What Makes For Good Web Design?
By Caitlin
In our last post, we mentioned that we’re a Boston web design company that places a strong emphasis on professional, creative design. Let’s talk a little bit about what that means and how good web design can attract customers to your website and keep them there.
The two components of good web design that I’m going to focus on today are professional photography and a balance between readability and aesthetic.
Professional Photography Is Necessary For Good Web Design
Nearly every company today has a website. So creative, professional design can be what sets your website apart. One aspect of good web design is professional photography (versus generic stock photos). For a restaurant, this can be the deciding factor in whether or not someone wants to eat at your place.
Check out the difference between these two pictures of nachos:
The picture on the left is a stock photo while the one on the right was taken by our photographer, David Stubbart. Can you see the difference? The photo on the right makes me crave nachos – it looks that enticing!
(Btw, if that photo also has you craving nachos, head over to CRS client www.thedraftbarandgrille.com!)
This is just one example of how good photography can make all the difference!
Readability And Aesthetic For Good Web Design
Our next tip for good web design is to make sure your website balances readability with an interesting aesthetic. You want to give the user something interesting to look at. But, you also want the design of your site to flow naturally without the user needing to actively think about it.
Put another way, you don’t want your customers to have to go searching for something on your site. This creates frustration and the dreaded click away. So make sure that your phone number, address and hours are prominently displayed throughout the site. Once you have your contact info front and center, you’ll want to make sure that the navigation on your site is simple and straightforward. This is what we refer to as readability.
You also want an interesting aesthetic. Give your users something cool to look at! This can be done with interesting font styles, color, good graphic design, and/or interactive videos – basically anything that will pique perspective customers’ interest and keep them from clicking away. This aesthetic should be interesting and creative without being obtrusive.
Here are links to a couple of examples that strike this balance well: http://amtapropertymanagement.com and http://redlioninn1704.com.
These are just two tips for how to achieve good web design. Not sure where to start? That’s nacho problem – leave it to the experts at CRS! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself) Give us a call and we’ll help you design something awesome!