Welp MagazineIf you own a website, then you need to achieve good web design. Because of how advanced the internet is today, and because of how many people use it on a daily basis, internet users have come to expect high-quality websites. If your website doesn’t live up to the expectations of web users, then they could go elsewhere. After all, who wants to use a poor-quality website when there are so many high-quality ones to choose from?
But what is considered good website design, and how do you achieve it? This post will answer these questions for you.
Professional Help
Before moving onto the first half of this post’s question (what is good web design), let’s first address how you can achieve good web design. The most effective way, by far, is to hire a professional web design agency to work on your website for you. According to one of the leading web design companies in Chicago, the need for responsive design has never been greater. More people are using the internet than ever before, and as mentioned in this post’s introduction, they have come to expect high-quality website design. A professional company will be able to design your site for you, allowing you to focus on other things related to your website, such as marketing.
Fulfills Purpose
With achieving good web design addressed, it’s time to move on to what defines good web design. One of the most important things that you need to ensure that your website does is fulfil its purpose. A lot of websites neglect their purpose, instead focusing on other things. Whatever your website’s purpose is (i.e., e-commerce, blog, vlog, or portfolio), make sure that it is designed with that in mind. Make sure to tell the company working on your website for you exactly what you want and what your website’s purpose is.
Loading Times
Slow loading times are a very big problem for a lot of websites. Unfortunately, if your site’s loading times are slow or delayed, then web users could avoid your site. There are a lot of websites to select from online, so it makes no sense for people to want to use your website if it loads slowly. The best way to ensure that your website loads as quickly as possible is to have it designed by a professional agency and ensure that you have dedicated web hosting.
Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization is essential. A large percentage of the internet’s users are mobile users, meaning that they browse the internet using their mobile devices. A website that isn’t optimized for mobile use will alienate a large chunk of its audience. Google, the internet’s foremost search engine, won’t rank websites that aren’t optimized for mobile use highly on its search listings, which will mean that people could struggle to find your website. Mobile optimization is an important part of SEM (search engine marketing). If you want your site to be discoverable, then make sure that mobile users can access it.
Contact Information
A common mistake made by new website owners is neglecting to create a contact information page. If people aren’t able to get in touch with you through your website, then they may not do business with you or support your brand. You should have a page that’s dedicated to providing people with your contact information. If you do not want to publish your name, email, and phone number publicly, then you can create a ‘Contact Us’ form on your page. Make sure that you regularly check your site’s email inbox and respond to the messages sent to you through your contact form.
Privacy Policy
A privacy policy is very important. A lot of websites are careless with the way that they manage their users’ data. Unfortunately, careless data management can result in hackers and fraudsters stealing your website user’s information. If this happens, then not only can you get in a lot of trouble, but you can also lose out on a lot of business. Why would your site’s visitors want to continue supporting you if you don’t take steps to protect their data? A privacy policy is a document that outlines how you handle your website user’s data. Make sure you follow the information that you outline in your privacy policy—don’t just have one there for show.
Easy Navigation
If your site’s layout is complex, then people won’t want to use your website. After all, why would anyone want to waste their time trying to navigate an overly complex website? The best way to ensure that your site is easy to navigate is to hire a professional website design company and ask them to create a site that’s easily navigable for you. If after your site has been designed, you are concerned that it’s a little too complex, you can reach out to them and ask them to make changes for you.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate is essential. You won’t be able to rank highly on any of the major search engines if you don’t have one. It’s also worth noting that if you don’t have one on your site, most browsers will flag up your site as a potential scam and block people from being able to access it. Firewalls will do the same thing. An SSL certificate encrypts all of the traffic that comes through your site, preventing hackers and frauds from intercepting your site’s user data. It is a necessary addition to your website if you want to achieve good website design, and also protect your site’s users.
Newsletter Sign-ups
Finally, give your website’s users the opportunity to sign up for your site’s newsletter. You should never force them to. A lot of sites do this, by forcing people to sign up for their newsletter when they register an account or make a purchase. If you force people to sign up for your newsletter, then they may decide to shop elsewhere, or could forward any emails you send to junk. The best way to get people to sign up for your newsletter is to incentivize it by giving them a discount of some kind or a promotional offer.
It’s not easy creating a website, especially alone. Most people find that working with professional web design companies is a lot easier than using web template services, or coding websites from scratch. Before hiring an agency, make sure that you read their reviews and research them so that you can be confident they are experienced and knowledgeable in web design.
