Website design is a feature often overlooked by businesses. It is, however, very important in forming a first impression on your customers. Your website will most likely the first interaction a new customer has with your business and will be how they form their first impression of your business. Your web design is what determines if a viewer engages with your site and becomes a potential lead or leaves your site and takes their business elsewhere.

 

Importance of Web Design

Studies show that it takes a viewer just 50 milliseconds to generate a first impression of a web page. Many viewers of your site will use your site’s design as a way to judge your business’s credibility. If your website is poorly designed, difficult to navigate, or out of date a viewer might think twice about the credibility of your business. An effective web design will build trust for your viewers. With a well-designed website that is easy to navigate a viewer will feel confident in the quality of your business and feel more inclined to purchase your product or service. In addition, your web design will influence how your customers perceive your business’s customer service. If a potential customer sees that you haven’t put effort into your website design, they may feel that you won’t put effort into your customer service.

 

A Good First Impression

To create a positive first impression on your viewers it’s important to focus on the “above the fold” section of your webpage. This is the section of your homepage that a viewer will see immediately upon arriving at your website before they start scrolling. This section should contain your company logo so that the viewer knows immediately that they’ve arrived at the right site. This is also a good place for a captivating image to catch your viewers’ attention. The viewer should also be able to get a general idea of what your business offers within the first few seconds of viewing your page. Differentiation is another great way to create a positive first impression. If your website looks very similar to all of your competitors, it may seem dull and boring. Your site should stand out from the competition and be its own unique design.

 

Build A Solid Web Design

There are many components that go in to creating a great web design. The colors of your website are one of the first components of your website that a viewer will notice. Too much white space is boring and unattractive, but too much color is busy and distracting. It’s best to choose a color scheme of 2 or 3 colors that aligns with your brand to use on your website. Your navigation menu will probably be the next component a viewer will notice. Your viewers will be using your navigation menu to find what they are looking for on your site, so it should be straight-forward and easy for them to use. The written content of your page will also be noticed very quickly. Although the content itself is important for search engine optimization and to educate your viewers, the design of your content is important to attract their interest. Try to avoid writing a novel on your webpage. On the other hand, you don’t want to have too little text on your page. It’s important to find a balance in the amount of content you write. Also, be sure that the color of your text is easy to read against the background and that the size of the text is appropriate and isn’t too small for your viewers to read.

 

Take a gander at these two website designs. Does one look more visually appealing than the other?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Website design is crucial for creating a first impression on your viewers. Viewers will make judgements about your business very quickly based upon the design of your website. Differentiating your website from your competition is a good way to separate yourself from the common rabble. Designing an attractive and functioning website is a must to build trust and credibility for your business.