5 Steps for Choosing a New Website Design

Choosing a new website design is really about creating a space that users want to stay in. If the webpage fails to attract interest, or is hard to move through, users will not stay on the page long enough to find out what you have to offer. Follow these five simple steps when choosing a design for your website.

1. Consider Your Purpose

All website design must begin with a purpose. For example, a website which markets and sells a product does not have the same purpose as an informative blog. Select a layout that facilitates the purpose of the site.

2. Make the Page Easy To Use

Users should be able to move through the site with little or no thought. It is important that visitors feel in control of the page, because they are moving though it purely through intuition. Where to go and what to click on should be obvious, and self-explanatory. Make sign in procedures as abbreviated as possible. If users feel like they are giving away too much personal information, like it is impossible to get to the information they want, or like they are "hung up" in the wrong section of the website, they will find somewhere else to get the product or information from.

3. Apply Human Psychology Principles

Try to use the way people think to improve website usability and internet based sales. Select colors that generate the emotion you want to promote. For example, blue is typically calming, but orange stimulates a sense of emergency. Similarly, select words based on the emotional response they generate. Words like deal, amazing, free, gift, and sale all attract attention. Also language that makes people believe they need a product, service, or information set will keep people at your page longer. Finally, build the website so that the user's interest is focused on the most important features, or the features of the webpage that are likely to make them act.

4. Design with Growth In Mind

Too often, the website design is set in stone. This is not practical, because it does not allow room for growth, and ultimately every business owner plans to experience growth. Design the website in a way that it is easy to add new lines of products, new pages of information and new informative links. This will prevent you from the expense of a total website redesign when growth occurs.

5. Font

Take the time to really research the fonts you are using, and to use a variety of fonts on the page, to accomplish different purposes. Using the right font can really draw a user in, while using the wrong font will drive them away. Fonts used to convey information should always be easy to read. Typically Serif fonts are used to convey warm, personal, or intellectual messages, while sans-serif types are used to create a technical, modern, or impersonal feel. Second, select a font that is equally compatible with most browsers. Generally, Times New Roman, Georgia, Arial, Trebuchet, Veranda, and Impact are the most accepted. Use 12 or 14 point font for main text, and larger fonts for accents, but never anything smaller.

The most important thing to keep in mind when designing a website is engagement. The website needs to be compelling, interesting, original, and very usable. Take the time to select each feature with care for a design that will both last, and improve your business traffic overall.