A website design should change every two years. This is not because things change so fast online that in order to keep up, you might need to redesign your website.

Unfortunately 72 per cent of corporate websites will receive a failing point if they are analysed. How do you get to be in the 28 per cent that get a business website that passes the grader’s test?

Here are 10 tips to help you

Focus on individual page:

Every page on your website must have a focus and reason. You simply do not add pages because you want to. Your website is designed to serve a particular function and each individual page is to support that flow. When you create pages that do not help you achieve your overall aim, you create point of resistance to your selling process.

Unintelligent use of graphics

Visuals are a compelling part of any website. They help tell your story better and can beautify a webpage. Where it becomes an offence is when you use graphics excessively. This is because most people might access your website using different devices. You want users to have a unified experience so they do not get confused when using your website.

Navigations:

Navigations are meant to help a user to move from one point of the other on the website. Navigation is supposed to be descriptive and not ambiguous. How do you design a navigation that can help your website? You can go about it in two ways. One is to go the advance way by doing some keyword research using the Google analytics tool. The other method is much simplified. Visit your competitor and see how they arrange their navigation.

Readability:

The ability of a user to quickly see the lettering on your website is important to the success of your website. You want to make sure that letterings are eligible and of the right font size. A pension website should give use bigger text on their website while a dating site with emphasis on youth should use smaller texts. Your readability should align with your visitors.

Contact information

Contact information gives credibility and trust to a website. By having your contact information on all your pages, you make it easy for your visitors to trust you. With this information easily available, they know they can call a real person when they need help. Should you put it on all your pages – you might ask? I really think so.

Don’t open internal links in new tab

Internal links are meant to help users move from one point on your website to another. But how should you open an internal link? When you open an internal link in a new tab, the user might feel they have left your site. They will need to double-check to be sure they are still on your website. The only exception to this rule is when you want to open external links. External links should be open in a new tab so that your users still have the opportunity to stay within your site without losing focus.

Speed

Speed is a crucial point of friction in web design. As much as you want all those flashy and animated graphics, you need to realise that not this slows down and increase your page load time. Higher page load time leads to a bad user experience.

Length of page:

Is there an ideal length for a page? No. Your page should contain as much information as is necessary to enable your visitors perform the one main task for that page. It is important to note that your most important information should be above the fold.

Spell check:

Do you ever come across a website and it seems the webmaster forgot about it? That is what happens when you forget to spell-check again and again. Bad grammar and wrong spellings may not be forgiven by some visitors, so it is essential that you visit your website frequently to catch any error that might have escaped your first review. Have a large website? Hire an editor or intern for the job.

Colour of psychology:

Every colour used on your website should have a purpose and should align with the visitors you are targeting. For example using the colour red on your cart might actually increase conversion. This is because red is often associated with urgency so when you used it, you stimulate the desire to make the purchase in your visitors. So also are all other colours you used.

When it comes to designing the next perfect website you need to remember it is all about the user and less about your preference.


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