Visual Website Design
Design is everything and this article is geared towards my clients and my regular tip of the month series of articles.
You may have noticed with the abundance of iPhones, iPads and visual effects on websites more than ever the emphasis on the design, look and feel of your website is becoming increasingly important. We’ve moved on from the ‘professional, efficient’ design of last years websites to simply put must have slickness.
Web design is moving in leaps and bounds these days and the heart of the movement is in the design. It’s a bit like IKEA out there, design is everything, even it if means it breaks quite quickly. But what is the route through all this emphasis. Let me outline just a few design concepts.
- Design for mobile – the future has arrived and you really must have a website that works on an iPhone, iPad and any other device you can think of.
Also you need to consider email marketing campaigns, email signatures and branding. It is extremely likely that people will open your email on their mobile device.
- Responsive Design – this is the concept that your website will flow no matter how it is looked at, chunks or boxes of content will change position depending on the viewing requirements. So video might take a back seat on an iPhone, but will show prominently on a desktop.
Responsive Design is about having one website (less work) to meet all your needs
- Cross Browser – your website has to work on all browsers the main ones are Internet Explore (40-50%), Chrome (25%), Firefox (20%), Safari and Opera (5%) and many others. The only browser that can be ignored is IE6, which Microsoft has officially stopped supporting.
Would you turn down 10% of your customers for any reason… then why do so on your website, because your website failing to work on some peoples computers is precisely the as hanging a closed for business sign on your website.
- Photography – the next big thing – look around you and by far the most common thing people are sharing or promoting or looking at is Photograph, Video is not far behind. But seriously think about your website and the photos you are using on it and then rethink your use of photography.
Great design is very much coupled with great photography and peoples awareness of your business is completely associated with the photos you use. Get the photos right and much of the rest will follow.
- Social Media – we’re being led down this garden path still further – it won’t end – in cased you hoped it would – so use it. Any website that does not put social media at it’s core from the starts risks virtually zero interest from the start.
Social Media is not just about a few logos on your website – it is about taking part in the world out there to promote your business, you need to be involved.