Your website is one of your best marketing tools, and your website is a successful way to communicate your company’s message and services.
When visitors come to your website they are quick to decide whether to stay or go so you content information is an invaluable asset. If you are considering content for your web pages your graphic designer can help you bring your creative vision to life. Below are some vital things to include on your companies website to help bring in new clients and grow your business.
1. Build Your Brand with a Logo
Your small business website design is an excellent tool for brand building. If you have a logo, it should be large and easily recognizable on your home page and all of your other pages as well. If you don’t have a logo, you should get one immediately. Logos help to build familiarity, association, and reputation, and they are essential in developing your business’s identity.
2. Colors that are consistent with your brand
Often the color choices you’ve made for your logo will drive the design of your website. There are an unlimited number of color combinations available; a good way to determine what direction you want to take is to spend some time surfing around the web looking at sites that target the same audience you are going after, and make note of designs that strike your fancy. Keep in mind that selecting two or three different colors in varying shades will generate a better design.
3. Font and Text
There are so many exciting fonts out there, but fall victim to over usage! You can use creative fonts for your title, logo, and headings, but use a very simple, easy-to-read font for the bulk of your content. A good rule of thumb is to limit your site to 2-3 fonts. Too many people get overly excited about all the font and color choices and go to great lengths to make their small business website design look dramatic with typography, but if you make the text difficult to read, visitors will click off to some other site that puts less stress on their eyesight. Lastly, make sure your font size is not too small or way too big.
4. Images
Generally, web surfers will wait just a few short seconds for a page to load before they go off in search of speedier delivery. Make sure your images are optimized for the web and don’t clutter your page with them. Keep in mind that videos and slide shows take even longer to load than regular images. However, you should have at least a few images on each page. Use images that grab the viewers attention and showcase your services.
5. Navigation Menu
Clear links to the most important pages, and a site map, are crucial for guiding visitors to the information they’re looking for. It is here that you want to display simple links to key pages within your site. The navigation menu should be clearly labeled, easy to find, and should appear in the same spot on all pages across the site. This makes your website more user friendly.