10 Website Design Tips

Looking for website design tips that put you ahead of your competition? You’ve come to the right place. Here are our 10 best recommendations for making your website content stand out to all the right people.

1. Think About Hick’s Law – Hick’s Law states that the more choices a person has, the longer they will take to make a decision. Keep this in mind as you’re designing your website by limiting menu options and form fields and focusing on a singular CTA instead of multiple calls to action.
2. Keep it Simple! – Simplicity is key in website design. People are there looking for information, and your job is to provide it in a clear-cut, concise way. By eliminating confusing visual complexity and sticking with standard, familiar layouts, you’re increasing user experience and decreasing frustration.
3. Nobody Likes Carousels – It can look impressive to display photos in a format that encourages users to keep clicking, but the truth is, research has shown that the first slide on a carousel or slideshow receives 90 percent of the clicks while the rest are basically ignored. Try to keep all images on a page that can be easily scanned and scrolled through, rather than something that requires an extra click.
4. Scrolling, Yes. Clicking, No. – Which leads us directly to our next website design tip- people seem to prefer a single-page “endlessly scrolling” site format than one that makes them click to navigate to separate landing pages. Try to make sure all the most pertinent information about your business is in a single, scrollable page so that people can easily find what they need, and see what it does for your conversion rate!
5. Speed is Key – Your users feel the need for speed, and who can blame them? Nobody likes a slow-loading site when you’re just trying to quickly look something up, and we’re likely to leave a website and find another that can serve our needs when it’s just taking too long.
6. The Fold Matters – A cardinal rule of design, whether for a web page or a newspaper page, has been to keep the most important information “above the fold,” meaning the top half of the page. While there has been some debate about whether the fold even matters anymore, recent research has indicated that it absolutely still does. So, err on the side of caution and be sure to include a hero image, a descriptive headline and a clear call to action right off the bat.
7. Use Visual Cues – Is there a section of your website that you really want users to pay attention to? Using an image with an arrow or a person looking or pointing may seem pretty basic, but it actually works! Whether you choose a more subtle approach or a blatant, “look at me” type graphic, be sure to put visual cues around the most important parts of your page.
8. Make a List – As you can see, we’re huge fans of lists. Why? People enjoy seeing quick, concise bullet points detailing features of a product, service, or concept and are more likely to recall this information in a list form than if it was written as a paragraph of text. Be sure to put the most important points first and last, as these are the ones that are more likely to be recalled.
9. Skip Stock Photos – Using images of real people in your website design is a wonderful idea, as it conveys the idea of community and human connection. However, the use of stock photos can cause skepticism among your audience, as it seems that people are hard-wired to spot phony, generic photos, and tune them out. Avoid this by using images of staff members, customers, and other “real people” who have a stake in your business.
10. Share Social Proof – Word of mouth is still key when it comes to marketing, and thanks to social media, we now have more ways than ever to showcase positive customer reviews! By sharing social proof of your company’s stellar reputation and customer satisfaction, such as positive mentions, testimonials, and likes/shares, you’re lending credibility to your claims.

Contact Echero Today!

These website design tips are your starting point for building a site that genuinely makes people want to do business with you. For more great tips on website design, Contact Echero today!