7 Web Design Tips to Help You Build a Great Website

Did you know that only 64% of small businesses have their own website?

In a world that's so digitally-driven, it's hard to get by without an online presence.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the idea of creating a website, but there are plenty of ways you can make an engaging website yourself!

Check out our guide below for seven web design tips to get you started!

1. Use Photos of Real People

Sites that feature photos of real people are <a href="https://signalvnoise.com/posts/2991-behind-the-scenes-ab-testing-part-3-final" target="_blank aria-label="more appealing - navigates to the signal voice website - will open in a new window">more appealing to visitors. Featuring photos of people on your website will give your company a more personal and trustworthy image.

However, you should avoid stock photos. Visitors are good at detecting fluffy, decorative filler images. Instead, use photos of real people from your company to humanize your brand.

2. Emphasize Readability

When designing your website, it can be easy to get caught up in the artistic side of it all. While appearance is important, you should always prioritize how user-friendly the site is.

Having a readable site is critical to keeping users engaged. Instead of choosing quirky or artistic fonts, choose a straight-forward and polished font.

A clean font makes reading large chunks of text much simpler. Also, keep font usage consistent—try to avoid using more than 3 fonts across your website.

3. Create a Call to Action

You should feature a call to action (CTA) on each page of your website. A CTA will keep the attention of visitors. Whether this is a prompt to sign up for an email newsletter or contact information, a clear CTA will help turn casual visitors into potential clients.

4. Develop a Mobile-Friendly Web Design

52% of website traffic in 2019 came from mobile phones, so it's safe to assume that around 50% of your website's visitors will be accessing the website on their phone.

While your website may look sharp on desktop browsers, it has to be equally appealing on mobile browsers. Create a mobile interface that's easy to navigate and easily readable in order to draw in mobile visitors.

5. Include Social Media Buttons

You'll miss out on a lot of social media traffic if you don't include links to them in your web design.

However, you should avoid posting social media icons in your website's header. If visitors click the social media links at the top of the page immediately, it's likely they won't return to your website.

Instead, put social media icons in your footer. This gives visitors access, but they'll likely only be used if visitors are intentionally searching for them after browsing your website.

6. Avoid Rotating Sliders

Rotating sliders and carousels are a popular choice for many websites, but they are rarely effective. Only the first slide typically receives engagement before visitors move on from the homepage.

Instead, choose either one image to lead with or stack the images, so visitors can view them all as they scroll down the page.

7. Keep It Simple

At the end of the day, you don't want to overload visitors with tons of information. Keep paragraphs short, and use visuals to your advantage!

Don't be afraid of white space. It gives visitors a chance to break apart the information presented to them.

Get Creative

Web design can be daunting, but it also gives you the chance to build your brand and create a unique style for your company online. With the tips above, you'll have no trouble creating the perfect website to draw in visitors!

Need some additional help building your dream website? Contact us!