Elements of Your Business Web Site Design

Elements of Your Business Web Site Design – Your site is your virtual storefront or office — it’s the face of your business on the Web. Therefore, the look and feel of your site are at least as important as its name. When visitors arrive at your site, you have only a few seconds to motivate them to stay, and communicate what you do and how it benefits them.

Here are some basic design elements that can impact the user experience:

Copy: The copy (or text) on your site can make a big impression on your visitors. The copy style (casual versus formal, literal versus figurative, directional versus suggestive) sets a tone for the visitor. Additionally, copy that’s concise and broken into small chunks of information using short paragraphs, bulleted or numbered lists, and call-out boxes is more likely to be read and retained by your site visitors.

Color: The color palette can make a site bold or subtle, inviting or intimidating, invigorating or calming. Color can create emotion and draw attention. Too much color can be distracting. It’s important to ensure that the colors on your site work well together and don’t detract from the copy or features (such as navigation elements, tools, or calls to action). It’s also important that your site design, particularly color and graphics, fits within your brand identity. In other words, your site should have a similar look and feel to your other marketing tools (such as brochures, mailers, and even business cards).

Graphics: This is the imagery you select for your site. This can be as simple as your logo or as exciting as streaming video. Graphics can cause pages to load slowly, and visitors may get frustrated and navigate away from your site. Make sure there is a strong business case behind putting extensive graphics on your site, and learn how to compress files to increase download speeds.

Tools: As discussed in Lesson 1, the types of tools or features you include on your site depend on the type of site you build. For example, a virtual storefront will likely include a shopping cart, whereas a marketing site might include a newsletter registration feature. Tools should align with the purpose of your site and add value rather than confusion.

Layout: How the various parts (copy, color, graphics, and tools) are put together on each page is the layout. Web site layout needs to include an appealing look and an easy-to-navigate design that draws a visitor into the areas you most want them to visit and motivates them to take time to browse your site and return often.

As with many things, the rule of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Silly) applies to Web site design — particularly for those who are just entering the world of online business. Keeping a site simple means that copy is concise and easy to read, the site uses traditional navigation (top and/or left navigation bars), and enhancements are kept to a minimum so as not to distract visitors. As a result, pages should load quickly and allow visitors to navigate with ease.

Navigation: Navigating a Web page can be greatly impacted by page layout. You also need to consider how visitors navigate through your site. Your site map (the map of your site’s structure) determines your site navigation. It should be obvious to visitors how they get from one area of your site to another, and the key information they need should be only a click or two away.

Use your navigation (nav) bars to list primary pages within your site (such as Home, About, Contact Us, and Products). As visitors go deeper into your site, you can expand one of the nav bars to list sub areas. Ideally, try to keep the top nav bar consistent across all pages so that visitors always know where to look to get back to your primary pages. At the least, make sure that the link to your home page is visible and in the same location on each page.

Here are some things to consider when designing your site:

General appeal: What do you find appealing when you browse the Internet? What draws you into a site? What frustrates you or turns you away from a site? What sites do you visit often and why? Take your conclusions into account as you design your site — particularly if you fall into the same demographic as your prospects and customers.

Branding: What is your brand image? If it’s playful and light, you’ll want your site to reflect that. If, however, you tend to present your business as very buttoned up and serious, this is what your site should convey. Additionally, keeping the color palette for your site consistent with that of your other marketing materials will help you establish or solidify your brand image.

Type of site: What type of site are you designing? In Lesson 1, you determined the type of site you’ll need. This will greatly impact your design. A virtual storefront will have a design that includes shopping features, whereas a marketing site may do a lot more with words and colors to create excitement. While browsing the Web, look at different types of sites and note the differences in design.

The type of site you’re designing may drive you to slightly alter your brand image for the Web. You’ll need to find a balance if your site purpose and image don’t align. For example, if your brand image is playful, but you’re establishing a virtual storefront, you may need to tone down the playful side to establish your site as one that’s trustworthy and secure so that customers can buy from you with confidence.

Purpose of site: What are you selling or promoting? Incorporating imagery on your site that reflects the types of services or products you sell will help visitors understand your business. If you have products, feature them on the site. If it’s services you offer, feature relevant imagery. For example, if you provide computer training, it makes sense to feature photos of computers as well as people at computers.

Audience: Who is your audience? Your site must be designed to appeal to your audience. If you’re selling power tools to men, it’s likely that you won’t select a design that incorporates daisies and butterflies. However, if you’re selling gardening supplies to ladies, daisies and butterflies are likely to appeal to that audience.

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