Sinclair Smoked Salmon needed a custom Shopify website to sell smoked salmon online. We created an modern website design using custom illustrations from local artist Matt McDole, and a platform that is easy to manage and use for the client.
Case Study: Building a Successful eCommerce Presence for a Smoked Salmon Business
Introduction
In the bustling city of Louisville, Kentucky, a home-based smoked salmon business transformed into a prominent local establishment, all thanks to a well-designed website. This case study delves into the journey of this business, highlighting the importance of a strong online presence, especially in the food industry.
The Challenge
Starting a food business from home comes with its unique set of challenges. The primary concern was how to reach a wider audience and convince them to purchase a food product without tasting it first. The client needed a platform that was user-friendly, customizable, and could handle online orders and pre-orders seamlessly.
The Solution
Choosing the Right Platform: Shopify was selected as the platform for the website. Known for its ease of use, customization options, and a seamless checkout process, Shopify is considered ideal for restaurants and food businesses.
Incorporating Local Art: To give the website a unique touch and resonate with the local audience, artwork by a renowned Louisville artist, was integrated into the design.
Prioritizing Packaging and Design: Recognizing the critical role of packaging in the food industry, a professional designer was hired. This ensured that the packaging not only preserved the quality of the smoked salmon but also appealed to potential customers.
Professional Photography: To further enhance the website’s appeal, professional food photographers were recommended. Their expertise in styling and lighting food made the smoked salmon look irresistible.
Results
The website became more than just a sales platform; it was a tool to connect with customers and share the brand’s story. Even if the majority of sales didn’t come directly from the website, it played a pivotal role in brand awareness and customer engagement.
The client’s business saw significant growth, moving from a home-based setup to a prominent location in Louisville. The website’s design, combined with the quality of the smoked salmon, convinced customers to make a purchase without tasting the product first.
Conclusion
Starting a food business online might seem daunting, especially for those whose expertise lies in cooking rather than coding. However, with platforms like Shopify, businesses can establish a strong online presence without any technical experience. This case study underscores the importance of a well-designed website in the food industry, emphasizing branding, packaging, and professional photography.
For those looking to embark on a similar journey, remember: you don’t have to do it alone. With the right tools and guidance, you can build a successful online food business that resonates with your target audience.
Electronics and Computer Parts eCommerce Logo Design
“As the designer tasked with creating a logo for an Electronics and Computer Parts eCommerce Website, I began by brainstorming a variety of different concepts. After much deliberation and sketching, a unique idea emerged: incorporating a unicorn into the design. The unicorn symbolizes integrity and the sense of wonder that surrounds tech gear and networking technology. We felt that this imagery perfectly captures the essence of the Bitsquad brand and sets them apart from its competitors. We are excited to see how this logo will be received and to continue creating visually striking designs for the website that bring visual value and cohesive brand recognition to the project as a whole.”
We, at Design Web Louisville, created a custom website for Smash Zone Baseball that features their trainers and events at their location. We included a custom editable birthday invitation template for their birthday events rental pages and an easy-to-edit back end. The website allows them to sell sign-ups and connect with parents and students. The website redesign was successful and exceeded their expectations. This baseball training center website design showcases state-of-the-art facilities, experienced trainers and, personalized training programs, testimonials, a schedule of classes and camps, making it easy for players and parents to find the right option they need to get in the batting cages and start swinging.
Driving traffic to your website requires dedication, time and money. Once you get people there, you want to ensure you grab their attention and gain their trust. Adding factors such as testimonials can help show users your business is legitimate and others are happy with your product or service.
Figuring out where and when to share customer testimonials isn’t always easy. Should you utilize video? Perhaps a few words of praise are all that’s needed? Where should the testimonials go? How often and how many examples should you share? Figuring out the best way to showcase them can make you stand out from your competitors.
How Can I Make My Testimonials Interesting?
