So how do you create a good website design?
Here are some things to consider:
1. The Purpose: what is the website for? In your case, the purpose is to sell products. You have to design your site in a way that achieves your goal.
2. Structure your site well: this means thinking how people will move about once inside the site. Just like your regular store, you have to make people move freely and comfortably. It is important to direct them towards the products they're looking for. The same goes for the website structure. You must make it clean yet comprehensive. And it must be simple and easy to use.
3. Design: clean and uncluttered—this is the way to attract viewers. Menus must be simple, easy to locate and readable. Don't use fancy fonts that can't be deciphered.
4. Colour your site: don’t just use any colour though. Use attractive colours. More importantly, use easy-to-read colours like black or blue. Avoid using colours that can hurt the eyes like reds and yellows.
5. Consistency counts: design your pages in a consistent and familiar way. If the home page has menus on the left for example, do the same on every page. Same goes for colours and text fonts.
6. Use easy to read fonts: as much as you may want to use artsy script fonts, avoid these as most people may find them hard to read.
7. Good content counts: know what to put in your site. Know what photos and text are relevant, and place them accordingly. Don’t just put photos in one page just to fill it up. It should go with the appropriate text.
8. Briefly state your message: use short yet informative paragraphs. Go straight to the point, and group text logically.
9. Check your work: check for spelling and grammatical errors. Make sure that your information is accurate; credibility is everything.
10. Speed: sites with lots of photos and images tend to load a lot slower. So it would be a good idea to check how fast your site loads and make the necessary adjustments.
11. Compatibility: can your site be viewed on different browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Netscape?
12. Test your site: have a “customer” visit your site. Let them go through the whole process. See how it runs in the real world.
Building that website is crucial to your company’s success, so use effective website design to your advantage and watch your business grow.