THEY WILL THROW SHADE.

Ahh, websites. We just can’t seem to get away from the internet, can we? If you are branding or rebranding, then we have news for you. A kick butt website is clutch (or key, or whatever you want to call it) and users are judge-y (kind of like people on Tinder), so, just like Tinder, make sure that your website has beauty AND brains. What does that mean?

As Micha Commeren says, “…the function of design is letting design function.” Your website can be super aesthetically beautiful, but if your users (the people that get to play judge, jury, and executioner for your website) wonder what it is for or struggle to actually use it, then you have failed with a capital F, my friend. I assume that if you are here, you would prefer an A+, so since we don’t like the idea of you wading through Google searches like a lost puppy (see, aren’t we MN nice??)  we put together a guide to web design and its necessities.

@THEREALNECESSITIES.

You know how famous people have to put “@thereal” in their handles to weed out all the posers? As I mentioned before, there are a lot of poser website “necessities” floating around, but these are the really important ones:

PURPOSE

As a friend of mine says: “…what is purpose”? every website and every page within a website should have a raison d’être (purpose or reason for being). Are you selling something? Informing on a topic? Make sure it is crystal clear and effective.

COMMUNICATION

Just like Americans like their fast food well, fast, people on the web like to get information efficiently. Communicate clearly in an organized fashion (bullet points, headlines, etc.) and for heaven’s sake, cut to the chase.

TYPEFACES

We talked about font legibility a little in Brand Identity: Who Are You?, but beyond that, here are your rules: 

    • 16 point is the easiest to read online- even without your reading glasses!
    • Choose a maximum of 3 fonts in 3 point sizes. Any more is just plain tacky, sorry
    • Sans Serif fonts are easier to read online (they are the ones without the little tails on the letters)

COLORS

Have you ever done that thing where you copy text from a website (not thinking about the fact that it is white text) and then post it into a word doc and… POOF, it’s gone?? We want the opposite of that for your website. Make sure you have good color contrast between your website background and text.

IMAGES

Utilize high quality images or videos or, heck, GIFs even! They not only say more than your words, but they also help to convey your brand. Win-win. (And I’m telling you, when you use the GIF of the cat filing its nails, people will go wild).

NAVIGATION

If you’re anything like me, you almost need your GPS to get out of your neighborhood, so make your website easy to navigate and follow the Dorothy rule (I made up that name): users only need three clicks to get to where they are going on your website.

MOBILE FRIENDLY

Yes, it is exactly what you think. Users will access your website on multiple screen sizes (phones, tablets, computers, blah) and you don’t want your website to look wonky so be proactive and plan for it. Got it? 

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

Authenticity and stuff. When visitors to your website can see how happy real people are with your product or service, they are more likely to give you a try too!

KNOW THE BASICS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

You know the old adage: “…if a tree falls in a wood…” if a website exists on the internet but nobody can find it, there isn’t much of a point to the website. Learn a little bit about SEO (nothing crazy), so that people know you are there.

USABLE FORMS

This is where the people that visit your website talk to you. It is also where you get to gather all their info, which is exactly what you want. Pay extra attention to design and function here. Forms should be be quick and easy to fill out and should have a confirmation message when a form has been submitted. I don’t know about you, but I have submitted a form three too many times on a website because I wasn’t sure that it went through…whoops. 

DON'T LOSE YOUR FANS.

For all the do’s, there are always don’ts. Think of it this way. You know how a famous person can do a few seemingly small bad things and then they end up in popularity ruins (for at least a month or so)? Stay away from these mistakes and hopefully your website won’t be the next (insert dramatic famous person slip up here).

BAD SEARCH

Make your website search so easy that even your grandpa, tech-wiz or not, could use it. This means that a little slip of the keyboard (spelling things wrong, plurals, typos) doesn’t confuse the search, and neither do a variety of search terms.

PDF FILES FOR ONLINE READING

Seriously, PDFs mess everything up. They look weird and don’t go with the rest of the website. If whatever the file is isn’t going to be printed, use a web page instead. ☺

PAGE TITLES WITH LOW SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY

In the internet game of hide and go Google, the title of your website is usually what comes up in a search result and is the way that most users will “discover” you. For each page of your website beyond the homepage, make sure that the title is full of precise, explanatory words instead of wasting your precious character limit on “welcome”, “hello”, or some other nice, doormat-like sentiment that you didn’t need.

VIOLATING DESIGN CONVENTIONS

Up until now, I have mostly told you to be as unique as possible, but when it comes to design conventions, I am going to have to ask you to put your pink goldfish aside and follow the status quo. Users compare your site to others and if it is too different, they leave, so be basic please. Humans are predictable creatures and predictability makes us feel like we’re in control.

NOT ANSWERING USER’S QUESTIONS

Websites exist to share information of some kind. That can mean details, price, ratings, contacts, whatever. If a user goes on your website and they can’t easily find what they are looking for (and by easily I mean that  it is right there in big letters and not hidden amongst three thousand paragraphs of blabber), you are likely to lose their attention and even worse, a potential sale.

AND THE CROWD GOES WILD.

Similar to fans, users get to call a lot of the shots because they have a lot of power. They can be judgmental, picky, and downright intimidating, but once you know what their needs are, you will gain a lot of your power back. Use what we just taught you, and you will be on your way to your users adoring you… or your website at least. 😉

Ready for more? Next up, we’re going to discuss utilizing FREE platforms to market your business. Yes, free. Mic drop.