11 Principles of Good Web Design for Businesses

Living in a very social and Internet-based society means that when a business wants to expand their reach, they must cement their presence on the Internet and social media. Since this became a professional prerequisite, a lot of people that own businesses are having a hard time creating a platform for their business for reasons such as not being tech savvy and lacking the technical know-how in creating their own websites and social media pages.

In this article, we will give you some ideas and principles you can use to create a well-designed website or page that will surely put your business on the map. But first, let us run through the basics.

What is Web Design?

Web design pertains to the arrangement and order of your web content so that it can be read properly, understood quickly, leading customers to grasp what your business is offering just by looking at your website. This definition is not restricted to websites but also applies to mobile phone applications. Mobile browsers are also something to consider since it is much easier to create a mobile browser-friendly website than it is to launch applications.  

Since we are now refreshed on what web design is, let us continue with the 11 principles of good web designs.

1. Color Branding

Linking businesses to certain colors and symbols have been going on for centuries and there is a good reason why. People tend to associate colors with things they see,. For example, when people see red, they immediately think of Coca Cola or McDonald’s. This principle has been effective for all types of enterprises, including small businesses. 

Creating a color branded business can help you increase brand awareness. Then, your next goal is to link your business into a certain color that would make it stand out. Not necessarily an obnoxious and attention grabbing bright neon color, but something that represents your business well. 

This creates a larger impact on the customers and you will want to invest your time and resources into finding the right color for your brand. Check out our article about color psychology!

2. Mobile Compatibility 

Statistics show that in the Philippines alone, there are 156.5 million mobile phone connections that are currently active and in use. So make sure your website is compatible with mobile browsers to have an edge and zoom past your competitors. In fact, alot of people use mobile phones more than desktops and laptops on a daily basis according to a 2021 report, which means that your web design must always cater to mobile users, since they build up most of your potential customers.

3. Utilize Your Options Well

May I introduce you to a theory called Hick-Hyman’s Law which suggests that people will stay longer at a certain place when there are more options available in front of them to choose from. With this knowledge, here are two customer behaviors that you can shoot for: 

1. You want your customers to stay longer, so you immediately present them with more options, or; 
2. You want them to do an in-and-out type transaction and leave immediately, so you eliminate other unnecessary options to immediately funnel them towards your service.

Both have pros and cons but both of them generate traffic on your website; which is overall agood thing. Always consider the Hick-Hyman’s Law whenever creating your website since it helps you utilize your options regarding customer traffic.

4. Give Them Ways to Contact You

Letting customers know that they can contact you will always make them feel important. Which is why you should always give them the option to contact you in any way possible. You can always put these in your website’s “Contact Us” section:

1. Business email address
2. Business contact number
3. Live chat option 
4. Social media handles

By doing so, this gives them the idea that they and their voices are important and that you are opening your business’ lines of communication to listen to their concerns and feedback.

5. Utilize Color Psychology

Apart from good branding, colors also help you in creating and designing a good website for your business. Color plays a huge part in the customer’s psychology since a lot of colors are associated with certain characteristics. For example, red or reddish colors constitute hunger and cravings, while the color purple and its family means royalty and class. Utilize colors  well so that your  business can brand itself towards the results you are aiming for. Here’s a quick run-down of some of the basic colors used by businesses today and what they are associated with:

• Yellow = Happiness and cheerfulness
• Blue = Peace and security
• Green = Organic and health
• Black = Power and intelligence

6. Clarity Over Quantity 

Websites are often visited to gather more information on something that interests potential customers. This means your brand may have reached them via ads you paid for, or they found out about it by word of mouth. This means that they came to your website with a specific purpose, and you should be able to address it properly. Your website’s headlines and intentions must be clear and precise so as to not confuse your audience on what to read first and where the most important details are. For reference, here is a good example of a good website.

Why is it good? Let’s have a run through of it. 

• The visitors are faced with several options only
• Website visitors will go to this site to seek services for Branding, Animation, and Web UI/UX Design. A clear button with a Call To Action (CTA) that says “Book a Free Consultation”, which redirects to a form visitors can fill up.
• A live chat option is available and visible 
• There is a quick brief of what the business does and how they can help you, and most importantly;
• The website shows clear purpose without any hint of ambiguity

Wanna see it for yourself? Visit the website here.

7. Being Concise is the Best

Giving too much information in your website’s headlines is not always the best choice in most cases. It is much better to present your intentions, goals, mission, and vision in a short yet meaningful section since the human attention span averages around 8 seconds only. This means that it is wiser to give shorter sections to read for people that visit your website. Among the things that you should include in being concise are:

1. Mission statement
2. Vision statement
3. “About us” section and;
4. The services you offer

When you successfully create a concise web layout, designing your website’s aesthetics comes next.

