Nothing turns away customers and sales more than a poorly designed website. If you want your online presence to boost your bottom line, then you need to invest some serious time and money into developing a professional, attractive and modern web page that will stand out.
And it’s not hard. While sites were once little more than pieces of text thrown up against low-quality graphics, drastic improvements in web design technology allow even smaller SMEs to make world-class websites.
Lisa Taliana of Taliana Designs says many businesses aren’t taking their websites seriously enough and need to pump more resources into the design process.
“What I tell clients is that people think websites are just a cheap method for getting your business name out and about, and to a degree it is. But many businesses don’t think about their competition enough.”
“Don’t copy what other people are doing; you need to treat your website like a shopfront. It is the window to your business and if you don’t deck it out properly like a bricks-and-mortar store then you could be sending out the wrong message.”
If you don’t have a website, or your current site is little more than a holding page for some text, you need to drastically rethink your strategy. It can be complicated creating a unique design that competes with others in your industry, but whether you sell online or offline, creating a website is one of the most important things you’ll ever do.
Ever since businesses realised they can develop websites of their own, many have taken the view that they should post as much information up as possible. But these experts say just because you can add something to your website doesn’t mean you should.
Sean Fishlock from Datalink says while the past 10 years have been all about creating content-heavy pages with design largely a second priority, now businesses are approaching sites with a “less-is-more” approach.
“What we recommend is a simple approach. We like seeing very basic home pages. Of course, still use bold branding, but there are various methods like content sliders that can be used to reduce clutter and make messages more simple.”
Taliana agrees. She says while businesses should put up as much information as possible – including information on products, the executive team, opening hours, prices, etc – that doesn’t mean the site has to look cluttered.
“Keep it simple, or the visitor will leave.”
There are plenty of ways businesses can do this, these experts say, but three of the easiest mechanics are:
Fishlock points out content-sliders as particularly effective tools. These are a window placed somewhere on your page that allow users to see a few different pieces of content that constantly change, similar to a screensaver.
“This is all part of being simple. We recommend very basic home pages, and content sliders can go a long way to reducing clutter and making your message simple.”
Taliana says content sliders can contain any type of information from an “about us” profile, or even a list of clients.
The second tip is to use plenty of white space. Keep your graphics bold and sparse, and make sure each portion of the site is kept far enough away from each other so users don’t become confused.
Bernie Johnson, chief executive of Adrenaline Media, points to NAB’s website as an example of solid minimalist design. He says stripping back the text and emphasising the bold graphics allows a clear brand message to seep through.
“NAB has really stripped its design back completely. They have a really clean design, almost dumbing it down. They’re trying to achieve consistent messaging with all of their advertising and it’s working.
“Keep a lot of white space, and reserve the graphics and so on for making your message clear.”
But Johnson also points out another reason for creating simplistic design – mobiles. More users are accessing websites on smartphones and tablets now and your website should appear as attractive on those devices as it does on a huge monitor.
“You want to try and achieve consistent messaging through different devices, because that is where the web consumption is occurring. Whether it’s on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, you need to take into consideration how it’s all going to render.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
