Design of Website Development and Design

With the foundations of usability and search engine visibility in mind, it is time to turn to making it all presentable: the design of the web site.

Looks may not matter to search engines, but they go a long to assuring visitors of your credibility, and of turning them into customers.

Every web site needs to be designed with clear goals (or conversions) in mind. Conversions take many forms and may include the following:

• Sale – where the user purchases a product online using their credit car
• Lead – where the user submits contact details and asks for more information
• Sign up – where the user opts in for email marketing newsletters
• Download – where the user downloads a file from the site

Before designing a web site, research your audience and competitors to determine expectations and common elements to your industry. Mock up every layer of interaction. This means that before any coding begins, there is clear map of how the web site should work. It’s all about foundations.

Design to establish credibility

Here are some of the cues that visitors use to determine the credibility of a web site:  

• Prominent phone numbers and addresses above the fold – it assures the visitor that there is a real person behind the web site, and that they are in easy reach.
• Informative, and personal, “about us” - your customers want to see the inner workings of a company and are especially interested in learning more about the head honchos. Include employee pictures and/or profiles. It puts a face to an organisation.
• Feature genuine testimonials on each page – this is a great way to show potential customers what your current customers have to say about your organisation. Trust is vital and this is one way to encourage it.
• Feature logos of associations / awards - if you belong to any relevant industry associations or have won any awards, feature them. Not only does this go a long way to establish your credibility, but it will show that you’re at the top of your game, a notch above the competition.
• Link to credible third party references - this is a way to assert your credibility without tooting your own horn.
•  Keep content fresh and updated.
• Ensure that your site is free of errors – spelling and grammar mistakes are exceptionally unprofessional and while the large majority of readers may not pick them up, the one or two who do will question your credibility.
• Include a portfolio of past work. 

Design also affects the accessibility of a web site. You need to take into account screen resolutions, as designing for the biggest screen available could leave many of your users scrolling across and down to see the web page. Subtle shading, background colours to text and fancy fonts can also mean that many users cannot even see your web site properly.