A website is the foundation of any business and the predominant force of its online presence. A good website communicates a business’s purpose, engages its visitors, and ultimately converts those visitors to customers. Here are seven website design best practices that ensure your website is effective and working for your business:

It represents your brand

Your brand is more than just a name or logo. Your brand is how your company is perceived by those who experience it. Your website should be reflective of your brand—from the colors you choose to your logo, your images, and your content. All these details make up your brand and should be carried consistently through your website and all of your marketing materials.

It’s visually pleasing

Have you ever heard the phrase, “less is more”? White space is your friend when it comes to web design. Don’t overcrowd or clutter your website with words and images. Instead, make sure your website’s flow is logical and easy to follow. With the right images and proper spacing and margins, your website can be both beautiful and easy for your users to navigate.

It has fast load times

Customers want to be able to access the information they need quickly, so the faster your website loads the happier your customers will be! Research says the most effective websites load within three seconds. If your load time is longer than that, large images may be the culprit. This can be fixed by reducing the size and scale of your images.

It has a call-to-action

What would you like your customers to do when they visit your website? Schedule an appointment? Place an order? Your call-to-action should be clearly visible and repeated several times throughout the pages of your website.

It contains landing pages

A landing page is a stand-alone web page that is created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign. It is used as part of your sales funnel and sets the stage for great conversion rates.

It uses quality images

All images should have a high-quality resolution that matches your brand. Consider using pictures of people, as website users are naturally drawn to photos of faces. Most website designers recommend not using sliders and carousels—once a popular choice—because they’ve found it often distracts visitors from more relevant content.

It’s mobile-friendly

With more and more people accessing their content from iPads and smartphones, it’s important that your website is mobile-friendly. Effective web design ensures your website looks as good on a variety of different devices, browsers, and operating systems.

If you need a website for your business or are interested in having your current website redesigned, Web Strategy Plus is here to help. We have years of experience creating mobile-friendly, search-engine-optimized websites that persuade your visitors to dig deeper and stay longer. We can help you design a website that is user-friendly, fast, secure and affordable. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation! For more tips to grow your business, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and SlideShare.

Could your company benefit from a better marketing strategy? Web Strategy Plus offers a free quote or consultation to help you identify the areas of your marketing plan that need improvement. Learn More

Michelle Hummel is CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full-service digital marketing agency. She was recently nominated for the Woman-Owned Business of the Year! She’s a passionate Social Media Trainer with 15+ years of successful online business development, sales, and marketing experience. She also holds a valuable Internet Marketing Degree however with the ever-changing world of web marketing she strives to learn something new every day.

She travels Nationwide visiting her 22 Social Media Enthusiasts Chapters she developed Nationwide delivering in-depth social media training. She also provides Social Media Certifications through founding Web Media University. A current contributing editor to The Franchise Dictionary Magazine and she has written 3 books in her series called, “The Social Media Magnet: Everything You Need to Know to Attract Customers with Social Media”, where she shares her best-kept secrets to success. She also specializes in helping Franchisors and Franchisees develop an integrated web marketing program to drive leads. She’s available for interviews via email, telephone, Skype video, news segments on location and more. Just let her know how she can help!