What are the Qualities of a Visually Compelling Website?
Gone are the days when websites were janky, online brochures with a few pages of your brand's information laid out in blue, hyperlinked texts. Nowadays, your website needs to be sleek, professional, and visually appealing to gain the attention of your target audience. After all, your website now serves as your storefront, so without the appeal to lure people in, you run the risk of losing leads against a competitive arena.
The web design world has come a long way in the last decade, with all kinds of specialties, niches, and technology shaping the way modern consumers browse websites. To make sure you choose the right designer for your brand, you should know what kind of design you're looking for. Here are some examples of what your website should look like:
What are the Qualities of a Visually Compelling Website?
1. Your Design Elements Should Be Cohesive to Your Brand and Have Purpose
A good website design should be easily recognizable as part of your company's brand; that’s why the right designer should be able to take your logo and use it to create a visual identity that is easily recognizable.
When designing a cohesive website for your brand, it's also important to ensure that every element you incorporate into the design is meaningful and vital to the brand. For example, you should use the same color scheme, font, and style on your website as you use in other mediums, such as on social media.
This is so that the user will be able to recognize the brand easily, and it will also help to build trust and loyalty in the user's mind. For example, if their experience on your website is similar to their experience on social media, they can expect a similar experience in reality.
2. Clear Hierarchy and Affordance
Users should know where to look and what to look for on your website or click to reach a different page. The flow of your design should be natural and intuitive, so having good organization serves as a guide for your users as they explore through your pages.
Another concept that is often forgotten has affordance on buttons or links. This is often called visual affordance, which is the concept of clicking something to know it will do something. For example, a green button with the words "Sign Up" should be clickable and bring users to a dedicated page where they can input their information.
3. Balancing Form and Function
Great design is also a product of balance—the balance between whitespace and text, form and function. This means that all the components you use to create a website should serve a certain purpose and fit into your overall design. The goal of your design should be to guide your user in the appropriate direction, keep them on your page longer, and ultimately turn them into a lead, customer, or client.
4. Promote a User-Friendly Experience
When designing a website, you should make sure that your website is user-friendly. This means that it should be easy to navigate, the content should be organized in a way that makes sense to the user, and it should be virtually effortless to find what they are looking for. In essence, a good-looking website should be intuitive and not confusing for users.
5. Integrates Mobile Responsive Elements
The last big thing that comes with a well-designed website is making sure that the website is mobile responsive. This means that the website is easy to navigate on a mobile device, and it doesn't use up a lot of data or take long to load.
This is incredibly important now that people are spending more time on their phones and laptops than ever before, and the internet is the main source of information for most people. If people are going to find your website on their phones, you should make sure that your website looks and feels seamless, no matter the size of the screen.
The Bottom Line: The Power of a Well-Designed Website
Now that you know the basics of good design, you should be able to understand how to choose a good web designer. It's important that you choose a designer with a proven track record, preferably with a portfolio of websites similar to the one you are looking to build.
A talented designer should understand what you are trying to achieve with your website and be able to turn your clients into loyal customers. Remember, your website is the first impression your clients get of your business, so it's important that it's a good one!
How Can We Help You?
Brikwoo Creative Group is a team of passionate designers and marketers who offer faith-based services to entrepreneurs and Christian business owners. With our help, we eliminate the frustration of building a brand and gain peace of mind, helping them reach business goals.