Wearing all of the hats in your business can be hard. Especially when it comes time to design your website. I imagine your first thought is “where do I even start?”

Let’s start with some design tips for you to make sure that your ideal client is getting the most optimal experience on your website.

DESIGN TIPS:

1. Use a keyword focused phrase up at the top of your website that describes what you do to your viewers. Keywords are words that people might be searching for if they’re looking for a service that you’re providing. For instance, if someone is looking for a designer, they might Google search “branding” or “graphic designer” or “website designer”. Try to incorporate 1 or more of those keywords in your strong opening headline.
2. Make things as easy as possible for your audience by having call-to-actions sprinkled throughout the site. A call-to-action is a clickable button that takes the viewer to either another page or a contact page. I like to have at least 2 CTA’s on each page.
3. Have clear section dividers throughout your pages. It’s easier on the eyes if you have section dividers such as having a different background color or a line or a photo background.
4. Do you have alternate logos, patterns or submarks? Sprinkle those in when you can to give your website that wow factor! This makes you stand out and also instills brand recognition in your consumers minds.
5. When possible, have your text be on the left side of the page and any imagery on the right. Also, left align text when you can. People read left to right so when you have text on the right side of the page, people may subconsciously chose to skip that section.
6. Add in lines, boxes, shapes whenever you can to add dimension to your website elements. I love adding boxes behind text and images. I love experimenting with shapes and lines as well.
7. Remember that white space is your new BFF. Whatever you take away from this blog post, please remember that white space is a good thing. There is nothing more hard to read on the eyes than cluttered text and images that don’t have room to breathe.
8. Keep your website text as simple and to the point as you can. You only have seconds – a couple of minutes to make your first impression. If someone visits your website, they’re most likely going to get overwhelmed if they have to read 5 paragraphs just to figure out what you do. Less is more.
9. Avoid a ton of animations on your site. Having a few is okay but having too many is really overwhelming to the eye and can come off as tacky. I think having less than a handful is a good rule to follow!
10. Avoid stock photos that have other people in them (unless they don’t show their face). Try to have photos of you and your team, when possible. Don’t have money for a brand photoshoot? Your iphone will do just fine. Make sure you have good lighting, open windows and a simple background. Put your iphone on portrait mode and self timer. And you’re good to go!
    

Running a business can be stressful, but designing your website doesn’t have to be. Check out our website templates if you’re short on time and want something super affordable!