Seven5 Seven 3 Founder and Martering Consultant Bianca B. King offers her top four tricks that make small business websites successful

For the past ten years, I’ve had the privilege of working with corporate clients as well as small businesses across the country creating website designs that help grow their businesses. As you can imagine a lot has changed, especially technology, since my venture into the world of web design all those years ago.

But four essential elements remain the same when designing a website then and now. Websites must capture your target audience with great visual appeal, promote engagement, prove your competitive advantage all while being logically organized and easy to navigate.

1: Strong Visual Appeal – You only have three seconds to capture your audiences’ attention so it is crucial that you have a visually appealing design that your audience can relate to. When planning your site design, remember to think about color theory. The right combinations of color — along with a well-conceived design plan and
elements — will not only demonstrate your brand value, but will also help visitors stay on your site longer.

2. Opportunities for Engagement – As a business owner, you should have a crystal clear vision of who you serve and how best to serve them. Presenting compelling opportunities for your potential clients to engage with your brand, based on the needs of your target audience, must be included in your website design. Beyond reading your site’s content, engagement can consist of completing a form, signing up for tips via email, watching videos, “liking” and/or sharing your blog posts on social media sites and downloading content you’ve created especially for your visitors. Think about how to skillfully incorporate these opportunities for engagement in your web design.

3. Demonstrates Your Competitive Advantages – Ensuring that your target audience understands what is unique about your company (also known as your Unique Selling Proposition, U.S.P.) will enable them to choose you over the competition. This is achieved by providing well-written, compelling content to help your target audience understand your U.S.P. Additionally, imagery can be just as powerful as the written word, so be sure to include images that convey your business’ capabilities to help your audience buy into your brand.

4. Great Structure: Have you ever been on a website that frustrated you because the layout/design wasn’t intuitive? When designing a website, it is paramount that you make the content easily accessible as well as logically organized so that it’s intuitive for your audience to find the information they are seeking. A poorly structured website, no matter how great the content, will make potential customers click away and on to the competition.

Do you have any questions about web design? We’d love to hear from you. Just comment below.