The design of your website is massively important to how you’re perceived as a business on the internet. So it’s really, really important that you get it right.
In today’s video I’m going to show you how you can improve your website design. If you implement just one of the suggestions that I make in this video, then you’re going to improve the look of your website instantly.
So if you’ve ready to improve the design of your website, then keep watching.
And I’ve also got a free PDF workbook which I will share the link to at the end of the video, which will help you in your website redesign
Use a grid…
Use large images…
Be consistent with your colours…
Be consistent with your fonts…
Use video…
Use visual hierarchy…
Repeat Layouts…
Clarity and simplicity…
Use white space…
Optimize your website for mobile…
Let’s look into these a little more.
1. Use A Grid
If you were to look at your website and you were to scroll up and down, you should see a pattern to the layout.
You don’t want all the sections to be different sizes. Imagine if you read a paragraph of text on a Word document and someone had used different widths. It would look really strange. It’s the same on a website.
You should think of a website as a grid and stick to that. Keep the content size the same. This doesn’t mean you have to keep the images within that content, you could have a full-width image that goes right to the edge of the screen, and that’s perfectly fine. But the content within there should be a grid, which should be obvious when you scroll up and down.
2. Use Large Images
They say that a picture tells a thousand words.
I love the look of large images that fill the screen, it’s quite a modern look. And a large, full-screen picture that’s really on brand and gives a good message is going to go a long way on your website design.
Plus, try not to use stock photography. I appreciate that if you’ve got a brand new site, or are just getting started then stock photography is cheap and easy to implement. But the eventual goal is to get rid of all the stock photography on your website and have real on-brand images perhaps taken by a brand photographer
3. Be Consistent With Your Colours
If you’ve got a brand with a style guide and all your colours mapped out then that’s fabulous. Make sure you use them.
And make sure you are using the exact colours, not just something that is nearly right.
If you don’t have a style guide and you’re looking to find some colours for your website then I’d say not to use more than three. Choose one that is going to be dominant and one that is going to be an accent. An accent would be a brighter color.
Remember the colours need to look good in multiple places. A red, orange or yellow might look good on a button, but not so good as the background for a big chunk of text.
So think carefully about what colour you use, and think about the contrast. If you have a white background with black text it will be easy to read. If you have a pink background with dark pink text that will be more difficult to read and that’s not good for accessibility.
And avoid black. Most people think that they can get away with it as it’s ‘neutral’, but it’s just so harsh. It’s great for a real luxury business, but if that’s not you then it won’t really work. A dark brown, gray or green will work much better.
4. Be Consistent With Your Fonts
If you’ve got a style guide, then great, you’ll have all your fonts.
If you don’t then make sure that you are only using three fonts maximum on your website. And if you are unsure just choose one that works really well for your brand and make sure that the text is legible and large enough to see.
5. Use Video
I know this is a little scary to some people but video will help make your website look great.
Video shows your brand ethos and it will make people trust you more basically.
Remember, people buy from people. So try to use videos where you can.
6. Use Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy, sounds very technical, but it isn’t. It’s basically the arrangement of elements on the screen. And you arrange them in order of importance.
So if something’s really important, then make it a big font. If you want someone to subscribe to your newsletter, put ‘subscribe to newsletter’ in a big font. If it was a tiny little font, people might not notice that as they’re skim reading down your site, which they inevitably will do.
The point of visual hierarchy is to establish a focal point as well and it shows the visitors where the most important information is.
You want to make it as easy as possible for your visitor.
7. Repeat Layouts
If you try to repeat layouts, then it’s going to look a lot easier on the eye for the user. As they scroll down they’ll see things that they recognize.
If all the pages look different and don’t feel related, then it doesn’t produce a cohesive website.
By using repeated layouts you can then replicate these on Facebook, and on other social media platforms. This will allow visitors to easily recognize your brand.
8. Clarity And Simplicity
I think the key thing about website design is to just keep it simple,especially at the moment. There is a trend to use lots of white space around your elements. Keep that space symmetrical and that will give a sense of clarity and simplicity.
Plus, everything you do on all your pages should have a purpose. If anything isn’t needed, just get rid of it. Keep it really, really simple. And as I mentioned before, positioning your content within a grid will make it feel more thoughtful and will make it easier on the eye for your visitor.
9. Use White Space
White space is super important. And if you look at the websites that you really like, the reason that you like them is probably down to white space.
But it doesn’t actually have to be white. It can be a background image, a texture or a color, but it’s the space around it.
So if you see a quote and it’s in the middle and you’ve got all the space around it, that’s what makes it beautiful. That’s what makes it easy on the eye. That’s what draws your eye into the quote or whatever it is you’re looking at.
So by giving each of your sections white space, then you’re allowing your website to breathe. And then you can draw attention to the areas that you want them to look at.
10. Optimize Your Website For Mobile
And finally you must make sure that your website is optimized for mobile. Over the past couple of years, mobile usage has just gone up and up and it’s not going to stop. So you have to make sure that your website is accessible on a mobile.
I know for a fact that if I get to a website on my mobile and it’s tricky I’m just going to leave the website. And now also search engines are penalizing people if they don’t have a mobile-friendly website.
So it’s super important that you make sure it’s mobile friendly.
Using a tool like Elementor, which is a page builder, allows you to look at the view and how your website looks for different devices. It’s going to make your life so much easier, but it’s super important. So don’t underestimate it.
Ready to make your website look beautiful?
I know I’ve given you tons of information here and I hope it’s been useful.
I’ve created another video, which is all about optimizing your website for conversions, which goes hand-in-hand with this one.
And I’ve also created a free PDF workbook for you. So if you’re thinking of redesigning your website, then I recommend you hop on over to my website and download that ’cause that’s going to help you no end.
