With the inundation of websites for just about every business, brand, and entrepreneur online today, it is more important than ever for you to have a web design that stands out and gets the results that you need. Fortunately, some practices are known to work better than others, and plenty of information is available on marketing trends and what is working right now. Heading into the coming year, things like local optimization and responsive design are some of the biggest trends. Read on to find out how to incorporate these and other elements into your website for a better design.

Responsive Design

Right now, as the trend toward mobile browsing continues to grow, the biggest thing that a brand can do for its website is to create a responsive design. This means that the website is set up to cater and respond to the needs, preferences, and interactions of the user. In the past, this may have involved developing different sites for every possible platform, but today’s technology is more intuitive.

Using responsive technology can detect device settings, help optimize images for easier viewing and faster page loading, and more. Instead of taking a reactive approach, you should be utilizing this technology to automatically respond to the habits and actions of your users or visitors. If you have one fully-responsive website, you’ll not need multiple versions and can save a lot of time and money on development.

Local SEO

More than half of all internet searches are performed from mobile devices, and a good number of those searches are for businesses or services “near me” or “in [CITY]”. Therefore, your business is not going to hold its own in the search results if you don’t optimize for local SEO. Take the time to research long-tail local keywords and find out which ones are performing the best.

Make sure that when you implement local keywords, they aren’t awkward. Find a way to make them flow with the content and use them sparingly so that you’re not accused of keyword stuffing. Add locations to your metadata and even your image tags to ensure that your site is completely optimized for local search.

Speed and Usability

Usability is ultimately what will cause a website to fail, no matter how good the visual design may be. The user needs a website that is easy to navigate, and that provides them with easy access to the information that they need. The average web surfer won’t wait longer than five seconds for a page to load, while some people won’t even wait that long. Make sure that you design your site to load quickly and provide functionality. It’s not a beauty contest. Your website does need to look good, but it also requires function for the end-user or it will be useless.

Make it Effortless

Again, even the best in graphic design can’t win if the actual usability of the site doesn’t deliver. Create a site that doesn’t require your visitors to think or invest a lot of energy. The easier it is for them to find the information, products, or services that they need, the more likely they are to convert this time and to keep coming back in the future. Don’t make things complicated and give people a clear path to the end goal that you have in mind, whether that is a sale, a lead, or even just an email capture.

If you guide your visitors, they will follow the path. Make sure that you guide them carefully by designing a website that lets them find what they need with the least amount of effort possible.

Conclusion

Building a great website is about giving users what they want. If you keep these principles and suggestions in mind, it will be much easier for you to develop a site that keeps users coming back for more. Remember to enlist the help of professional website design services to make the most of your online efforts and get the latest tools and features for improved user experience.

Contact the team at Iconic Web HQ to discuss your web design needs, no matter what type of business you have. Our expert marketing team is well-trained in creating websites with high conversion rates and increased web traffic, as well as assisting with other marketing efforts. Get a quote today or get answers to your questions by calling 717-687-1841.

Resources

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/

https://wpastra.com/good-website-design/

https://moz.com/learn/seo/local