Web design that helps people make sense of your business

Web design provides a site with an attractive visual look, but also helps visitors understand who the business is, what the business offers, if the business’s products/services are relevant to the visitor, and what next steps to take. When it comes to small and medium businesses, this clarity can be more beneficial than following a temporary visual trend.

At Web Design, we aim to balance design, web structure, usability, and content to achieve a greater user experience (UX). We pay attention to how users scan the webpage, the user journey, placement of the most important practical goals of the business, and support information. The aim is to obtain a design that fits the business’s brand while simplifying navigation for the prospective customer.

Design is a critical aspect of marketing. Every search result, advertisement, or referral leads the visitor to your business’s website.

Start with the visitor’s questions

Visitors want to answer four primary questions on a web page: what does this business do?, is this business relevant to me?, can I trust this business?, and what do I do next? Design helps users obtain answers to the four questions through hierarchy, layout, text, images, and clear calls to action.

Our priority is the business’s goals and the visitor’s journey and we target decoration last. Visitors should not feel like they are in a labyrinth to find the core services, essential information, or their point of contact with the business. The information is placed to match the core goals of the business and to facilitate the visitor’s journey.

What web design can include

Site structure and navigation

A clear and organised structure makes navigation around the site easier for customers and makes it easy to showcase the services offered by the business. We can identify the core pages that the site requires, the relationships between these pages, the items that should be included in the navigation, and the routes that are the most important. This becomes especially important when a website expands over time and becomes more complex.

Page layouts and visual hierarchy

Headings, spacing, images, buttons, colour and type all affect what a person notices first. We use them to create a clear hierarchy, and not to add noise. Important information should be easy to scan, and supporting details should be available when someone wants to go deeper.

Content presentation

Design and content work together. Even excellent copy can be hard to use when it arrives as one long block of text. We can shape pages to make it easier to absorb the explanations of the service, benefits, actionable details, and subsequent steps. This supports the people reading the page and can provide a stronger foundation for SEO.

Responsive, inclusive design

Your site needs to work across screen sizes and for people with different needs. Readable text, clear contrast, sensible interactions, and straightforward forms are practical design concerns, not optional extras. A considered responsive approach makes the experience more dependable whether someone is on a phone, a tablet or a desktop.

Purposeful Design

The goal of a new design should be more than just changing for the sake of it, and more about making a business more clear and concise when communicating with consumers. This includes generating enquiries, supporting a sales cycle, explaining a service that may be complex, consolidating multiple offers, or providing access to key information more easily.

Design decisions can be made from these criteria. There may be a good reason to have a prominent call to action on a high intent service page. If customers need confidence before reaching out, then an explainer may be best placed there. If visitors are unable to find what they need, then a change in navigation may be the priority.

This type of thinking solves the issue of creating a beautiful website that is difficult to use and aligns with the real world alignment of your business.

Utilising your existing materials

Your materials may be inconsistent, clear and consistent, or somewhere in between. Either way, your website should remain consistent with your brand.

We will use existing materials, and then fill in the gaps to give the site a clear direction. In most cases, the website should also contain clear and direct language as this will make it more approachable and more likely to convert visitors. While there is a level of flexibility in tone that should be maintained to fit the audience, clarity should always be the first priority.

From design to a working website

A design needs to be turned into a functional and usable site. This is where Web Development comes in. The development takes care of the technical aspects of building the site such as the performance, forms, and behavior of the pages while the design handles the user experience. Keeping both perspectives helps to decrease the distance between the concept of the site and the finished product.

A route we consider is the one that will bring traffic to the site. An engaged user from a PPC campaign needs a clear message and an obvious next step. A user that finds a page through SEO needs to find a well organised structure with relevant content. Design needs to aid the structure instead of blocking it.

A collaborative, clear process

Web design starts with trying to understand your business, audience, content, and priorities. Then we build a framework and a direction for the pages, review it with you, polish the details, and get everything ready for the construction or implementation. Every project may result in distinct processes depending on its scope.

A feedback loop is most effective when it comes back down to the visitor and the goal of the page: does this make the service clearer, does it represent the business accurately, and can the users see what step they need to take next? Our goal is for conversations surrounding design to be practical, and not emotional.

Frequently asked questions

Do you only design complete new websites?

No. Design support may also involve improving some specific pages, navigation, or customer journeys on existing sites as well as planning a new one.

Will the site work on mobile?

Mobile use is considered in this design. We focus on various screen sizes and the daily usage.

Can design improve conversions?

Design can provide a clearer path to make it easier for users. No specific outcome can be promised.

How do we get started?

Head on to Contact us and describe your website, target customers, and what you want your site to do better.