60% of Ontario’s small businesses have a website. But not all websites are designed equal.
Although it’s imperative for your business to have an online presence in this day and age, this means that you have other businesses in your niche to compete with online.
To get more customers and expand your business reach, you need to create a website that’s appealing, helpful, and stands out from the crowd.
If you’re stuck on how to make your web page stand out, then this article’s for you. Keep reading to learn all about the 7 best tips to follow when designing a web page, Toronto.
1. Make Your Pages Easy To Navigate
Making your pages easy to navigate means that you have researched and have considered how your user navigates your website.
The order of actions that a user takes from getting to your website to taking another action (such as making a purchase) is called user flow.
First of all, you want to have a good idea of your users’ needs, which will involve a bit of research. Are your users looking to hire your company to help them move? Are they hoping to order your e-book? Or do they just want to find your phone number and address?
You can research the browsing habits of your demographic, survey customers, and try some usability tests to see what kind of structure works best for your web page.
2. Stay Free of Clutter
One of the best tips for designing a web page for beginners is that you make sure that your page is free of clutter. While you might want to stand out from your competition with colours that pop, you need to be careful they’re not overwhelming.
While colours like yellow and red are great for catching people’s attention, you want to balance these colours with neutrals such as black and white for a balanced look.
Clutter also applies to how you structure text on the page. For example, you might be tempted to write many paragraphs about your amazing company and customer service, but this could clutter your webpage.
Instead, stick to the most important points. Consider separating your paragraphs and adding bullet-point lists to make your web page easier to read.
3. Keep Branding Consistent
Every business owner knows that they need to create some sort of logo to start with, but you also need to keep your branding consistent when you design a web page.
For example, imagine if you make your front page bright red because you want it to stand out. Then, when a user navigates to your “contact” form, they’re faced with a purple and white screen.
When you’re figuring out your brand, be careful to choose the right colours from the start.
Keep all your fonts, colours, and logos in the same document so that you can keep everything consistent when working on your web page, business card, or any other aspect of your business.
4. Have a Clear Call to Action
Remember that your website is supposed to get more customers to your business. Whether you are an e-commerce website or a motorcycle mechanic, your website needs to have a clear call to action.
A call to action refers to a prompt that incentivizes leads to take an action. A few examples of calls to action (CTAs) include:
- “Call us today to get a free estimate!”
- “Click here for a bonus workbook with your purchase”
- “Buy our coaching program now before the price goes up”
Think about which type of call to action would be most appropriate for your business. Then, place it on an area of your website that’s easy to find, such as in the menu or in the middle of your main page.
5. Make It Mobile-Friendly
For any modern website, responsive web design is a must. This means that your website will display properly on all devices, no matter their size.
Given how many people access the Internet from their phones these days (not to mention shop online), imagine how frustrating it would be for a potential customer to open your website on mobile and see a mess of cluttered images.
This often happens to businesses like restaurants, which don’t optimize their menus for mobile viewing, making customers frustrated.
If you didn’t buy a responsive website theme and you don’t have any coding knowledge, it’s best to consult an expert to help you with responsive web design, as this process requires professional knowledge.
6. Keep Improving SEO
Besides social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to get your business in front of more potential customers.
SEO refers to optimizing the content on your website so that it ranks on search engines, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
The benefit of SEO as opposed to marketing with ads is that your potential customers are already looking for your product or service. This is what they typed into the search bar, so if your business is at the top of the results, potential customers are more likely to click on your business web page.
Remember that well-done SEO takes time, so keep your focus on learning and improving.
7. Optimize Speed
One common web design mistake that businesses often make is that they forget about page speed.
You might be excited about all the amazing product photography you did for your website, but if your photos are so large that they’re slowing down the speed of your site, then you have a problem.
To optimize your page speed, reduce the file sizes of your photos and make sure to compress them.
You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your website’s page speed and see where you can make improvements.
Use Standout Strategies When Designing a Web Page in Toronto
Creating & Designing a web page for your Toronto business is only one small piece of the puzzle when building your brand’s online presence.
By following these 7 tips, you can start to set your web page up for success by helping it stand out from the competition.
Want your web page to stand out but unsure of where to start? At Cowlick Studios, we plan a custom website design for you and implement it from start to finish using our proven process.
To get started, schedule a website design meeting with our passionate and professional team today.
