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Web Design: 5 Things To Keep In Mind When Building A Website
This article will outline some of the more important things you should look for when you're thinking about designing a website.
Building a website is an exciting prospect. It's the opportunity to create something that will have an impact on your business for years to come. But it can also be overwhelming, particularly if you're not sure where to start. That's why we've compiled this list of 5 things you should keep in mind when designing or building a website. If you take these points into account early on, the design process will go more smoothly and your site will be ready for success!
1. Find a domain name that clearly represents your business
The first thing any business should consider if you are starting web design from scratch is to find a domain name that accurately describes your business. It's important to be clear about who your business is and what you do. This will make it easier for people to find you when they search online through popular web search engines like Google or Bing, which means more potential customers!
Naming conventions aren't just helpful in the early stages of website design; domain names are also critical when launching social media profiles (Facebook page, Twitter handle, etc.).
Remember that using a generic name could limit your reach, so steer clear of choosing something too vague. A good rule of thumb? Make sure your company name can stand on its own without needing any additional context. For example, if you run an organic food delivery business, choose something like "OrganicDelights.com" rather than a more ambiguous name.
If your website is based on a blog or some other online platform where regular content updates are needed, make sure the domain name of this site will be able to stand long term. Think about whether it accurately describes what your brand does and how people can benefit from using it in the future (i.e., would potential customers find value in signing up for a newsletter?). Once you've settled on one idea that fits these criteria, do yourself a favor and register the corresponding web address while it's still available! It may seem obvious but choosing not to purchase valuable URLs at critical points during design could result in losing out on your preferred domain.
Find a secure website hosting provider
Finding a secure domain hosting provider is essential because it ensures that your web pages can be viewed by users all over the world. It's best to look for a hosting company that specializes in secure website hosting because this is their area of expertise and they will have experience with fulfilling these needs for other clients before you even signed up!
A great way to find out if your provider offers what it takes to keep your site safe from hackers is to contact customer service directly or do some online research on how well they are regarded in the industry. Make sure you ask them about any security features offered (like two-factor authentication), as well as details around pricing plans and potential discounts. One of the most common domain providers is Godaddy.
You should also ask your host if they offer free SSL certificates as part of package deals for new customers. In layman's terms, an SSL certificate ensures the security protocols on both ends (more specifically referred to as transport layer security or TLS). This process creates encrypted communication channels between browsers and servers so transactions can be securely processed over the internet without exposing any critical information like credit card numbers or passwords! A lot of people don't realize this step is important until after they've already been hacked – then it's too late to prevent data theft from occurring. Here are some examples of trusted domain providers:
2. Make sure you accurately describe your business on your website
One of the most important web design tips to consider is whether or not your website accurately represents what you do. A lot of business owners make this mistake by putting up a site that has little to no resemblance with their actual services and products!
If your brand offers complex technology solutions, then it's best to have a clean and polished user interface on your landing page so users can understand why they should choose you over competitors in the same industry.
If there are multiple aspects involved with how you help customers solve problems, explain these details through detailed blog posts instead. This will ensure visitors never get confused when looking for specific information around offerings from other businesses competing in the marketplace.
In contrast, if your company deals primarily in providing simple goods like food or clothing, then it's best to have a streamlined interface with high-quality product photos on the landing page. This will ensure customers can easily identify what you do and decide if they would like to check out your products in person at physical locations!
Lastly, some companies choose not to focus their website design on either of these two methods but instead construct an entirely new approach that reflects how their company operates day-to-day (i.e., marketing agency or publishing house). This is great because it allows visitors insight into different aspects involved with running a business – from growth strategies and revenue generation all the way down to regular office culture and employee benefits. You should never be hesitant about putting up information around who you are as a brand since this helps add transparency to your company.
3. Create seamless usability for your customers
Making your site easy to navigate can drastically increase your conversion rate because you're allowing visitors to find the information they want with as little effort as possible!
One of the most common web design tips shared around improving usability is adding a search bar that can be used at any time. This allows customers to quickly enter specific keywords and receive accurate results instead of taking long periods of time scanning through dozens (or even hundreds) of blog posts trying to locate what they need. Keep in mind, this is only useful if you actually have those items people are searching for listed on your site – otherwise it's just plain frustrating and doesn't provide any benefits outside user experience satisfaction.