About 72% of people think positive online reviews are much more convincing than anything a business says about itself. With so many turning to reviews and testimonials to figure out if they want to do business with your brand, sharing the best ones on your website makes sense.
The last thing you want to do is make your website look exactly like your competitors’ sites, though. It’s crucial to find interesting ways to share the information and keep their interest. The best testimonials are easy to read and presented in a visually appealing way. Here are some of the best things to focus on for great testimonials on your website:
1. Put a Face to the Words
Add in some images of the people sharing the testimonials. Words alone aren’t nearly as convincing as words and an image the user can see. They’ll relate to some of the people you list and be able to see they are real individuals sharing their experience with your brand.
Source: https://dribbble.com/testimonials
Dribble uses a variety of styles on their page, with a few faces mixed in as photographs and videos. The combination of text and images presents a powerful picture of what the site can do for various types of creators.
2. Vary the Selections
One of the biggest advantages to adding testimonials to your website is that you can handpick which ones appear. Rather than choosing ones that say essentially the same thing, try to focus on different benefits of your business.
What are the most unique benefits to choosing you over a competitor? How can you showcase the pros to your site visitors?
3. Use Third-Party Reviews
Another idea is to mix in some third-party review site clips. People aren’t beholden to your brand when they go on a review site and share a few words. Those glowing reviews hold a lot of weight with potential customers.
Source: https://shutterandsound.com/reviews
Shutter & Sound does something interesting on their site to share snippets of people’s words with their visitors. They curate reviews from sites, such as The Knot and WeddingWire. The page is laid out grid-style, which creates a streamlined appearance for users.
4. Consider Placement
Think about where on your site is the best placement for your testimonials. You may want to share them after the person figures out what you offer. Where in the buyer’s journey is the best time to showcase what others said about your business.
Should you include a testimonial above the fold or below? For some sites, they might work best scattered here and there. Try different placement and conduct A/B tests to see where the testimonials perform best with your target audience.
5. Add Videos
Video testimonials bring a personal touch to your testimonials. Because each of your customers has a different personality, the variety of tones, attitude and words will show potential leads people from all walks of life are happy with your product or service.
Source: https://www.codecademy.com
Codecademy shares learner stories to explain how people are finding inspiration from their coding courses. Some of the people they showcase include a healthcare administrator, a stay-at-home mom who sought a new career and an electrical engineer. All sought something new from their time at Codecademy and changed their lives in some way. The stories are highly inspiring.
6. Keep Posts Short
Your testimonials are different from case studies. You don’t want to make them so lengthy that you lose focus on the key factor you want to share. Stick to a single point at a time, whether it’s excellent customer service or results.
If a testimonial is more than a paragraph or two, look for ways to shorten it. Remember people are short on time, so they want information they can absorb quickly.
7. Be Authentic
It’s crucial you only use real testimonials and reviews. Never make them up or have people you personally know write them. The internet has a way of uncovering such tricks and you’ll look like you aren’t honest to potential customers.
It’s fine to message your top clients and ask if they’d be willing to share a few words about your business. Just make sure it’s in their words and they offer the review of their own free will. It’s probably best to not offer any compensation either as they could be seen more as a paid endorsement than a testimonial.
Add a Few at a Time
You don’t have to start with dozens of testimonials to make an impact on site visitors. Add the ones you have and you can always import additional ones at a future date. A great review may also garner others as your customers see the words their counterparts shared. A few great testimonials can add a lot of interest and detail to your website.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.
6 Simple Ways to Generate More Leads Through Your Website
Your website is often the first experience a potential client has with your business. You have an opportunity to make an excellent first impression if you create a site geared toward offering solutions to your target audience’s pain points.
Once you get those who are a good match for what you offer to navigate to your page, your goal is to generate a lead. How do you get them to share their information and consider your product over all the other ones out there?
How Do I Turn My Website Into a Lead Generation Machine?