8. Avoid Being the Victim of Banner Blindness

Banner blindness is a customer’s common behavior of ignoring parts of the website that they deem to be not important or perceive as ads. Most commonly, these parts are the ones that are placed in common spots where advertisements on other websites are located. To avoid this, create a minimalistic yet informative type of website layout that does not display a lot of blocked sections that can be misinterpreted as ads. This helps in keeping your website look professional and tidy, and avoiding the impression that your business or website is not legitimate. A great way to do this is to avoid using multiple clashing colors in your website. This will create a wacky and unprofessional vibe, unless that is the branding you have chosen for your business.

9. Have a Cohesive Layout

A cohesive layout is what every perfect website possesses. Having a cohesive website means you are able to display all the needed information in a very small section so the customer does not get lost on your site. Cohesion is very important for your website because people tend to leave websites that are hard to navigate and understand. Hick-Hyman’s Law can also be applied to this because too many options will take customers’ time away from learning about your services and results in a higher chance of them leaving your website frustrated.

A cohesive website layout is not just an easily operable and aesthetically pleasing website, it should work properly. This means that you should have a responsive layout that works and operates as you intended it to be. With a bit of knowledge in technology, you can make this yourself, but it is advisable that a professional web designer assesses your website. 

10. Optimize Your Search Engine Presence 

For a business to grow, it must be searchable in search engines and social media. If you fail to establish a good online presence that is visible in the search engines, then you definitely need to do use Search Engine Optimization or SEO. SEO is a type of optimization that helps your business or company rank higher in search engines. This means that if done correctly, your business will appear in the first page of search engines—which is what you should aim for. 

Having quality SEO is vital to your business since digital content and SEO work hand in hand. Essentially, you produce more content for your business and you also get to raise your search engine rankings—a win-win situation. Parallel to that, creating articles for your website helps improve your SEO ranking and increases your website traffic. 
Use our tips in this article as your reference in article writing. And finally;

11. Make it User-Friendly

The pinnacle of good web design is if it is usable even by children and older audiences. What good is a website if a people cannot easily navigate it? The goal of a website is to be used by people to learn more about your business and services. Creating a user-friendly web design is something that every brand should strive for. No matter how elegant and aesthetically pleasing your website design is, if it’s hard to use, then all that effort spent on the website was for nothing. 

In a website, you will always see images and words. This makes readability one of the essential characteristics of your website. In addition, use of complex and intimidating words often discourages people from reading more and exploring your website. So it is best to keep your words simple and digestible. Check out our tips on optimized writing in this article and learn what words should be used when writing digital content and web copy for your site. Relevance and the use of variations of words should also be exercised since readers get saturated when certain words are used repeatedly in a very short span. 

And that’s the 11 principles that you should take into consideration when doing web design for your business’ website.

Bonus time! 

It is a huge plus for businesses and companies to actually provide web accessibility on their website. What does this mean? Web accessibility means that even disabled people can use your website easily. People with disabilities such as hearing and seeing problems, cognitive problems, and others feel much more included when a website is designed with web accessibility in mind. When designing your website, always think about all types of people that will use it. This will not only help you gain traffic, but will also help them feel at ease, included, and most of all, comfortable. Here are some stories of people with disabilities that were moved due to a website’s effort to be accessible to their needs . 

Conclusion  

Web design for business is difficult and confusing, but focusing on certain principles and aspects can get you through easily. Web design is not just creating a beautiful website filled with nice colors, words, and images to satisfy a certain aesthetic that fits today’s trendsInstead, it also includes making the lives of the users easier and comfortable since not everyone is tech savvy. Creating a good website with outstanding web design is a fulfilling task since you address your customers’ likes and needs, and what the average customer would think if they randomly came across your website.

If you want to read more about web designing principles, we have more information here. 

To recap, one must always:

• Create readable and easily understandable content
• Lay out the site with cohesion 
• Take note of the colors to be used in your website
• Make it professional and clean
• Avoid using too many unnecessary words
• Be wary of banner blindness
• Think of mobile users, and lastly;
• Assume that your audience will come from all walks of life
• Make sure your website accommodates people with disabilities

Remember, your website is a reflection of your business and vice-versa, so make sure that you always take into consideration the needs of your target audience. It is true that web design is a difficult task but it is one of the most fundamental and vital parts of a business that rises above the competition.

Doing web design is taxing and takes a lot of time, especially if you plan to create something big. Do not worry, professionals are always ready to assist and cater to your needs. Visit us at Obra Digital for quality professional website design.