Tips for exceptional web design and development

Having a well-designed website is essential, regardless of your business type. Often acting as the first visual medium your clients will see when attempting to search for you and find out more about your company, first impressions always leave a lasting mark. The design, development and ease of use of your website are just as important as the content on it. As such, our experts have put together several website design and development tips to ensure your site is designed as efficiently and effectively as possible to leave your visitors with an excellent first impression.

1. Style and tone

When choosing a style for your website, you must first consider what tone you want it to present and determine what message you want your website to convey. You must also consider who your target audience is and how your planned style will synchronise with their expectations of your business. Once you have established a style and tone in the developmental stages, it is important to keep this consistent throughout your website.

2. Layout

A good website is one which is exceptionally easy to navigate. If users are unable to quickly find what they want, they will become frustrated and leave the site, damaging your reputation and potentially losing you a client. By taking into consideration the layout of your site, and making ease of navigation a priority during the design stage, you can make sure visitors have an enjoyable experience when using your site.

3. Mess and waffle

Loading your website with huge amounts of information in a tiny space will detract from the fundamentals of your page. Generally speaking, clients will use your website to gain a general impression of your business, or will be looking for something specific; making them search through large amounts of unnecessary text or graphics may overwhelm them, and cause them to leave.

Also consider that by using a large amount of graphics and images will also increase loading times and hamper your website performance, leaving people waiting for your website pages to load. Generally speaking, focus on specific and key information that you wish to present to your clients that will allow them to understand your business as quickly as possible.