Every business needs a website. This is a fact forever etched into the cyber-sidewalk. But as technology becomes more advanced, accessible and all encompassing, the attention span of the average consumer diminishes. This is why web design is so important. Web design is the most crucial element of a website but it's also where most people fall short. If it's poorly designed it can actually be detrimental to your business, because success comes not from drawing your customer to your homepage but in keeping them there. Remember, you're not dangling a carrot on a stick, you're serving it up on a plate.
Web design is the process of planning and creating a website. How it relates to your business is in the layout. It has been suggested that most users will not venture past three clicks on a website to find the information they're after. But whilst this is a myth, the underlying message of simplicity is a web design maxim. The navigational elements of your website should follow web design conventions; i.e., a fixed home button, accepted colours and standards for links, easily accessible menus and, if your website is selling a product, a prominent shopping cart and order button. If you frustrate your customer, they will close the page. Attention-seeking elements such as bright colours and music are web design pitfalls -- they are intrusive and more likely to frustrate than entice. But this is not to say there is no room for creativity. On the contrary, creative use of web design principles will get you noticed.
The challenge lies in creating interesting web design without it being challenging to the consumer. Your website is the online face of your business, so your web design is a key component of your marketing strategy. Most business websites are frequented by surfers seeking information, not entertainment. This is why, inherent in all good web design, is 'professional simplicity'. Oversimplified it looks amateurish, too fancy it can become too complicated; either way, you lose potential customers. Web design tailored to your target audience, while following web design principles predicated on human behaviour, will give your business an edge -- something which, in an over-saturated online market, cannot be undervalued.
Many business owners fall into the trap of assuming merely getting their audience to their website will get results, but this is only half the battle. If you can't hold their attention, all the search engine optimisation in the world won't save you. But good web design will. It's important to remember, in many cases there are literally thousands of alternatives merely a click away. If you understand how web design works and why, you will give yourself much more chance at success. In short: good web design gets results.
