Your Website Is Not an Art Project: 3 Web Design Best Practices

Users form opinions about your website in two-tenths of a second. When your website drives your business, you have to make sure that the first impression is really meaningful. In that brief time, your prospective client is taking in your overall web design and navigation and deciding whether or not they want to engage with your business.

Wondering how your website stacks up? Consider these three web design best practices that are a must-know for your website redesign process.

1. Make Conscious Choices with Color

Colors play a crucial role in your visual identity, so make sure you take that choice seriously. For example, a financial planner will wisely stay clear of reds and yellows because they indicate danger and caution, while the management consultant may use reds and yellows to demonstrate dramatic flair.

If you’re bringing new life into your corporate branding strategy, don’t commit to your colors simply out of tradition. Look into new shades and variations to see what new story you can tell about your brand. The colors you choose to represent your brand can unknowingly keep you stuck in the past, to the detriment of your business growth.

2. Choose the Right Images for Your Audience

Far too often we see stock images and meaningless photos in the line-up of a new business’s web design. While it won’t offend every customer, it’s definitely a missed opportunity for telling a unique story about your brand.

The images you choose need to relate with your audience — your specific, targeted audience. Generic clip art won’t impress your clients or show them that you’re any different from your competitors. To make sure you’re employing the right images for your business, closely evaluate your client personas and select images based on that profile. Finally, make sure you purchase images from a reputable stock image gallery or professional photographer so that your images are as unique as the value you provide your clients.

3. Size and Shape Matters More Than You Know

When it comes time to design the front page of your website, do you know why certain items are located at the top and certain items at the bottom? The smallest choices in web design and user strategy experience (UX) merge together to create the overall impression — taking your website from monotonous to dynamic with a few simple tweaks.

In fact, the size, shape, and location of your fonts, images, and white spaces are important, and the only way to know you’re doing it right is with a consultation from a professional graphic designer.

It’s not about fancy aesthetics and made-up art project voodoo. Graphic design is about using visual best practices to create clean, functional, and pleasant usability for your prospective customers. Using and applying graphic design best principles to your website redesign project isn’t optional for your ROI, it’s vital.