Internet Live Stats estimates there are more than 1.5 billion websites in the world, but not all are active all the time. Almost every industry has at least some competitors vying for attention from the same pool of potential customers.
Once people land on your page, you want to keep them there. Fortunately, there are several simple things you can do to ensure you generate more leads from those who do arrive on your page.
1. Know Your Target Audience
In order to generate leads, you have to know your target audience. It doesn’t do you much good to collect data on people who aren’t truly interested in what you have to offer. Start by figuring out the demographics and psychographics of your current customers.
Create a buyer person to represent your average shopper. With detailed information about your customer type in hand, you can easily customize your landing pages to meet their needs.
Source: https://www.art.com
Art.com understands their typical buyer is on a budget, so they start their landing page off with a huge headline about budget $49 abstracts. Although the site caters to many different buyer personas, they seem to have one main buyer they target their messages to, which works very well for a general home page.
2. Plan Your Sales Funnel Strategy
Take the time to map out the buyer’s journey on your website. If you want to generate more leads, you can’t leave anything to chance. Think through each touchpoint and if there’s any chance you might lose one of your users at any point.
You can generate more leads when you grab the attention of your site visitors and keep it until they share their data with you.
3. Offer Useful Tools
What pain points are your buyers experiencing that drives them to your site in the first place? If you can offer a tool that gives them a partial answer or helps them in some way, then you increase the chances they’ll share their email and contact info in exchange for using the feature.
Examples include calculators, idea generators and interactive maps.
The Keck Group talks about ways to save money on high-quality furnishings for governments. They talk about how they get worn over time but can be refinished on a budget. They then offer a quote form so the user can share details and get a response on how much it might cost to repair the item.
4. Ask for Referrals
When your current customers check out, login or land on your site, ask them to tell others about what you offer. Make sharing on social media a one-click process. Start a rewards program and give them a perk for sending new customers your way.
Word-of-mouth leads are often much more likely to buy from you. They’ve already learned about your business from the person referring them. They know they want a similar product or service. Closing the sale may be much easier.
5. Use Pop-Ups
Whether you fall into the group of people who loathe pop-ups, or you appreciate their usefulness to get the message across, adding them to your site can help generate leads in a number of ways.
Use a pop-up to predict exit intent and throw out one final offer. Add one when people first land on your page to encourage them to share their email or sign up for a newsletter. Look for ways to offer something for lead generation, like a free guide, video series or other tool.
Source: https://heymaeve.com
Hey Maeve adds a pop-up on the left as you start to scroll down the page. They offer 10% off your first order just for sharing your email address. They also ask a question with a simple checkbox to learn a bit more about which audience segment you fit in.
6. Add Trust Factors
When people land on your website, they have no reason to trust you. Adding trust factors shows them they can share their information and reach out without fear of being spammed or scammed.
Some of the trust factors that are most effective include customer testimonials and reviews. Reach out to your top clients and ask them if they’d be willing to write a few words about why they buy from you. If you can feature a variety of testimonials and each focuses on a key point you want potential leads to know, you’ll have made a huge stride toward outpacing the competition.
Consider Your User
Lead generation tactics can vary widely from one company to the next. The key is to figure out your buyers’ pain points and offer a solution or potential solution so they see you know how to fix the problem.
Think about your typical customer. What would entice them to want to share their information and take the next step in the buyer’s journey? If you can put yourself in their shoes, it’s much more likely they’ll go from a browser to a lead and eventually a customer.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.
How to Create a Captivating Project Gallery Potential Customers Want to See
If you create anything from beautiful home decor to websites, you’ll want to showcase your work so potential clients can see the possibilities. Think about the designs you’re proudest of and how you can best highlight your skills.
There are more than 1.8 billion websites, although not all are active at the same time. You might think all small businesses would have an online presence, but approximately one-third do not. If you don’t have a website, you might miss out on leads.
