Few things are as true as the fact you only get one chance to make the first impression. In the digital world, not only is this true, but also first impressions take 0.05 seconds (!!). What message is your website sending to the world? And how? This is where web page design comes in. Unfortunately, it is too often that businesses get it wrong when it comes to web design; but there is hope! In this article, we will show you how to fix the most common website design fails.
👀 Did you know that 94% of first impressions are design-related?
Let’s Talk Web Page Design
To put how important web page design into perspective, here are some key facts:
- 88% of consumers are less prone to return to a site after a bad experience —duh, right?
- Smartphones hold a 63% share of all retail website visits.
- 57% of users won’t recommend a business with a badly designed mobile website.
- 75% of users judge a business’s credibility based on its web page design.
- It’s all about instant gratification: faster-loading websites have a 123% more chance of retaining mobile visitors.
If you take all of this into consideration, you understand the relevance of good web page design and how a slip can cost you valuable customers. Therefore, let’s discuss the 3 most common mistakes and the strategies to fix them. Let’s dive in!
1. Not Considering UX
UX means “user experience.” This term describes how the user feels when using a product or service and, in the majority of cases, businesses tend to focus on what they want to say rather than on how users will receive that.
UX is the process of designing the experiences and the way users will feel when interacting with your brand. It is about identifying and understanding a specific problem and designing around it in a user-centric way.
What makes bad UX? Think of trying to reach the contact center of a business to make a claim and not being able to find the phone number on the website… Argh.
So, what makes good UX? However complex it is to summarize a whole discipline in a blog post, we’ll just leave you with the basics. In order for a web page design to include good UX, the information on it must be:
- Desirable: You know, we eat with our eyes. The images, colors, layout, and typography, all make up your brand’s identity and elicit emotions from users. A web page that is thoughtfully designed and attractive is sure to make a better user experience.
- Useful: Is your content fulfilling a need? Are you creating original content? Remember, user-centric content means putting your users’ needs first.
- Usable: In that vein, you must also make your website easy to navigate. This is where the layout is key. Make your information easy to find for your customers.
- Findable: Similarly, users need to find the content of the page quickly (0.05 milliseconds, lest not forget!). Also, this applies both onsite and offsite. SEO plays a huge role here so that your users can locate you quickly and easily online and find you across all platforms.
- Credible: Credibility is extremely important when it comes to creating and retaining a loyal customer base. Your web page design needs to convey this credibility, which you will achieve by being consistent in the design and the content alike.
👉 Related content: Effective Website Design: The Ultimate List of Do’s and Don’ts
2. The Website Not Being Accessible Is a Big No-No
In this day and age where we have become more cognizant of inclusivity, your web page needs to address the needs of people with disabilities.
What types of disabilities are we talking about? They could be auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, or visual disabilities. And good web page design takes them into consideration.
How do you address disabilities from a web page design perspective?
Consider implementing these strategies:
- Choose a sans-serif font type. Sans-serif fonts have a slightly higher readability because they are more block-like and less ornamented than serif fonts. They help neurodivergent people stay focused and understand the content better.
- For the auditory disabled, consider including captions in your videos. Also, captions help your website SEO 😉 positioning, as browsers pick up on the text when crawling your website.
- Consider including audio descriptions to your website, so that users who find challenges with visual content can access it. Audio descriptions explain images and videos without narration in them.
- Also, you might want to include a plugin to read the contents of the site to your users aloud.
- Adapting the layout of the elements of the web page design so that the information is neatly organized and easy to follow.
Honestly, any user, whether disabled or not, will benefit from these solutions. Who doesn’t want easy-to-understand content?
🎇 The bonus? All of these implementations will help with SEO and credibility. When you put all of your users front and center, the Internet takes notice and rewards you.
3. Going Live without Testing is Bad Web Page Design 101
This one is a very obvious, albeit oftentimes forgotten step. I mean, you know, restaurants have their soft openings, so should your website! So, before you go live, gather prospective customers and gather their feedback to make improvements on the site before going live.
We cannot stress how essential this step is when it comes to web page design. Design is evolutive in nature, it changes with the seasons, with the current times and with your brand, therefore, it is only natural to test and adapt constantly to stay on top of your users’ needs.
🎙 Listen to Alpha Co.’s podcast episode on website best practices
Why Choose Alpha Co. for Your Website
Have you pictured how much your business can grow thanks to good web page design? Great! Time to make it happen. Alpha Co. Marketing & Media has a team of seasoned and innovative web page designers to make your web page dreams come true.
With creative spins on design and UX basics, your web page will reflect your company’s identity and clearly state your services and ethics.
🌟 Alpha Co. is a Spanish-English bilingual marketing agency that understands the ins and outs of the Hispanic community in Houston.
What you get:
- Personalized web page design.
- A plan that adapts to your budget and needs.
- Professionally designed & responsive websites.
- More engagement and leads.
- SEO expertise.
- Attention-grabbing graphics, illustrations, effects, and animations.
- Seasoned developers and designers.
- Continued maintenance and updates.
