Web Design That Works: 3 Principles That Bring Conversions

Web design can often be a double-edged sword. It’s one of those things that can help a company grow a great deal, or hinder its growth, if done wrong.

Badly designed websites or web applications can annoy users and force them to quit using them. On the other hand, good web design can help a business grow by attracting the right kind of customers and delight them with visual content.

But what makes up a good web design?

You could say that a well designed website is a website that looks visually appealing, that simply “looks good”.

In a way, that’s true. But it’s not entirely correct. There’s another, commonly overlooked aspect of web design that can bring great results: traffic to your website, conversions and sales. Want to know the best part?

You don’t have to spend a fortune, and you don’t have to waste months or even weeks doing it. Sometimes it can be as simple as determining your goals and tweaking your design to fit them.

We have received many emails from our customers with requests to design  them modern, visually appealing websites that also bring in new customers.

There’s a lot more to modern web design than simply choosing page layout or what colors will the website use. In this article I’ll show you what elements go into this kind of design.

3 principles of modern web design

 

Conversion-centered design

I’ve already said that websites aren’t meant to only look pretty. Visual design is of course important, and web designers must make sure they follow the latest trends and practices when they design websites. They also have to make sure the website they design is aesthetically appealing.

But there is one more thing that we have to consider here: conversions.

When we’re talking about business, every website must have a clearly define purpose.

For example, it could be a blog designed to grow your audience with engaging content, or a landing page designed to get people to sign up for your newsletter.

A conversion occurs when a visitor to your website completes a desired goal, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.

Every website should be designed in a way that encourages conversions. That means that every webpage should have its design modified to suit the page’s purpose.

For example, it’s generally a good idea not to distract your visitors on a specific landing page with complicated navigation menus.

If your landing page has a clearly defined call-to-action (CTA), let’s say a sign up form, where your visitors leave their emails in order to be subscribed to a newsletter, you shouldn’t distract them with other things.

That means the landing page probably won’t have many menus. Maybe it won’t have any at all.

Your homepage, on the other hand, will probably have rich menus filled with various outbound links. That’s a classic example of conversion-centered design. The design must take into account the website’s or a webpage’s purpose.

2. Responsive web design

Another crucial aspect of web design is responsive web design.

Have you ever opened a webpage on your smartphone, only to see that it looks all jumbled and the text is almost unreadable? That’s what happens when a website isn’t responsive.

Responsive web design (RWD) is an approach to web design which makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes. This approach provides one adaptable website to fit multiple screen sizes.

Instead of building separate smart phone, tablet, and e-reader websites, web developers use fluid grids, media queries, and flexible images to create one website to deliver content seamlessly across channels.

Responsive web design has often been cited as the most important feature of a website. It makes your website accessible to anyone, regardless of the device they’re using.

By supporting multi-device users, you create a great user experience for all of your visitors, and also improve your search engine rankings.

3. User experience (UX) design

The third important principle is user experience design. User experience (UX) design can be defined as the process of creating products that provide meaningful and personally relevant experiences.

An important concept in UX design is the process by which users form experiences.

When first encountering a product, a user forms a momentary impression—which evolves over time, typically as the product is used throughout a time period.

Investing in effective UX design can bring many benefits to a business. It can improve conversion rates and increase revenue. This research states that every $2 spent on UX can bring $100 in revenue.

While UX plays a vital role in the development of all digital resources, its importance is increased in web design.

The goal of UX is to create value for the customer. If you manage to provide positive experience to your users they will be more likely to engage with your brand.

 

Conclusion

Web design is more than simply choosing the website’s layout, or what colors and images to use. It’s a complex process that requires experts from several areas like web design, SEO and web development. The principles I talked about here are just some of the elements that go into modern web design.

If you want to learn more, or if you need help with web design, please contact us today for a free consultation.