Is your website just not bringing in the amount of traffic you had originally hoped? Are you finding that your website is perhaps a little out of date; falling down in the face of online competitors? In this digital age, people are always looking at new ways to improve their web reputation – so that they have a fighting chance upon the online marketplace. Simply by using web design tools you can bring in more people to your website; gone are the days of having a page of static information. Presented to you in this article is a small guide to web design and development.

Navigation

Your site’s internal navigation is perhaps the most important aspect of your website’s design. It goes without saying that if your site has bad navigation, online visitors will not be staying around for long. Every good site has some sort of navigation bar – or some kind of labeling system that online visitors can use to determine the difference between pages. However, beware of over complicating things by using web design. Always take the ‘less is more’ approach; over-simplified navigation is known to be far more effective and will help obtain a higher amount of web traffic.

Loading Times

Another known fact is that if your website takes more than around 10-15 seconds to load, they will simply give up and not even visit your website out of frustration. Pure and simple; having a quick website is a key factor to online success. Remove any ‘wild graphics’ from your website – just have the necessities; branding, logos etc. Anything flashy for the sake of being flashy should be removed for the sake of speeding up your site. If you are using WordPress, there are plenty of plugins you can download to help speed up your site.

Make it Accessible to Everyone

Remember, all kinds of people will have access to your website; including people with disabilities. By using web design you can make your website more accessible to them. By using an evaluation tool called web-aim you can find out where your website falls down concerning accessibility. You can also use online readability testing tools to examine your site in terms of readability.

Using Content to your Advantage

Using or seeking advice from a copywriter can be golden in terms of web design. Well thought-out precise text can help instantly grab the attention of an online audience. Streamlining your web content can declutter a web page easily, making it stronger from a visual point of view. By combining the design of the page with the content, you will be eliminating a lot of negative space on the page – making it easier on the online visitor’s eyes. A good online copywriter will also be able to look at your website content and, by using different SEO techniques, orientate it for search engines. This will make your website more accessible via search terms; ultimately boosting your site’s online traffic and improving overall web presence.

In conclusion, for those of us accustomed to doing business face to face; using web design to help gain a bigger presence in the online market place may sound as alien as being asked to set up a shop on the moon. Times are changing; every business needs a website which sums up their message on a well-thought out page (not just a mish-mash of information). By utilizing web design tools, you will always be on top of the online game; not behind it.