem more credible and encourage people to interact. This can include displaying customer reviews, certificates, awards and positive social media mentions to help build trust and confidence in your brand.
Tip: Show off recent feedback or 5-star reviews to grab people’s attention. Since many people trust reviews and use them to decide on a company, highlighting positive comments can help new visitors see what your company is all about.
7. Embrace minimalism
Minimalism has been one of the top website design trends for years and it shows no signs of slowing down in 2024.
Tips:
Limit colours: Use no more than three colours to keep things consistent.
Simplify fonts: Stick to two easy-to-read fonts that match well.
Focus on key content: Remove anything that might distract from your main message or CTAs.
8. Incorporate real people’s images
People are better at recognizing real images than reading long texts or looking at stock photos and models. So, if you are planning for your website’s content, try to implement some of your web pages with real photos rather than stock images.
9. Optimise your speed page
Website speed is key to keeping visitors happy and ranking well on search engines. In 2024, people want sites to load in under three seconds, or they might move on.
Tip: To find the speed test, search for Google PageSpeed Insights on Google. Enter your website’s URL there and it will show you how fast your site loads.
10. Use mobile-first approach
Half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices, so make sure your site looks good on phones and tablets. A mobile-first approach means designing the mobile version first before working on the desktop version.
Tip: While responsive design helps, starting with mobile is better. It’s easier to adjust for larger screens later than to change the design to fit smaller screens.
Designing a website takes a lot of experimenting and tweaking. There is always room to improve your website’s design. By making these improvements you can better achieve your business and marketing goals.
