People Google before they shop, Yelp before they buy, and Tweet as soon as they form an opinion about anything. Because of this, your online presence is absolutely crucial.
Your Website Is Part of Your Brand
Take a second. I want you to think about the ugliest website you’ve ever seen. Alright, you got it? What was your impression of that company? Did you believe that they were giving top quality service based on the design of the website? 39% of website viewers will abandon a page that takes too long to load or is confusing to navigate.
Hello, I’m Kristen Ransom, and today I’m going to talk to you about how to best design principles to make sure that your website design is unforgettable, and for the right reasons. How can you make sure that your website is not only engaging to your users but is also user-friendly?
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Make Sure You Have a Call to Action On Your Website
So one thing that I like to start off with is making sure that there’s a call to action.
Figure out what it is that you want people to gain when they come to your website, and also what is it that you want them to do when they come to your website. For example, if you’re selling things online, you might want to show people your most recent catalog.
If your main goal for people is to get them to come to your events, why hide your events on a separate page? Maybe put two or three really important events that you want people to see immediately right on the homepage.
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In addition to showing them important information, again you also want to have a call to action. So for instance, if you want people to always subscribe to you e-list, maybe add a button that says subscribe now right on your homepage as soon as they get there.
Keep Your Brand Consistent
In addition to making sure that you outline your call to action and what your objective is, you also want to make sure that your brand is consistent everywhere online.
If, for instance, your color palette for your organization is black and white, make sure every place where you are present online has those two colors. You don’t want to see some fuchsia, and be like what the heck is that.
You want to make sure that you have a consistent brand throughout, so whenever people come to your website, they know exactly what to expect.
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Don’t Make Your Website Too Busy
In addition to setting consistent brand expectations, you want to make sure that your website isn’t too busy.
Often, when I’m doing consultations with clients who want advice on their website’s format and how to break up information, I give them one really useful guideline.
Take your hand, put it up: for every length of my hand you’re going to have one goal. So for instance, maybe for one length of your hand you would say: I’m going to have events, and just for that section have events. For the next length of your hand you’re going to have products, and just have products.
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Don’t Try to Accomplish Too Much In One Little Bit Of Space
So often, if you go to certain websites, you feel really overwhelmed. It’s often because they’re trying to accomplish way too much in one little a bit of space. Make sure you’re utilizing white space, give people a break for their eyes, and one objective for each portion of your website.
About Kristen Ransom
Kristen Ransom is the CEO and Founder of IncluDe Software Development Company. She founded IncluDe with the goal of providing graphically stunning digital design services to minority and woman-owned businesses. Through IncluDe, Kristen and her team work closely with clients to create a digital experience that tells the client’s unique story.
Prior to starting IncluDe, Kristen used her love for user-centered design at a variety of companies to develop both hardware and software products fit for an increasingly diverse world. At Harley-Davidson for instance, she worked on foot peg, handlebar, and seat design for bikes geared towards smaller female riders. Similarly, at the Department of Transportation VOLPE, she worked on a team devoted to increasing airbag safety for shorter drivers sitting closer to the steering wheel.
Most recently, Kristen has worked on countless government contracts designing and developing intuitive and effective software for the Air Force and Army.
She aims to use IncluDe to combine her passion for tech and activism to provide a wealth of technical expertise to a diverse set of clients.
Connect with Kristen:
Web – www.includeinnovation.com
Twitter – @inclu_de
LinkedIn – IncluDe Innovation