Once you understand that most people begin their searches for local businesses online, it becomes clear you need a captivating project gallery. What should you include, and how do you get it up and running efficiently?
1. Find Your Story
Since the beginning of time, people have loved to hear a good tale. What is your brand’s story? How can you highlight it within your project gallery?
Perhaps your story is more about your clients. How have you helped them and improved their lives? Can you show that with photos? You might tie in a testimonial alongside before-and-after pictures.
Think about your project gallery as a story, and you’re more likely to hit on the highlights. What are the pain points the customer faced before you stepped in? What is the final result? What emotional impact did you have on them?
Try to find things that inspire those around you. Which story is a tear-jerker? Will your target audience relate to the tale?
General Engineering Co. has a dedicated space to highlight its projects. Note how it uses different images to show its ability for site design versus municipal engineering. No matter what your commercial engineering needs are, it includes something in its gallery to show it can meet demand.
2. Know Your Audience
You’ve heard this advice over and over again, but you must consider your audience as you create a project gallery. Just because you like a particular photograph doesn’t mean consumers will.
Study your current customers and even survey them if needed. Try different images and conduct split tests to see which ones your audience responds best to. Take the time to think through how the picture satisfies a pain point. If it doesn’t, is there something else that works better?
In addition to knowing what photos work best, you must consider your site visitors and the ways they land on your page. Do they mainly use mobile devices? Does your project gallery scale correctly on smaller screens?
3. Choose Your Best Work
It might sound obvious to highlight only your best work, but dig even deeper when deciding what projects to showcase. If a project for a particularly difficult client turned out beautiful, you might want to put those images on the backburner.
Think through all the possible scenarios. A lead sees the beautiful images and contacts the company you did the work for. The manager, who was extremely picky throughout the project, says your work wasn’t satisfactory. You’ve just lost a potential client due to a difficult one.
Even if it is the best project you’ve ever completed, leave it out of your gallery if you aren’t certain they’d sing your praises to someone else.
Mondo Contract Flooring shows some of its installations. It offers a wide range of applications that makes it makes it clear its flooring can go anywhere. It is as useful in a commercial building as it is in a home environment. It highlights benefits such as durability and a wide range of styles.
4. Select a Format
Most project galleries are fairly similar and tend to be set up on a grid. However, there are a few features you can choose, such as sliding featured images or an asymmetrical design. Think about the type of business you own and what layout is best suited for your clients.
For example, if you design websites, you might wish to showcase your ability to plug images into a geometric layout or layer them on top of one another. On the other hand, if you are in construction, you may want a more reliable-looking design, such as boxed images all in a row.
You can also utilize other design features, such as parallax scrolling or even sliders moving at different speeds and in different directions to grab attention. Be cautious not to use too many elements, or you could overwhelm your viewer.
5. Create a Positive Customer Experience (CX)
If your customers don’t enjoy visiting your project gallery, then you’ve already lost them before they see what you’re capable of. Think about the CX of your site and how usable it is.
Look at speed. In a Think by Google study, researchers found about 70% of mobile landing pages take over five seconds to load. They also indicated when the load time goes from one to three seconds, the bounce rate increases by about 32%. When it goes from one to five seconds, 90% of visitors leave.
If you do one thing for your gallery, make sure it loads quickly. Optimize the images so they pull up at lightning speed. Use a content delivery network, and add caching and other features. Anything you can do to improve speed even by a second or two has a huge impact on CX.
Menards has a unique take on a project gallery, allowing user-generated content (UGC) to take center stage. You can either browse other people’s projects and get ideas for your own home or upload your finished project and share your tips with others.
6. Study the Competition
Spend time looking at your competitors’ websites. What types of photos do they include? If they don’t offer a project gallery, it might be your chance to add something that makes you stand out from the crowd.
Pay careful attention to any images they use. What target audience do those pictures speak to? Can you hire a professional photographer and offer visuals that are even stronger than what your competitor uses?
