Not Your Dad’s Website

How to curate a slick web design

Web design has come a long way since the dawn of the internet when just having a website period was good enough. Now, in a time of more web-savvy browsers the design of your website is key. You can’t just slap together a couple blue and white folds, throw down some Helvetica or Arial font and call it a day.

A desk with a laptop

Audiences crave modern, visually appealing websites with clean lines, some dynamic elements and a clear concise message. There you go, case closed, create that and you are laughing. Well, not quite. There are a lot of little nuances that need to be taken into consideration when cultivating an optimal web design.

So, here are four sweet little details to keep tucked away in your design vault:

Embrace Whitespace

In design balance is key, but in human nature the need to fill space is inevitable. So, the challenge lies between knowing when to paint (and with which brush) and when you should pump the breaks. Whitespace can help drive a message home while supporting the beautiful something you wish to share with your viewers. In saying that, you don’t necessarily want to overdo it, but it is worth embracing.

Stay Consistent

There is nothing less appealing than scrolling through a website where the font or color palette keeps changing. These types of mistakes make potential clients lose faith, not just in your personal taste, but in your ability to do your job. In other words, lack of consistency makes people distrust you, and that is never a good thing.

A woman looking at a great website design

Be Trendy… But Not Too Trendy

It is important to stay current, whether it be in terms of the products you’re selling or simply keeping updated on how to reach your target market. This goes for keeping the aesthetic of your website on point as well. It is good to shift the aesthetic of your web presence subtly, as often as once a year and definitely not longer than five years. However, changing it too frequently or too drastically can be equally as damaging as never updating it to begin with. Think of what happened after Gap changed their iconic branding, for example. Moral of the story; keep up with the trends but keep it classy (and on brand!).

Pretty as a Freaking Picture

We are a visual generation, we love Instagram because we get to look at curated feeds all day and share our own pictures with the world. We love looking at beautiful things because we are human, and the human brain needs that type of stimulus to thrive. So, having good quality, high resolution images on your website is key to keeping visitors engaged while they’re scrolling through. The longer they stay, the stronger your relationship with them becomes.

All in all, design is a vital component in crafting a website that resonates with your audience. A beautifully curated web design can and should communicate who you are and why people should care in thirty seconds or less. So, take a peek at your current website and ask yourself:

‘Is my website designed as well as if could be?”

If the answer is ‘not really’, start thinking about how these strategies can work for you to improve it. And if you’re answer is ‘no’, it might be time to do a little reno and we may know a little birdy that could help you with that.

Visual example of great website design