Designing a Professional Website? Here’s What You Need to Know

First impressions are everything. And if you’re trying to stand out in the business world, the initial way a potential client perceives your website could be either a recipe for a long-lasting partnership or a reason to forget you entirely. It’s up to you to only give them one choice — the former.

Professional websites need professional touches in order to help them become as top-notch as they can possibly be. But building a professional website requires loads of time and, if you outsource the job, loads of money, too. There are ways to save on both, though you have to go into the job with a plan already formulated. Are you ready to make your plan? Here are three website designing tips every business owner needs to know in order to craft a compelling site from click one.

1. Simple colors, simple typography.

Simplicity gets ranked on the year’s top trends list pretty consistently (no matter what year it is), but there’s a reason for that: It never goes out of style. Our brains are quite advanced and science is even intimating that they’re advancing still, but not at a rate that it prefers site clutter and complicated menus over simple, effective designs. That goes double for color and fonts. Pick one theme and stick with it or else you just might end up confusing or intimidating your future clients.

2. Telling a story.

This tip was ranked at #3 on Forbes‘ list of top trends for 2014, and the reason is simple — everyone likes a good narrative. No matter what product or service you’re selling, if you can communicate it to your customers (or even just a casual website visitor) in a clear, concise manner, they’ll be more likely to get behind it. Design is borrowing a bit from advertising in this way, but it’s not some kind of deceptive trick. Rather, as Forbes puts it, “MAKE. IT. FUN.”

3. Going mobile, getting responsive.

Responsive web design is design that adapts to the source where it’s being accessed. That means smartphone users will see a professional website that fits their small screen and tablet users will experience the same. Whether you’re creating brand new veterinary websites or some kind of online shoe emporium, the best way to ensure you keep your audience is to plan for it to be accessed at length on mobile devices. After all, studies show mobile use accounts for 16% of all web traffic — and that’s on the rise every day.

Now you know how to keep your website sharp in terms of design. Remember that design and marketing go hand in hand, which means what’s good for the first-time user is also good for turning him or her into a repeat customer. That’s why first impressions are so important. More like this.