Do they tell a story through their gallery? If they don’t, perhaps you can. Maybe you can go more in-depth or add testimonials from clients. Look for the things that make your brand unique and add those to your site.
7. Tap Into Customer Desires
Knowing your customers means understanding their needs as well as their wants. A person might need a new toaster but want one with slots wide enough to cook bagels. Think about what your target audience desires and tap into it.
You should understand the emotions behind why people want the things they do. If you’ve been in business for a long time, you likely know the feelings driving people to buy from you. Use those emotions to drive sales.
There is a psychology to great web design. Make sure it is easy to use and intuitive, add the right images and language, and place your calls to action (CTAs) optimally. Think through every aspect of your site, change things around and test everything to see what works best.
A person’s appearance is often an emotional topic. The North Texas Plastic Surgery center understands the underlying desire to look beautiful. It highlights what it can do by sharing before-and-after photos.
It also gets that people have different issues with their bodies, so it breaks its gallery into various topics. You can browse visuals of rhinoplasty, tummy tucks or any other surgical option it provides.
8. Showcase Your Skills Strategically
You’re a smart business owner. You know the importance of differentiating yourself from others in your industry, and you’ve probably worked hard to accomplish some special skills. It’s important to highlight these abilities within your project gallery.
Combine images and typography to explain the benefits of choosing you over your competitors. Look at all the types of services you offer, and think about which images best illustrate your expertise in each.
Choose Wisely
You will never be good at everything. However, you’ll be the best at some things. Learn how to include images showcasing your top qualities. You may also offer other services, but don’t make them the focus of your project gallery.
Once you gain a customer, they are more likely to turn to you for all their needs. For example, if you are the best basement layer around, show that off in your gallery. Market to current clients and include any additional services you provide, such as waterproofing or laying sidewalks. However, keep the focus of your gallery on your most skilled abilities. Use photos that show off your skill and avoid anything mediocre.
With a little focus and understanding of what your customers want, your online portfolio will bring in droves of new customers.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.
How to Get People to Interact With Your Business Website
Author: Maggie Bloom
Websites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easier than ever for your business to keep in touch with customers. And while the Internet is a vast and scary place, it’s also a very useful tool we can use to our advantage. In today’s society, if you’re not online, you’re missing out on potential customers every day! Here are some best practices for getting people to interact with your website.
1. Make it Attractive
Your website should be professional looking and easy to navigate. You don’t have to break the bank to hire a designer, but you want your site to look good. While flashy graphics may look cool, they don’t convert well or help you attract customers. A simple design that’s easy on the eyes will make it easier for your customers to find what they are looking for. Making it attractive creates trust right away.
2. Establish an SMS Blast
With an SMS blast service, you can send texts to your customers. While most people associate this with news alerts, they can also be used for other things. This is a great way to remind customers of sales, contests, or any other special offers you may have. You can also use text blasts as a notification service so that when you have new products and services available, you can let your customers know immediately!
3. Social Media Integration
This is the most common way businesses keep in touch with their clients. If you haven’t already, you should create a Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn account for your business. The most important social media to focus on is Facebook, which has the largest audience and can help your business grow.
4. Update Regularly
You need to keep in mind that your website is a representation of your business. If it has not been updated in over a year, then people will think your business needs to be updated or relevant. You should update your site frequently, so people don’t feel like they’re visiting an outdated front page. For instance, post your pricing on the blog and your Facebook page if you change your pricing. You don’t have to update every week, but keep it fresh for your customers.
5. Offer Special Offers or Promotions
There are many different ways you can offer special deals to your customers. You can offer discounts on items and coupons or even give away free products as prizes on your website. You can even offer a small percentage of your total order regardless of size. For instance, you could use your website to offer a 20% off coupon to a customer that buys two items. Offering promotions like this allows you to reach out and interact with customers while they’re online.
