When embarking on the process of designing a new website, many businesses tend to err on the side of caution, playing it safe.
However, this cautious approach often leads to the creation of a new website that lacks the distinctive elements necessary to stand out from competitors. With an abundance of pre-designed themes and website templates available, it is not uncommon to come across new websites that bear a striking resemblance to others within the same industry.
Don’t Be Afraid to Be Bold
When it comes to design, your website needs to be not only remarkable compared to your competitors’ websites but also in relation to the countless other websites that every visitor encounters in their lifetime.
Since your website serves as the online representation of your business, a redesign project presents an ideal opportunity to evaluate your branding strategy. By narrowing your focus to a specific target audience and establishing a strong brand identity, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors.
A skilled web designer will guide you in selecting a color scheme and assessing your brand’s personality. Color psychology plays a crucial role in color selection, as each color is associated with specific emotions. Carefully choosing font types and colors can convey a more professional and serious tone for your company, or imbue your website with a fun and contemporary character.
When making design choices, it’s important to be bold and consider the psychology and identity behind your website. However, if these broader concepts are not your primary focus, you may inadvertently gravitate towards more traditional colors and styles.
Your web designer will often create a web design guide that includes a comprehensive list of colors, fonts, and iconography used on the website. This design guide serves as a valuable resource for future marketing campaigns, ensuring a consistent brand identity.
By paying attention to these aspects and collaborating closely with your web designer, you can create a remarkable website that stands out and maintains a cohesive brand image.
Add Interactive Components
Despite a personalized design method and also top notch images, a fixed website page can look a little bit dull nowadays. In the last a number of years, interactive parts have actually come to be incredibly prominent as well as simpler to execute in website styles.
When including interactive elements, there is constantly an equilibrium in between interaction and also interruption. Stay clear of including way too much activity to a website page that might diminish the total experience as well as downright annoy site visitors.
Rather, contemporary design ideal techniques make use of micro-animations and also scroll computer animations that include refined activity and also motivate site visitors to relocate as well as scroll via the website. There is additionally an equilibrium in between computer animation as well as website efficiency, so make certain to review your concepts with an internet programmer to make certain the interactive elements do not weaken your website’s page tons time.
Customer experience, which describes the general experience that an internet site visitor carries your website, plays a big function in conversion optimization as well as time invested in websites. Actually, the following Google upgrade will certainly stress customer experience. One approach for the following upgrade is to boost your website by increasing the dwell time, to put it simply, locating means to maintain site visitors on the website for as long as feasible.
While computer animation and also video clip can contribute in this, you might additionally intend to think about interactive parts such as profiles, tests, or video clip blog site material. These elements can strengthen the conversion objectives and also make the experience a lot more fascinating for site visitors than simply clicking via conventional pages.
Focus on Your Web Visitors
A common mistake that frequently results in a website appearing generic is solely focusing on what your company wants rather than considering the needs of your visitors. Ultimately, your website should cater to and engage your visitors. When initiating a website project, it is crucial to begin by understanding your primary site visitors and their objectives. This understanding will enable you to customize everything from the messaging to the design of your website.
Given that web visitors typically spend only around 10-12 seconds on a website, you have a very limited timeframe to capture their attention. Crafting a compelling value proposition is an effective approach to swiftly communicate your identity. A web-based value proposition is typically featured on the homepage, comprising the headline, subheadline, and call to action in the first section of the page. As the majority of visitors enter the website through the homepage, the messaging in this area plays a pivotal role in determining whether visitors choose to stay or leave.
While evaluating your target market, there is often a temptation to adopt a broad approach in an attempt to capture as much of the market as possible. However, relying on generic statements in your messaging and attempting to cater to all potential needs will make it challenging to communicate distinct reasons why visitors should choose your business.
By focusing on your visitors, you can also establish an emotional connection through the design and interactive elements of your site.
Find the Best Inspiration
When initiating a website redesign, it is common to seek inspiration from other websites. However, websites do not come with publication dates, making it challenging to determine their age unless you are a designer or developer.
Considering that most businesses update their websites every 3-5 years, it is crucial to incorporate modern trends and ideas; otherwise, your launched website might quickly appear outdated.
While seeking inspiration, it is beneficial to look beyond your industry and competitors for fresh ideas. Explore technology-based companies and design firms to discover innovative websites. Online resources like Awwwards or Dribbble showcase the latest work of web designers, providing valuable inspiration.
Once you have compiled a list of websites that inspire you, as well as noted what you like and dislike about them, discuss these ideas with your web team. Your web designer and development team can guide you on the latest trends and best practices.
Lastly, to avoid a generic design, it is essential to remain open to new ideas and listen to the experts. Similar to fashion, the latest website design trends may not be prevalent across multiple sites as they are brand new. By the time many websites adopt a particular feature, it may already be considered outdated.
By incorporating these strategies, you can ensure your website redesign reflects a contemporary and unique design aesthetic.
Invest in Custom Design & Imagery
The approach you take in designing your website plays a significant role in its uniqueness and overall quality.
If you opt for a pre-designed template on a website builder platform, it becomes more challenging to create a website that truly stands out, as there could be numerous other sites utilizing the same template.
On the other hand, a custom design approach, where a web designer creates unique mockups based on wireframes, offers greater flexibility and the potential for a high-quality outcome. However, it’s important to note that a custom design may require a higher investment of resources and time, making it less feasible for some businesses.
Regardless of the design approach you choose, you can enhance the quality of your website by customizing the images and iconography as much as possible.
Image selection is a crucial aspect of the web design process, and while most websites rely on stock images to some extent, investing in a few paid stock images from professional sites like Getty Images and Shutterstock can significantly elevate the design of your site. This is particularly important for key pages such as the home page, About page, or service pages.
A skilled web designer can assist you in selecting high-resolution images and further customize them with filters and overlays. It’s advisable to avoid using generic stock images from free stock image sites, as they can undermine the legitimacy and credibility of your business.
By focusing on customized imagery and investing in high-quality stock images, you can enhance the visual appeal and professionalism of your website.
