I’ve been working on a lot of website designs lately, and I thought I would share some tips with you, that in my experience help make a great website design. There are millions of websites out there, some are awesome, some are terrible, and some are just okay. So how do you make your website design awesome?

Website Design Tips — A desk with a laptop and monitor, ready for work

Here are a few tricks:

1. LISTEN TO YOUR CLIENTS!

Don’t build a website for yourself, build one for your clients. What are they looking for? Appeal to them. How do you know? Ask some current clients, ask friends and relatives that are in your clients demographics if you don’t have any clients yet. And look at your competitors websites. You want to stand out from them, you want to “beat” them, so the best way to do that is KNOW them!

2. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL!

Yes, there are lots of places out there that tell you you can build your own site for a cheap price and get on the first page of google. But guess what? Your site will look like a template, it will look dated the minute it goes live. The generations that are now going to be hiring you for your service, or purchasing your products, grew-up on the internet. They’ll know you took the “cheap” route, and it will make them wonder if you took it with that, do you with other things? Let a professional help you customize a site that highlights your products or services, and presents the information in the best way. Share with those professionals the research you did on your clients and competitors- the more you provide them, the smoother the design process will go. Ready to start? Contact me!

3. KEEP IT CLEAN!

A white (or light) background makes your company look larger (and often more professional). It also allows you to highlight what you want your customers to focus on without distracting them with a million things. White however, isn’t always the best. Sometimes another color, texture, pattern or design will complement your product or service better. You just don’t want to build a website that makes your company look old, when it’s brand new. And the more simple the site, the more timeless it tends to be. Check out this website that is dedicated to awesome website designs. What do they all have in common? What do you think about them?

Before you start updating or building your website, do your homework.

Have an idea of what content you want. Get PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS taken (photos alone can make your website). Research your competitors. Be ready to answer questions your designer has, to make the process easier on you both. In the end designing and building a website shouldn’t be complicated, it shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks from start to finish, and when you’re done, the only editing you should need to do is maintenance for SEO and portfolio purposes- if you build it right the first time, a major redesign down the road should never be necessary.

So, remember as you get started with your website design. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!)