A Three Step Glow-Up for Your Website Design
I chose to start this series with an annual website design check-up because it’s what your audience sees first. Your website design is their first impression of your brand and what they can expect moving forward. Think of it as the first date and your goal is to make them want to come back for more and commit. Does your website design communicate your brand’s personality or is it rocking a 2005 MySpace vibe? Here are a few ways to make sure your website design stays sexy and on-brand.
Step 1: Evaluating Your Brand
Start your annual website design check-up by having a good look at your website’s branding. Does your logo still reflect your company’s vibe? Have your brand colors gone from trendy to tacky? Keep your branding fresh and relevant to your business as it exists today, not five years ago. Even just refining your color palette can help elevate your website branding.
Step 2: Layout and Imagery
The layout and imagery of your website are like a wardrobe; sometimes, you need a refresh. Is your layout intuitive and simple or has it evolved into a hard to navigate maze? Do your images scream 2010 stock photography or are they authentic and engaging? Maybe you need some new professional photography to step up your game. Swap out outdated visuals and refine your layout to make navigating your site a pleasant experience, not a frustrating one.
Step 3: User Experience (UX)
Each of these annual website design check-up steps is part of your website’s user experience, or UX. How your layout is organized, where links are placed, what they look like and how your imagery and colors help your audience move around your website are all part of UX. When was the last time you navigated your own website? Pretend you’re a visitor (or better yet, have someone else do it) and note what works and what doesn’t. If it takes more clicks to find information than to solve a Rubik’s cube, it’s time to simplify.
Ready to pull out the big web design guns?
If you complete your annual website design check-up and find that your website’s design and aesthetics are lacking, consider asking a professional for help. After all, you wouldn’t replace your own roof (unless you were a roofer), would you? I provide services from just the layout of web pages to building entire WordPress websites using a really convenient and intuitive drag and drop page builder. I am a real human with decades of experience in web design and UX and I love improving websites!