1. Branding and Style Elements

First and foremost, your website is an extension of your business: the backbone of your digital presence. As such, every single one of your website elements should reflect your specific branding and style elements. Here’s what that means, in a nutshell:

• Your company logo and any company-specific images;
• Design that uses your brand colors and color palette;
• Any fonts or text elements that reflect your branding;
• Messaging, slogans, trademarks and other jargon.

When people land on your website, it should look, feel and sound exactly the same as if they were meeting you in person. Make sure every visual element of your site is in sync with your branding. 

2. Navigation and Hierarchy

Good web design starts with good structure. That means figuring out what pages you need and where those pages will live on the site. As a rule of thumb, there are several options to consider:

• Top-level navigation are the pages people can see and click, no matter where they are.
• Sub-pages are pages nested within the top-level navigation drop-downs.
• Footer pages are readily available in the footer, but not in the top-level navigation.
• Landing pages are only accessible through links, not visible at the top or in the footer.

Structure the hierarchy of your pages based on their importance and how accessible they need to be for people on your site. The goal is navigability: people need to quickly and easily get to pages in as few clicks as possible.

3. Responsivity and Scaling

Responsive design is now the gold standard for web design, and it plays a big role in how your website will function across different devices. In a nutshell, responsive design involves coding a website so that it detects screen size and conforms to fit that size—often by scaling elements or rearranging them on the page.

One of the best qualities of a good website is its ability to deliver a unified experience to every person. Responsive design goes a long way toward making this a reality. Whether they’re on a laptop, tablet or smartphone, your website will look great and behave as-intended.

4. Powerful Graphics/Images

Far and away the biggest part of good-looking websites are graphics and images, and how they’re used. Visitors are more likely to be intrigued by a visually engaging site, which means using images throughout to reinforce the core messaging of your brand. Some of the images you should consider using include:

• Your brand’s logo and any variations, to tie concepts back to the company.
• Candid photos that are meaningful, such as workplace photos on-site pictures.
• Headshots of your leadership team and professional photos of products.
• Stock photos that emphasize different points or values you’re communicating.

The rule of thumb when using graphics and images is that they should emphasize the point you’re trying to make and/or simplify the key takeaways being delivered. Be liberal with images, but strategic in how you use them. 

5. Informative Content/Blog

When you design your website, the visual elements are often the first and most important variables to consider; however, that doesn’t make the textual information any less important! The information on your website needs to be well-written and insightful, not only for the benefit of visitors, but also for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

There are two core types of on-site content to consider: web copy and blog content. Web copy is the core information you’ll relay on static pages, such as your “About Us” or “Core Services” pages. Blog content is insightful, engaging content you’ll publish at regular intervals. It’s designed to answer questions, provide updates, engage visitors and more. Make sure both are well-written!

6. Forms and CTA Elements

Aside from being the digital backbone of your brand, your website also serves another important role: it’s your always-on, ever-present salesperson. Your website has the power to sell your products or services 24/7, but you need to create conversion points to be successful.

Contact forms and CTA elements are one of the most important elements of new website design. It’s not enough to have a “Contact Us” page; you also need to have CTAs at the bottom of relevant services pages, as well as specific forms for different purposes throughout your new website. Whether it’s a request for gated content or a form that goes straight to the sales team for follow-up, make sure you give visitors a compelling reason to offer up their information.

7. Analytics Tracking

When you design your website, it’s not just about how it looks—you also need to pay mind to how it functions. Analytics tracking is the best way to understand the performance of your site: how people use it, which pages perform well, where you can make improvements, etc.

The good news is that analytics tracking through a tool like Google Analytics is relatively easy to set up on a new site. It often involves plugging a snippet of code into the site’s header or entering a tracking cookie into specific pages. The best part? Building in analytics will help you evolve your site over time, to keep pace with new trends and practices. 

8. Cybersecurity Features

In today’s digital age, cybersecurity is something everyone needs to take seriously—especially small businesses. According to 2021 reports, small businesses with 100 or fewer employees saw cyberattacks at a rate more than 350% of that of enterprise companies! Needless to say, when you design your website, design with security in-mind.

Thankfully, secure design is simple and doesn’t impede the beautiful, feature-rich style your website needs to thrive. Consider simple security features like CAPTCHA for your public-facing forms, Multifactor Authentication (MFA) for logins and malware detection tools that automatically scan your site for threats at regular intervals. A few preventive measures go a long way. 

9. Add-Ons and Integrations

Today’s websites need to be robust in the capabilities they offer visitors. From booking appointments to offering a multimedia experience, your new website design should make it easy for visitors to interact with you. Much of this stems from add-ons and integrations, and the automations that make these synergies possible.

Consider the capabilities you want your website to have and look for platforms that offer API integrations that enable them on your website. Building in features and functionalities is a great way to transform your website from a static representation of your brand to a dynamic online presence for your business.

Do You Need a Captivating Website?

With so much to consider when building a new website, it’s often best to work with an expert to get your concept off the ground. Whether your site is long out of date or you’re a new startup in California, it pays to work with a web design company in Orange County that can help you build the site you need to succeed. From branding, images and content to back-end features and integrations, you’ll be amazed at what a talented web design team can do to make your website everything you want it to be—and more.