There are a lot of things that are considered essential in website design. But not all of them will work for your small business website. Many of these “essential” design elements were developed to aid in the conversion of visitors into customers. But creating a site that only focuses on a few stats (conversions) and ignores other crucial factors might prove to be a poor choice.

Here are the best do’s and don’ts for your small business website design that may make all the difference to your digital marketing efforts.

The Do’s of Website Design

1. Focus on Aesthetics

Website design is not just about giving visitors the information they need, but also giving them a pleasant browsing experience while they’re on your site. Your website’s aesthetics isn’t just important for giving your brand a unique image, but it’s also important for your site’s SEO.

2. Be Mindful of Your Site’s Loading Speed

Studies have shown that loading time is one of the most crucial factors in driving conversions (see Point #1). Be wary, however, of loading your site with too many images, videos, or other media files.

Make sure that it’s easy for your readers to get to your site via search engines and other digital channels.

If your website is not easy to find online, you could be losing out on a lot of potential business. You never know how many people are searching for your business or product. So, making it easy to find is an incredibly wise decision.

3. Focus on Local Search 

According to a recent study, 41 percent of all mobile searches are searching for local facilities, businesses, or points of interest. By focusing on local search, you’ll be able to bring in more customers for your small business.

The Don’ts of Website Design

1. Use Your Logo in a Band of Color

You want to see your logo and you want it to be clearly visible. In order to do this, you need to place your logo on top of a solid color, like white, black, blue, etc. But, not doing this and placing a large band of color around your logo may be a waste of valuable real estate.

2. Ignore Footer Branding

According to a study, about half of consumers go to the footer of a site after their initial visit. Be sure that your branding is visible and consistent in the footer of your site.

3. Use Too Many Colors

The more colors you have in your design, the more scattered and unfocused your site will be. This will make it harder to navigate.

4. Use Animation or Flash

There are a zillion reasons to avoid both animations and Flash. Besides being an Achilles’ heel in terms of security, both have been effectively supplanted by CSS, so there’s no reason to use them, other than that they were cool in the 1990s.

But if your reason for using them is to make your site stand out from the crowd, it’s better to just not use them. Not using them will make your small business website stand out even more. Avoiding them will guarantee that your site will be better than 90 percent of the sites out there.

Conclusion

Your small business website design is an important part of your business’s digital marketing campaign. When you’re choosing which design elements to include on your site, be sure that they reflect your brand and add value to your online experience.

Hello Digital Marketing offers Winnipeg web design services that can help your brand gain traction and online presence. Let us help you develop a web design that best meets the needs of your business. Contact us today to get started!