6. Send Out Emails
Without email, Facebook and Twitter would be boring and useless, IMO. By sending out emails to customers, you can remind them of upcoming sales or specials that are coming up in the future. You can send out an email newsletter to inform them about blog posts you wrote or any other news regarding your business that you think is relevant for their customers.
7. Sign Up for Social Media Alerts
Many people use social media alerts from companies to stay updated on their favorite websites and blogs. You can sign up for these alerts by sending a direct message to the company account. With this service, you will get a notification via email when your company’s Facebook, Twitter, or other social media account publishes new content. Just make sure you have the proper permissions to use the service.
8. Offer a GIFT CARD
On your website, you can offer a gift card for specific items, such as spa packages or gifts from your business. Gift cards hardly cost anything to administer, and many people like them as gifts. It’s been said that if you give someone a gift card for their birthday, they’ll be more likely to come back for future purchases rather than receiving cash as an individual gift.
9. Share Useful Resources
One of the best ways to grow your customer base is to provide helpful tips and resources on your website. Suppose you have customers looking for information on using something in the industry or have a question about the content on your site. In that case, getting that information out there ASAP is important. Not only will it give your customers more knowledge and make them more loyal to you, but it’ll also look great on your website and show that you’re an up-to-date business.
Conclusion
The Internet is a great way to stay connected with your customers, but small businesses need help to keep up. By following the best practices above, you will get more visitors and customers on your website. When potential customers visit your website, they should get an experience that will help them make a purchase decision faster.
The latest Apple event brought the expected announcement of a new iPhone and all the details about what it offers. Although many of the features are for the general population, there are some things designers will be excited about.
Each time a new generation of Apple mobile devices releases, designers get upgrades that help them do their work better. At times, it’s the camera and sometimes it’s speed, connectivity or new apps. Even if you watched the announcement, you may feel a bit confused about what exactly the new products offer and how it will change the way you design.
Why the Focus on Apple Products?
Apple has long had a strong presence in the design world. For years, their design software worked best with a Mac computer, iPhone or iPad. Educational institutions often used Mac computers to train students in design.
According to Statista, around 27.88% of global cell phone users own an iPhone. The percentage is likely much higher for those in design and development. If you don’t yet own an iPhone and you’re thinking about making the switch, here’s what you need to know about the latest Apple news.
Most designers create apps or websites that function on any type of mobile device. Understanding the differences in the new models gives you an opportunity to tweak your designs for iOS.
What Is Apple’s Dynamic Island?
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max come with an interesting feature called Dynamic Island, which resizes the notch at the top of the screen. The space now contains additional information to make multitasking easier. The interface is quite interesting and may inspire other designers to think outside the box about ways to improve user interface (UI).
Third-party developers can also use the notch when designing apps. Think about how to send alerts, grab user attention and make your app more functional. You may find you’ll have to try different tactics as Apple releases operating system updates. Testing will become important as you figure out the best way to design and use the new interface features.
Apple Watch Series 8
Apple also announced at the same time that they were releasing some updated smart watches. For those designing for the Apple Watch, nothing changes. That’s good news for developers as they won’t need to change interfaces or make any adjustments.
Those designers already familiar with the Apple Watch sizing and functions, they can shift their attention to creating new apps rather than adapting the ones they have. The design may change with the next event, but for now, everything stays the same.
Apple Watch Ultra
Rather than calling this version “Pro,” Apple goes with “Ultra.” The Ultra is meant for heavy use in situations such as outdoor survival, underwater or while skydiving. Designers who create apps for extreme sports enthusiasts, adventurers, explorers, divers and athletes will want to get their hands on this and figure out how best to adapt their designs. There is an action button that makes it a bit different than the traditional Apple Watch.
The iPhone 14
While the size and look of the phone doesn’t change much, you can now give users that ability to access new widgets via the lock screen. This gives developers an opportunity to prompt consumers with prompts to participate in live activities.
