As the Internet has evolved, so has the meaning of the term “web design”. Over a decade ago, web design meant nothing more than the ability to place text and images on a web page. Getting people to come to your website wasn’t really considered outside of word-of-mouth, your website URL on your business card and other print collateral, banner ads or perhaps your brand was big enough to draw online visitors just by knowing they could get there by typing www.BigBrandName.com.
Web design has evolved into much more than this. Yes, there are still those folks who went to a traditional design school that believe they can design a beautiful website. While this may be (arguably) true, this doesn’t mean that the web design is effective.
One excellent example of this is to simply Google “effective web design”. You won’t find a beautiful, image heavy web site touting effective web design. Instead, you’ll find links to many web design blogs and even links to web design books online.
Effective web design is comprised of many different factors that contribute to a site’s effectiveness. Let’s face it, a beautiful website is pointless unless it attracts visitors and provides useful, relevant content. At a minimum and in almost all cases, an effective web design is one that converts a visitor into a customer.
Some Things to Consider in Effective Web Design:
Information Architecture - Information Architecture (in part) is the structure and weight of information on a web page. In web design, wireframes are almost always required to successfully lay out the pages of a site to indicate functional elements and main calls-to-action.
SEO Friendly Web Design - As mentioned above, unless your web site can be found, it’s not going to produce the result you’re likely trying to achieve. Flash-based websites and text embedded in images are not indexed by Google or other search engines. Just because you can read it, doesn’t mean a search engine can. SEO friendly web design takes everything from link text, page titles, headings and even alternate text for images into consideration.
Strong CTAs - It’s imperative to have strong calls to action in your web design. If you’re not clearly directing your visitors into taking the desired action to making that conversion from visitor to customer, it’s likely they won’t find it too quickly, get frustrated and abandon your website.
Having a Content Management System (CMS) - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an ongoing effort. As search engines continually change the rules and algorithms in how they rank pages and return search results, you have to be able to moderate your content and continually try to improve your rankings against your competitors.
Creating a Blog for Your Website - Content is King when it comes to being found on the web. If you’ve got a static, 7 page website, it doesn’t matter how beautiful your web design is or even how well it was developed for SEO. Finding seven needles in a haystack is just as hard as finding one… especially when that haystack is as big as the Internet.
In Summary:
Considerations in web design go far beyond the mere aesthetics of your website. Having a basic understanding of effective web design and a strong partner in your web design project will serve as a great foundation for your online efforts.
Dallas based Final Cut Studio has over a decade in web design experience and can provide solutions to your organization’s effective web design needs. Contact us to discuss your web design project today!
