In today’s digital age, a strong online presence is essential for any business or brand. It is necessary to know the basics in order to create a website, since this argument is no longer questioned. Because of this, one of the most effective ways to achieve this is by creating a professional page or website that is easy to use and very attractive to users. So far so good, but for a website to be truly efficient, there are many relevant aspects that need to be considered that are not often applied.
Have you ever found yourself browsing a website and just couldn’t find what you were looking for?
Were you frustrated when you saw that the navigation was a bit slow, confusing and unappealing?
These are just some of the main problems that we often encounter when surfing the web or portals that have not considered the work on the whole user experience or the UX part.
Therefore, designing a website may seem easy at first glance, but it is not. Creating a professional and effective website that meets business goals and user needs requires specific knowledge and skills.
In this post we explain the 10 Basics of creating a website effective that has good usability and converts visitors into customers. Here we present them to you:
1.- Understand your audience
The first step in designing an effective website is to understand very well who our target audience is. That means knowing their needs, expectations and preferences. Therefore, designing the buyer persona is a step before designing our web portal, which not everyone does.
With this information we can create a design website that really meets the needs of our potential customers and offers an optimal experience.
In this sense, some questions that we must solve and that can help us to better carry out this step first are the following:
- What are their needs?
- How do they search for information?
- What language are they using?
- How do they consume the content?
- What are your real goals and objections?
Getting answers to these questions is essential before we begin creating an effective website that connects with our audience.
2.- Create a clear visual hierarchy
The visual hierarchy is a critical step that we must develop with all the care it deserves. Hierarchy refers to how visual elements are arranged on a web page. There needs to be a clear and simple hierarchy that guides the user through the pages of the website, telling them what’s most important and how they end up converting.
This is accomplished through the use of different font sizes, colors, whitespace, and other visual elements that help emphasize important elements. At this point, it is important to work with the SEO team to design the structure or content tree of the website, where we will consider: main menu, different depths of navigation, depth of categories and subcategories.
If you haven’t already created a website, the first step would be follow a tutorial that shows the process of registering the domain, hiring the hosting and installing a CMS like WordPress
3.- Simplify the design
Your website design should be simple, easy and easy to use. The goal is to ensure that visitors can find what they are looking for without having to navigate through multiple pages or click on confusing links. You need to get the user to find what they are looking for in as few clicks as possible.
This means that the design should be clean and not overloaded with unnecessary elements. Organize content into logical categories and use a consistent structure to help users navigate.
4.- Use an effective color palette
The choice of colors is important for any web design. The colors should complement each other and please the eye. Remember that colors can also influence visitor mood and perception of your brand. We can use tools like Adobe Color to create custom color palettes and differentiate ourselves from our competition.
Colors have to match the brand and convey the right message. In this sense, it is very important that the brand has a Corporate Identity Manual (MIC) that details how the brand is applied to each of its elements.
5.- Use a legible font
Typography is another important aspect of website design. The font chosen should be legible and easy to read. The size and spacing between lines are also important to ensure easy readability. Let’s not forget that the user spends less and less time on the web and needs to understand at a glance what we are relying on to decide in seconds whether to continue reading or go to another website because he has not found what he is looking for was looking for.
The typographic element is often the big forget on brands’ websites.
So far we’ve given you half of the basics to create a website professionally and efficiently.
6.- Use high quality images and videos
Images and videos are a great way to make web pages more visually appealing. However, it is important to ensure that they are of high quality, offer real value to the digital user and load quickly. Low quality images and videos can make your website look unprofessional.
Content, as we already know, is the heart of any website. Make sure your website content is useful, relevant and easy to understand. Let’s add value, let’s edit the headlines very well and use copywriting techniques for it.
All with simple and clear language, avoiding the use of technical jargon or words that are too complicated for our buyer persona.
7.- Use an effective call to action (CTA)
Calls to Action (CTA) in English; They are an important part of designing a website. An effective CTA should be clear, concise, and engaging.
The aim of the CTA is to persuade digital users to take a specific action, such as buying a product or registering to receive a newsletter. The CTAs are the buttons that take us to the next level in the buying process and for this reason they have to adapt to the expectations of the buyer persona, both at the text level and in shape and color.
Use compelling verbs like “buy now” or “register” to create a sense of urgency and increase conversions.
8.- Optimize for mobile devices
More and more people are using their mobile devices to surf the Internet. In fact, depending on the sector, we’re talking over 80% on mobile versus 20% on desktop. Although the user has a multi-device behavior, it depends on which stage of the buying process they are in: Awareness, Consideration, Action or Advocacy. In the perception and consideration phase, mainly mobile navigation is used.
It is important to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices in terms of loading speed or Web Performance Optimization (WPO). In this sense, we can use tools such as Google Page Insights or Pingdom Tools.
That means it needs to be easy to use on smaller screens and have fast loading times.
9.- Test and adjust continuously
Website design is never static. It is important to continuously test and adjust through analysis and monitoring tools such as google analytics, Tag Manager, Hotjar, Clarity… CRO and testing tools like VWO. In this sense, prototyping can help us to introduce improvements that will be tested by users, measuring the different conversion rates in order to apply the changes to the elements that worked best.
We will be in a process of continuous change and testing, during which we will improve the site’s conversion rates depending on the type of buyer persona, the type of content, and the type of element to be measured: CTA, form, a slider, an ad to the button trolley…
10.- Make your website accessible
Make your website accessible to all users, including all types of people and groups. An accessible website is a website that can be used by anyone, regardless of their ability or limitations. Internet accessibility is not only important for reasons of ethics and social responsibility, but it can also increase your website’s audience and improve the user experience.
For this we use, for example, ALT tags to describe the images, adequate contrast, we avoid the use of flash and other elements that can be harmful to people with epilepsy.
Be sure to provide alternatives to media elements such as images, videos, or audio. Visually impaired people may not be able to see the images, while hearing impaired people may not be able to hear the videos or audio. Provide alternative text, subtitles, or audio descriptions to ensure all users can access your content.
With these 10 basics for building a website, you’ll be ready to start your projects with a minimum of guarantee and professionalism.
Photo by Tranmautrit