Designers will want to make sure they have one of the latest phones to gain access to the better camera for product image shots for e-commerce websites. Fortunately, the trade-in value for your old iPhone may cover a lot of the cost of this new model.
iPhone 14 Pro
Where designers will experience the biggest changes is in the Pro lineup. The big announcement about Dynamic Island changes the entire way the screen looks and functions. Apps will need to be adapted to take advantage of the multifunctionality.
Mobile apps are big business. By 2025, experts estimate mobile apps will bring in $612 billion in revenue. Designers aren’t going to stop creating just because the iPhone Pro interface is a bit different.
The new design is brilliant in a number of ways but they all impact designers.
1. Masking the Face ID “Hole”
The hole in the screen needed for facial recognition isn’t pretty in previous versions of the iPhone. However, the new Dynamic Island helps mask the area and makes it functional at the same time. It’s a brilliant tech design move that just about any artistic soul can appreciate.
2. Notifications Go Animated
You’ve probably noticed more and more designers using animations. One thing that’s interesting about the new iPhone 14 Pro is how the notifications take on animation. The phone is even more of an experience than ever before, taking interactivity to a new level.
3. Looks and Feels the Same
The iPhone 14 doesn’t have much of a different appearance from the 13 as far as size and outer shell. As always, Apple introduces new colors while keeping popular ones. There is something to be said for holding on to the familiar as users adapt to technology changes such as Dynamic Island.
Exciting Changes
The latest Apple event brings some exciting and somewhat unexpected changes. The iPhone Pro series will see the biggest shifts for designers. Developers who create apps are most likely to have to adjust what they do for the latest models.
If Apple has taught designers anything, it’s to be ready to pivot. Once you learn how to interact with the new island feature, be ready for the next generation of gadgets and how you may have to adapt to those as well.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.
5 Helpful Tips to Make your Web Design Look Professional
Author: Anna Skopenko
Website design is crucial in today’s business world. You want visitors to stay on your site as long as possible and do what you want them to do: read and share purchases. Web page design is not just about having nice-looking images, fonts, and colors. Appearance is important as there is more to design such as usability and functionality.
There are a bunch of different website builders and web design companies to build and develop sites. As technology and software are evolved, you have to learn new trends to suit different needs and prevent general mistakes. With experience and through trial and error you will learn invaluable information on how to create a high-quality website with a great look and functionality.
So what can you do as a web designer to make your work look more professional? We have prepared some tips which can help you.
Simple Navigation. Web designers should prioritize making their sites easy to navigate before showcasing their skills. Ultimately ease of navigation appeals to many users who can’t stand the chaos of rushed and cluttered designs.
Colors should be mixed well. It’s great to see web designers using color psychology in their designs because color plays a huge role in generating not only a website’s business content but leads and potential customers.
Style your brand. Providing color graphics and well-defined templates to host important website elements makes websites easier to work on and prevents unnecessary elements from being used. There are many sites in this area such as MasterBundles where you can find many ready-made solutions based on which it is easy to create your own style. This approach will not only have a positive impact on your website’s appearance but also increase your brand recognition by users.
White Space. Many web designers are guilty of visual overkill. Of course, there are limits to what you can do with drop shadows and colors. Most visitors are not professionals. It also narrows the page. The website should give more breathing space to the page design elements to achieve a more professional look. The best way to do this is to provide plenty of white or negative space on your page.
Use the right fonts. The right font is the message of your business. If your website is dedicated to fun and interesting products or services it’s fine to use eye-pleasing fonts. If your business is a little more serious, use a font that matches its style and culture. Also, you can find a lot of the best fonts solutions on different marketplaces to find the perfect match. It is also important to use large fonts for headings, subheadings, and other important information. The font should also be readable. If the font is too small your website will not look professional.
