One of the greatest assets you can add to your business is to make good use of a website. Not only is an online presence needed in today's digital world, but a user-friendly site is hard to put aside. Whether generating advertising or building brand awareness and loyalty, well-designed websites often make or break businesses.
What are the benefits of an easy-to-use website?
Above all, a well-designed website can increase the number of customers, which is important for a business. After all, increasing visitors to your destination online, especially for ecommerce sites, can also improve product sales and the bottom line of your business.
Google AdSense Program
Another addition to use once your site is online is Google AdSense and AdWords. These tools will help your website generate revenue for each visitor. However, you must set up a blog section on your website to benefit from most advertising services, including AdSense and AdWords.
How to set up your website
The first step in creating your website is to choose the platform on which you want to host it. Keep in mind that many platforms that you can use control the models and effects that you can implement in the digital destination.
For example, if you choose to create a free website on a hosting company such as Wix.com or WordPress.com, even if the creation of your website is free, you will be very limited in terms of customization and you will not be able to make good use of SEO.
Regardless of where you go, once you have determined where to host your website, the next step is to choose a good theme. Keep in mind your users and brand standards when choosing an aesthetic. It is also crucial to ensure that your website and your theme are …
- Easy to read.
- A clean design.
- Easy to use.
- Has a "good impression".
- Easy mobile.
Some of these appear to be based on a person's point of view – which should be the case when you are building a website. You should create your website for your customers, allowing them to have the best possible experience when using the site.
Thereafter, you will want to invest in search engine optimization tactics to make sure your site figures in the top search results when someone searches for an article related to your business or to your website.
One of the most important aspects of SEO – which I highly recommend you choose to use – is content marketing. This avenue contributes to brand loyalty and allows you to capitalize on your blog and generate additional revenue. What else? You can also link social media platforms to your blog and website to better connect with customers and stimulate daily visitors.
Now that we have gone beyond the timeline of creating a website, let's explain why the above elements are so important.
Example of an easy-to-read web page
1. Your website should be easy to read
One of the best ways to find out what makes the design of a website is to determine how easy it is to read.
Now, when I say that something is easy to read, I do not mean that all the text is bold in size 18, but rather the font is sharp, the text is well spaced, and the background behind the the font is a neutral color, such as white or off-white.
There are far too many examples of people going beyond the horizons, and this simply creates a very unpleasant experience for the reader.
One of the worst examples of what I've seen is a page of self-repair that uses gray writing on the bottom of an open road. While the idea of the background of the open road agrees well with the theme, gray on gray hides so much text that you can not even read it. So, always let readability take precedence over a creative idea – especially when it interferes with the message.
Instead, model your design after the Airgora digital community, which uses a rich white space on this coveted neutral background to make sure every text is readable.
Example of creating a clean website
2. Your website needs a clean design
The idea of a clean website design plays into the idea of "less, that is more". Just as you need to unclutter a room from your home, you should also do it on your website. Make sure everything has room for maneuver and negative space, which will allow visitors to really understand your brand and take the action you want them to take. In addition, a clean website design compliments the need for an easy-to-read website.
So what happens if you determine that you need to "clean" your website a bit? The first step towards rectification would be that the webmaster ensures that the background image becomes what we call a header image. In this way, you can always use the image you have chosen, but it turns into more of a banner that sets the tone of the site while staying away from any text.
The next step would be to change the background of the site to one of those neutral colors I talked about earlier. Why do I recommend a shade of white? It works best with any font and is easy in the eyes of your users. Take the example of Morten Christensen, who created a simple website on a flat bottom. This allows his work to speak for itself without overwhelming the user.
Example of an easy-to-use website
3. Your site should be easy to use
Your website will be useless if your users do not know how to find it. Since you are not there to hold your hand, it means that you will have to invest in creating an intuitive design that is easy to use.
By making it a priority, your users should be able to quickly find the information they want, navigate to different pages and easily complete a purchase without confusion. According to DesignRush, more and more digital destinations are investing in personalization to further stimulate the user experience, so if you have the time, enjoy it as well.
For example, online stylist Stitch Fix accompanies users at every stage of the process – online or offline – to make sure they know exactly how to catch a new style and exactly when they can get it. Expect the reward in real life.
The best websites are designed with the user in mind, so go to your website design with this in the foreground.
Website Design Example Feel-good
4. Your website should have a good idea
Have you ever liked a website so much that you ended up surfing for hours? (Guilty!)
Well, this website had a "good impression", that is to say that it was nice for you to be on. Take that feeling you felt while surfing the other sites you like, and reproduce it on your own. Now, that does not mean copying their design, their words or their aesthetics (the opposite, actually …). Instead, cultivate an inviting aura on your website that users will covet day after day.
Take further by Equinox, for example. The luxury gym has created a new online space for content that their consumers will enjoy, and associated with a sleek layout, homemade images and topics of interest to boost scrolling endlessly and click and scroll.
Buzzfeed on Mobile
5. Your website must be mobile compatible
Mobile optimization can be the most important element of this list. Why? More than half of Internet users surf the net on their mobile devices, making a smooth and consistent experience on all essential media. After all, why would a consumer continue to visit your website on his smartphone if your competitor had an easy mobile experience for him.
Buzzfeed is a simple but effective example. Their mobile design mimics their home page almost at a T, which ensures that – when we browse the website in the comfort of our smartphones – it's the same experience.
Test every aspect of your design for tablets and smartphones, and make sure every search function, navigation tab, and call to action is as visible in the users' hand as it is on their desktop. You do not know where to start when designing for mobile? Consult this guide!