The other main aspect associated with enhancing navigation comes from how you display content throughout different pages or subpages within a website. Most websites use either an "in-line" or "outline" method for organizing information.
The most common approach is to line up content side by side (i.e., blog posts, products), which allows users to move down the page without having to scroll horizontally very far at all – this can be useful if your site has a lot of product images/details that you want visitors to see before continuing further downwards on the list. The only downside with this style comes from requiring customers to wait long periods of time when they are trying to find specific items because their eyes have fewer places they can look in comparison with an outline model!
On the other hand, some businesses choose not to display any kind of organization around where different pieces fall within a website layout and instead allow users to scroll freely from top-to-bottom. This might be a good approach for blogs or publishing houses who want visitors able to read through all of their content without interruption – just keep in mind that if you're trying to organize your company by category (i.e., blog posts, products), then it can become difficult for people looking specifically for something within this list since they cannot quickly scan the page and find what they need!
The best way to avoid these problems entirely is deciding on an outline model but adding horizontal lines between different groups so customers know where one type of information stops and another begins (this works especially well with websites featuring multiple services/products). You should also never hesitate about using headings throughout your website design.
4. Build a website that works on all platforms: mobile, tablet, and desktop
Cross-platform compatibility is very important in today's web design practices because it can drastically affect your conversion rate! Not only does this mean making sure that different content is easily viewed on any device, but you also have to be careful about image sizing and loading speed.
If visitors are taking the time to view your site on a mobile or tablet device, then there's already an increased chance of them being interested in doing business with you – so don't fall short by allowing information they need inaccessible because their screen resolution isn't large enough! The same advice goes for people using outdated browsers since these usually don't support modern web technologies (i.e., HTML/CSS). Optimizing website performance is just as important as creating something visually appealing which means working hard on providing customers access to all areas within seconds no matter what type of platform they are using.
This doesn't mean that you have to completely design your website for each individual device, but rather consider what elements would be most important or convenient depending on how customers are visiting the site – then simply scale down aspects like images/video where necessary! This can also go hand-in-hand with web accessibility techniques since it's very possible to create something visitor-friendly regardless of physical disability (i.e., vision loss). Keeping this in mind will help ensure people across all demographics remain happy with their experience and wish to return again in the future!
5. Search Engine Optimization
Finding the right SEO techniques to implement into your website design can be hard because it's a constantly changing field – but there are some basics which you should always include if possible. First and foremost, make sure that unique meta descriptions (i.e., 160 character sales pitches) exist for each page on your site because these appear whenever someone searches for something relevant in their search engine results - this is one of the best ways to get new visitors interested in what you have to offer!
You also need to spend time crafting compelling titles/headings so Google knows exactly how important specific pieces of content are within a website layout since they tend to rank sites higher when customers view webpages with information immediately useful to them. Last but not least, adding targeted keywords throughout your web design is a great way to increase search engine visibility without going overboard. Google is constantly changing its algorithm, so it's very important to try and stay on top of the ongoing changes to give yourself the best chance at ranking higher.
Meta description and Meta Tags
Although a small part of SEO, meta description and meta tags are still important for web design. Meta descriptions appear in search engine results, while meta tags define website content within HTML pages of a site.
Keywords to include:
- best practices ( i.e., "best web design practices")
- web development (i.e., "web designer")
- tips and tricks (i.e., "web design tips") or resources (i.e., "Web Design Resources" )
Meta information will only help your SEO efforts if they're relevant to the actual content on your page -- so don't be afraid about changing them around when needed! A lot of online marketers forget this point but it's very possible to rank high without utilizing metadata at all - just make sure that your website is generally well optimized in other areas before expecting great results!
Keep yourself up-to-date with the digital world
As the world moves more and more to digital, it’s important that your company isn't left behind. Web design can be one of the easiest ways for you to gain a competitive edge over other companies in your industry who are also vying for customers online. If you want help with web design or website development, contact us today! We specialize in making sure our clients have an easy-to-navigate site that they're proud to share on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Our team has plenty of experience handling everything from custom programming language creation all the way down to color selection so there's no need for guesswork when developing your website. Whether you just need some new images uploaded onto your current webpage or would like updated practices, we would love to chat with you.