Responsive Web Design. Designing a responsive website is already easy after implementing Google’s mobile-first index. Google now ranks websites based on mobile version so your website performs better on mobile phones tablets and other devices. For many people, mobile responsiveness is also a measure of how professional a website is. In any case, it is easily accessible from any platform making your website look more professional. Also, what will mobile users think if your site is not targeted? There are more desktop users today and making sure your website works well on your devices of choice has not only professional but also business implications. The above tips are just a few ways to make your website look more professional. Apply them and elevate the professional profile of any website you work on.
Conclusion
Learning how to design a website can seem daunting. If you follow these simple design principles it will work and you will have a successful site. Remember that your design must work across all devices and that Google practices mobile-first indexing. Make sure you use the required amount of images and videos. Show important information to you first. Be simple and direct. Finally, you should think about content and what makes your site look good. A blog also helps in feedback and interaction with your audience. By doing this you should increase the numbers but you should be patient and look for suggestions on the best practices and improvements.
The Insider’s Guide to Modern Web Design for Startups
Author: Frank Campbell
Today, one of the first things that people for when searching for products or services, is the business website. If you think about it, web design can influence consumer perception significantly. A user-friendly and responsive web page can make people stay on the page and explore the products or services. By focusing on modern web design elements, you can keep people on the page for a longer time and attract a wider audience too.
This can include interactive visuals, background video, and a hamburger menu that directs people to the relevant landing pages. These are just a few factors that you need to pay attention to when working on the website. To help you create a good one, here is the insider’s guide to modern web design for startups.
Bold Typography and Font Styles
It is something that can draw attention from the first look. With clear and bold headlines on the home page, you can tell people what your business is about immediately. This is one element that can send out the right message to the visitors to the website. The font styles also represent your brand and can be used to highlight your industry or expertise. For instance, a clear-cut and modern typeface could create the perception that the business is associated with technology, home décor, or fashion.
You can add clean and bold headlines on hero images or anywhere above the fold to give people an idea of the product or service. Make sure that you pick out relevant styles that are similar to the brand name. If you want, you can also use the same font as the logo design. It can help maintain consistency and boost recognition as well. It’s a good idea to create your brand symbol for the website beforehand or have a clear idea of it.
As a startup owner, deciding on the best DIY logo maker tool to design for your brand or hiring a graphic designer can be confusing. However, at the end of the day, you have to keep your budget and business goals in mind.
Increase White Space
For modern web design, you need to reduce the clutter on the pages and make the website easy to navigate. This can happen when you include ample white space and remove any unnecessary elements in the layout. You might have seen websites that have a one or two header images with less content on the home page. This allows people to easily scroll down until the end and find relevant details such as contact information and social media links.
With more white space, you can also create a responsive website that is easily accessible on different devices. It also keeps the attention on the images or animation that shows people what the product is or how it works.
Dynamic Header
There are quite a few websites that have a dynamic header image that instantly draws attention. It could even be just a headline and a brief explanation that appears on the screen slowly. This can make your website unique and convince the visitor to scroll down immediately. You can also add a GIF or graphics that highlight production methods or the work environment. A dynamic header can help provide a good user experience to potential customers as well.
It makes your website appear interactive and conveys relevant information from the first look. By adding this to the page, you could generate interest within the audience and convince them to make a purchasing decision too.
Include Geometric Shapes
This is another modern design element that could help attract more traffic to the website. Geometric shapes and borders can make it easier for people to focus on the important details and visuals. It can also help you divide the pages and highlight different sections. So, you can add geometric shapes with images or text to simplify the navigation and add to the appeal of the website.
The objects can also make your website look organized and minimalistic. Instead of cluttering the page with visuals or different elements that slow down the loading speed, you can include two or three geometric shapes. This allows you to create a website that is modern and requires minimal upgrades over time.
To Sum Up
This is the insider’s guide to modern web design for startups. It is a good idea to follow some of the useful ways mentioned above to create a platform or business page that converts higher leads. In this day and age, you need to focus on designing a website that works well on any mobile device and represents the brand closely.
