Website is a representation of your company, store and brand name online, therefore it’s an important business asset. In the event that you still do not have a website, then you must start thinking about its design. By not having an online representation of your store, you are leaving an enormous well of customers unexplored, so not having one is obviously not an option.
The number of people who now shop online is higher than ever, and a lot of those shoppers use their smartphones for web browsing. In other words, you need a website that is optimized for smartphones and tablets as well.
The only thing that is worse than having no website, is having a poorly designed website. This will only annoy potential customers, and it will make you look unprofessional. So, in order to have more prospects for success in the future, you need to design your website carefully.
The following text will give you some web design related tips and how to keep up with the trends that are dominant in the year 2016. Here are some useful tips for web design in the year 2016.
Finding Web Design Services
Again, unprofessional website with poor design will only harm your reputation and lose a lot of potential customers. So, if you do not have a professional web designer on your team, then you need to outsource website development as well as website maintenance tasks. Of course, this does not mean you shouldn’t be involved in the website creation process.
You are an important figure in this entire process and you need to give designers concrete instructions on what you want your website to look like. After all it is supposed to represent your brand online, and it’s up to you to decide how you want your brand to be perceived by your target audience.
In case you are wondering how you can find a competent web design agency, there is a reliable way to do it. It’s basically just like buying any other product or service, you simply do some research on a particular provider and go through user reviews, so that you’ll know what to expect. You can find all the relevant reviews on the website called CrowdReviews.com, and get a provider who will be able to meet your needs. Once you find web design services, use the following tips to help you create design guidelines.
HD Hero Image
Do not misinterpret this, it does not mean that Batman or Hulk should appear on your home page. Hero Image is a term from the web design lexicon and it means banner image. It is important that you use a high quality image in order to send a strong message and to impress the user who visits your website. Vision is the strongest human sense and thereby using an impactful image is the best way to grab their attention.
Nowadays, compression technology has evolved to the point where HD images can be displayed immediately without hindering your website’s loading time and having a negative impact on user experience.
Material Design
You can use Google’s material design to create a website with great lighting and shadows. A lot of new websites use it to add some depth to an otherwise flat design, plus they have grid-based layouts along with responsive animation. So, opt for material design and you can’t possibly go wrong; the website will look nice, professional and will have greater aesthetic value than the ones of your competitors.
Scrolling
As mentioned, more and more users are now using their smartphones to browse the web and shop, so one of the ways to make your website more mobile-friendly is to implement scrolling. With more scrolling you can add more elements or products to your landing page, thereby eliminating the need for your shoppers to click on small tabs in order to find what they want.
Viewers who are using PC to shop won’t mind and those that are on their cellphones will find your website easier to navigate, so it is a win-win. Again, the majority of new websites are now using this type of design, so you’ll just be keeping up with all of the latest trends in 2016.
Videos and Infographics
In order to make your website more compelling you’ll need high-quality and engaging content. Videos and infographics are widely used nowadays for good reason. People love concrete and concise information, along with pictures, so infographics are perfect content to meet those needs. Also videos are always a good way to convey information, so it comes as no surprise that people are using videos on their website.
The information retained from watching a video is much greater than what we retain from reading text, also videos are far more interesting, which means people are more likely to stay on your website to watch it. This translates into positive conversion rate and better ranking. So, if possible use quality videos and make some niche-related infographics that you can upload on your website, the users will definitely respond good to this type of content.
Hover Animations
Another popular web design trend is hover animations. This looks very nice and it opens up a lot of possibilities in terms of information density you can put on a single page. Basically whenever someone hovers over a certain element on the page additional information is displayed. In other words, the information that you would originally put there is now hidden so that it doesn’t overburden the user and it doesn’t interfere with the aesthetics of your website.
Additionally, the user will view the information that he or she likes or wants to see, and the information can be found immediately. The entire page is more interactive, which again translates to better user experience.
Custom made 404 pages and loading logo
In order to achieve uniqueness in your design, you will need custom-made 404 pages and loading logos. Basically, even these elements can say something relevant about your business and your brand, and since the loading logo will appear frequently, it’s good to make it similar to or the same as your company logo. This way the users will know that they found the right place. Besides, 404 pages can be annoying and this is a good way to turn them into a pleasant and funny experience, just make sure there is a funny picture displayed.
No pop up cross selling
If you are running an online store do not have your products pop up all over a single product page. If the user is there to inspect a single product, do not try to divert his or her attention, allow them to shop in peace. By trying to upsell in this manner you are creating bad user experience and you can lose a potential customer just because your website is obnoxious and pushy. Make sure your products and services are in well-defined categories and use pop ups only if you have a special offer that you don’t want users to miss.
Find an adequate theme
You should use themes and plugins that are tailored specifically for the type of website you are running. There are themes and plugins for stores, restaurants, magazine and blog sites, and you basically have most of the work done for you and can focus on more important things like providing good content.
Try to pick a faster theme in order for your loading time to be smoother, since code complexity can hinder it. You can also choose a theme with inbuilt SEO tools to help you get better ranking and good head start. Also, there are free themes and the ones you need to pay for, so depending on your budget you might be limited in this department.
Use good web hosting
Lastly, you’ll need to have quality web hosting providers. It’s important to get a provider that offers content distribution, so that your site is on more than one server. This will secure a better experience for users that are located outside of your town, country or continent.
Also, a good web hosting service will ensure your site is constantly up and running and that it loads fast. Again, when you choose your provider go through user reviews, so that you can find the right people for the job, and know you’ve invested your money wisely.
That about sums it up; you should use these design tactics to make a website that most of your visitors will appreciate. These may seem like minor details, but rest assured that they have a significant impact nowadays, since positive user feedback is essential when building a strong online presence.
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