Small business web design
Web design trends for small businesses shows a move towards simplicity with an emphasis on clean pages, well-structured design and a strategic use of the page in order to optimise the visitor’s experience and engagement.
Here are the top 7 website elements needed to create this environment:
1 – Site Navigation
Navigation is key to a user’s experience of your site. This can be achieved with a well thought out menu and a detailed footer.
As the navigation bar serves to guide a visitor, it is important to keep it constant throughout the website. This website component is a strategic element in web design, enabling the visitor to establish a rhythm of how to access the site content. This can be achieved by keeping it simple and having the same theme throughout.
2 – Call to action
Did you know that every page should have its own objective? This is very important, especially when it comes to creating flow and continuity and building a relationship with you reader.
One of the best ways to achieve this is through a different call to action (CTA) for each page of your site. This can include “Buy now”; “Sign in”; “Subscribe”.
An effective way to draw attention to a CTA is to use white space which naturally draws the eye to the open area. Other design elements which guide your reader to the CTA button, include contrasts or even the typography of the content.
3 – Site menu footer
Having details in the footer of each page, allows your reader to orientate themselves at any point in the site while exploring different pages. The design of the footer needs to be clear and concise, with a theme which is in keeping with the site.
4 – Page Layout
Pages serve to provide content and add value to the reader’s experience of the website. In order to facilitate content accessibility, the layout needs to be streamlined. Today’s designs focus on an uncluttered look, so that the reader quickly gets the essence of the information.
Best practise is to use textual content strategically, providing only crucial information which is easy to read and digest.
5 – White Space
This refers to any open space that is not occupied by text, graphics or images. It is also known as ‘negative space’ when describing the space around elements such as graphics.
White space adds to the clarity of the page, enabling a clear presentation of your content, creating a sense of orderliness and organisation. This enhances readability and also influences where your reader’s attention is placed, resulting from visual flow which draws the eye to elements surrounded by white space.
6 – Images
Images play a significant role in inviting reader to engage further with your page, website and content.
The trend of hero images – large format images, generally in the form of a banner is impactful and lends itself to storytelling, making this format an effective way to show your product or tell a story about your brand.
Hero images can be used strategically to build credibility and catch the visitors attention. Used correctly, this can facilitate drawing in your reader, enabling a deeper engagement with the website content.
7 – Responsive Design
With numerous devices used to access the internet it is imperative to have a web design with built in capability to accommodate the screen size of different devices – from desktop, to laptop, to tablet, cell phone and anything else in between.
In this way, your content and website can be accessed by anyone on any device, making your website available 24/7/365.
By integrating these elements into a strategic design together with content which provides valuable information, your reader gets to know your products and services. In turn, your website becomes valuable owned media which serves to build your brand and helps you to achieve your business objectives.
