First impressions are key, and your website is the online face of your business.

In only a few seconds, you must capture the attention of your audience and make a lasting impact. An aesthetically pleasing interface can help build trust in your company.

According to a study by Google, users form design opinions about a website in 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds), which can influence their trust and willingness to engage with the site.

For instance, would you hire a business with a website that looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2006? Or how about an online shop with random photos that aren’t related to anything sold in their store? Most likely not.

A study by Stanford’s Web Credibility Research project suggests that 75% of users make judgments about a company’s credibility based on its website’s design.

Site-wide branding with a cohesive look will help your target audience know that you take your business seriously.

Things that entail a “good” design would be…

Readability of design 👀

Can we actually read the text on your website? If your text is grey and your background is purple it might be difficult to read your text.

Colour 🎨

Next, are the colours on your site overwhelming? Colour theory has a huge effect on how we view brands and ties a lot into our purchase behaviour. Knowing your target audience well will help with colour selection for your brand and website.

Size 🤏

First, is your font big enough for your ideal clients to read? Second, are the features on your site large enough? Is your contact form the size of a bouillon cube? 👀

No one will want to, or be able to fill out a form if it’s not the appropriate size.

Usability 💻

Can your customers find what they need easily? User-focused design usually comes with higher conversion rates.

Let’s look at Apple’s website. Their site takes you on a journey to introduce their product line step by step. They highlight the product’s features and it slowly navigates you to purchase. They use lots of white space to focus attention on the product or message.

The example of Apple’s website highlights best practices in usability and user-focused design, which are known to improve conversion rates.

SEO for website design 🚀

First, You need to ensure your site doesn’t have broken codes, large image files, or plugins that actually are slowing down your site. Let’s say a visitor visits your site to only see a blank white screen for over 5 seconds, they will most likely leave your site.

Secondly, focusing on search engine optimization while designing your website is just as important. For those who don’t know what SEO is, it’s how Google favours you for ranking on their front page. The more visitors and traffic you can drive to your site through the use of powerful keywords and strategy, your Google ranking will improve how you show up in the top results.

Humans make visual-based assumptions and judgments on a company based on the design of their website. We are naturally inclined to choose and trust the option with a better design. Hiring a designer like myself or any other designer will assist with the longevity of your online presence.

Make sure to make your website’s first impressions count!