3 web design tips for non — web designers

Rule #1: Less is more

Visual congestion is like talking with your mouth full. Don’t be rude.

You may believe that there’s a lot of information you need to share with your visitors, but the true is that you just need to share the essential one. According to 2015 B2B Web Usability Report (Huff & KoMarketing), people want to see:

1. Product and services (86%)
2. Contact information (64%)
3. About us (52%)
4. Testimonials (27%)
5. Marketing Collateral (23%)
6. Social media icons (12%)
7. Blog (8%)
8. Pricing (2%)

It seems obvious, right? Well, it’s not. Actually, 51% of visitors think that Contact Information is the most important element missing from many websites, which is as funny as having a nice date with someone and completely forget to give him/her your phone number.

So make sure to build a simple and essential website, but don’t forget to make it nice. People just wanna have fun, and you can’t have fun with an ugly design.

Rule #2: Right colours wake up right feelings

This may seem a difficult task, especially if you don’t know anything about colour combination, psychology of colour or composition theory.

Using a template with a default palette may save your ass, but be careful with the template and the colours you choose: black and white are not always “elegant” and yellow doesn’t have to be “sunshine and happiness” for everyone. Perception varies from a subculture to another, that’s the reason why research and analysis are key points in the process of building a brand image. Don’t ever underestimate the power of cultural influence, that’s an amateur mistake.

But let’s talk about colours. Supposing that today is your best friend’s grandma funeral, I bet we agree that going there dressing some red stuff and looking like Hooters or Baywatch would be a terrible idea, because people would get mad, and they would probably hit you until death. The reason why colour is so important in branding is that it CAN evoke feelings or emotional states based on experiences, the thing is that you must know what kind of experiences rule on your clients’ lifestyle in order to choose the right colours.

According to research, 90% of judgments about products or services are based on color as an individual factor, but composing a palette for your brand is not about choosing your favorite colours, they must relate with the concept you’re trying to sell, they must be coherent to transmit a message and lead people to look for specific experiences, which implies that you need to know who you are talking with.

Psychology of colour in marketing is so complex that you even need to consider your competence’s brand image. Specialist Ellen C. Carter suggest in Color Research & Application that colour differentiation is specially important for new brands, so if competition uses orange, choosing red may be an excellent move.

Rule #3: Keep it simple FOR your visitors

So you just find this cool template that makes everything on your main page move over here and over there like those salsa dance steps you like to perform on saturdays and you think: HOW GREAT IS THAT.

Well, it may seem awesome for you, but… are your visitors salsa and merengue lovers? Will they find your services menu or your contact form without getting dizzy?

Research says that 50% of visitors will use the navigation menu on your website to orient themselves when they reach you from a referral site, but it’s kind of evident that you must ensure to have an accessible, easy to handle and clean layout (and clean implies fast).

Designing a website is not about “making it cool” or pretty, you need to consider the kind of people that’s going to be visiting your site as much as you would consider the kind of people you’re talking with when you try to sell a product. They don’t want to hear about your life, they’re busy people with a lot of things to do, and that explains why almost 40% of people will leave your website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. I can hug my dog or give love to someone in those three seconds, you know?

In conclusion

If you want to design your own website because it’s important for you to keep the project personal, or maybe because you feel able to do a great job: go ahead. Just keep in mind that visuals can make the difference between a successful brand identity and a weak one. Embrace this few rules, do a lot of trial and error, and let the force be with you.