Web Design

Web design is part art and part science. The goal is to create web design that will accomplish the following goals:

• Visitors can find you online via search results.
• Your visitors can quickly and easily find the information they are looking for.
• Conveys trustworthiness and professionalism.

Web Design to Grow Your Business

We believe in creating websites that are effective, not ones that just look great. A professional design mixed with user-centered goals is our main focus as we design and develop a website that attracts visitors and helps your business grow.

Professional Consultation for Your Web Design

Before starting a web design project we first keep in mind that your website is one of your most important business investments. We want to see your vision for your website and we will get an understanding of your expectations. You will get our professional opinion and expertise, and make sure that you understand the process clearly.

Getting the Website Project Details

The most efficient way for us to get a website done is to understand who you are. Every project begins with a thorough discussion about every detail of your project from design to functionality. There is no wasted time on coming up with random web design comps that are nowhere near what you like because the initial consultation will give us a clear road map for what you are looking for.

Developing Website Goals

Every website needs to serve a function beyond looking good. If you are selling products, your goal is to get users to purchase your product(s). If you are providing services, your goal is to get people to contact you. Designing a website that will help focus website visitors on reaching your individual goal is what we concentrate on.

Best Practices for Effective Web Design

Knowing Your Website Visitors

Who your website is intended for is a key factor in how it is designed. We aim to get a clear understanding of your targeted audience and put together a web design that will give your audience what they want. As long as you understand the motivations, desires, and concerns your visitors have when it comes to your product or service, we will be able to create a design that focuses in its entirety on converting these visitors to customers. It is critical for both you and us to understand your visitors during the initial stage of a project.

Giving Your Website Visitors Exactly What They Are Looking For

We also need to make sure that visitors arrive at the exact information they expect. That it is why it is important that your promotions lead visitors to relevant pages, not necessarily the home page of your website. With only seconds to keep their attention, you cannot risk losing your visitor’s focus by forcing them to hunt for the information they need from your home page. Ineffective web design in this area will give your website a high "bounce rate".

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Removing Distractions

Building Trust with Effective Web Design

Many people consider it risky business to enter into an online transaction with someone you do not know. So many people may have serious preservations to giving you money or their personal information. How can you get potential customers to trust you without ever meeting them? Trust is established through credibility.

• Insuring Privacy - Promise your clients that their privacy will be guarded. Let them know that you have taken the time to create safeguards for their information.
  
  
• Guaranteeing Satisfaction - Can you reassure potential customers that your product or service come
  with satisfaction Guaranteed? Do you give your customers a warranty for products, or trial period for services?
  
  
• Providing Testimonials - A strong, credible testimonial is very powerful. When your prospects read testimonials from past customers, they will be more likely to feel at ease doing business with you. User testimonials should speak of the benefits of your services and be relevant to your target audience. A good testimonial is preferable to include a full name, location, or even photo of the customer.

Keeping The Web Design Focused

Too many product offers on a single page can distract a visitor. Your visitor has arrived on you website because they are interested in a specific product or service and have a particular purpose in mind. Our job is to assist the visitor to stay focused on a single product or message until they have completed that transaction first.

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Being Aware of "The Website Fold"

The fold is the point on a web page below which scrolling is required to view additional content. If visitors have to scroll to get all the information from your website, especially the call to action, you may
lose them. Therefore, it is important to know where the fold will fall. Unfortunately, this web design practice an inexact science as different browsers, and different screen resolutions, will place the fold at different points on your page.

We recommend designing your page for the lowest common denominator generally accepted by web designers to be screen resolution of 1024 x 768. Designing your page for this format will mean only a very small handful of visitors; (those still using a resolution of 800 x 600 less than 3% of PC owners and shrinking) will need to scroll. Many of your visitors will not scroll, regardless of how important or pertinent the information is below the fold. It is imperative that calls to action be placed above the fold to capture the non scrollers.

Knowing Where to Place Your Calls to Action

Proper placement of calls to action is a major part of the web design. Depending on the length of your page, you may need to place your call to action in more than one position. A rule of thumb is to have a call to action for every “screen”, or about every 400 to 500 lines of vertical resolution.

Considering the Visitor’s View Of Your Page

Keep the most important items (graphics, text, etc) in the center of the viewer’s line of sight. This should be the focal point of the page. Do not allow items on the sidebars to take attention away from this focus. Your message should be extremely conspicuous so that readers who only scan the webpage (most of them) will get your message. We consider using bold, colorful, and large text and images for the most important parts of your page. Effective web design leads the users’ eyes along the page towards the call to action. The flow of your page should naturally lead itself to a conversion exit. Web page viewers tend to look at a page starting from the top left and moving to the bottom right.

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Using Supporting Images

In addition to your main image other graphic elements can be used to help convey your message. If you have technical information, perhaps a chart or graph can get your point across more easily. Make sure that, unless your graphic is the main image, it does not over power other elements and become the focus of your page – this could distract the viewer from continuing on the path to conversion. Effective web design uses graphics to enhance the usability of the page. For instance, a color box behind your assurance of privacy will make it more noticeable. Be careful not to highlight less important information because it may become more prominent than the information you most want your visitor to read.

Appropriate Language (search engine friendly) Web Design

Web site content should be easy to read for your visitors and search engines as well. Too often content is filled with corporate and business jargon that reads like a whitepaper. Effective web content appeals your visitors. They may not be aware of some terms, references, etc. They may want to understand how you can help them quickly, so list some benefits in bullet format. The page should be organized, easy to follow, and well spread out.

Keeping Your Visitors

If you want to conversions, you must let visitors know what to do, and the order in which to do it. With proper, well thought-out web design your web site will be easy to navigate, with clear links and buttons to keep users on course. Call to actions and links should be clearly visible with a quick glance around the page. Additionally, every link or call to action button should be a waypoint that emphasizes the conversion goal and leads the user through the conversion funnel.

Giving Your Visitors Several Ways to Contact You

Even after visitors have decided to do as you wished, they might still change their mind if the conversion does not go as smoothly and quickly as they had anticipated. As stated, it is particularly important to make the conversion easy, quick, and simple. We will want to Include as many options for conversion as possible by phone, chat, fax and/or email.

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Using Headline Optimization

Your page’s headline could make or break the deal. The fact that someone has arrived at your page means that they have an interest in your message. Your headline needs to affirm this interest and encourage further investigation. The headline should intrigue your visitors enough to continue investigating what you have to offer. Some web designers use graphical headlines versus than text. This graphical choice is less advantageous for search engine results.

Using the Right Images

If a picture is worth a thousand words, and you have mere seconds to capture your visitor before they bail out. That is why a carefully chosen and well positioned image should be a major element of your pages. When scanning a web page, visitors will most often look at the image first and, along with the headline and overall web design. The image can make the difference between whether or not your visitor stays. Graphic continuity creates a familiarity with your page; the visitor does not need to adjust to a different look, which means there is one less reason for them to click away.

Knowing When to Use Short Copy Versus Long Copy

There is an ongoing debate among web design gurus over the merits of differing lengths of copy. Some believe in using more copy you are able to better explain the product or service. Others believe that short copy, by reducing the risk of losing your visitor, is better. There is no single answer to the debate. However, there are a couple of general guidelines that should be considered when trying to determine the length of copy to use.

Short copy is usually better for giveaways or free offers. If visitors want what you are giving away, they don't want to read too much they just want the freebie. If they don't want it, they will not be interested in reading long copy anyway.

Long copy works better if you are selling something, particularly big ticket items. Visitors want to know as much as they can about something before they part with their hard earned dollars.

We would love to help you get the most from your web design. Contact us for a FREE Consultation.