How to design a website which gets results

By seoBusiness

29 Jun 2021

ebusiness-uk-web-design.jpg

Web design is more than just what looks good – though this is important too. A well-designed website can engage with potential customers, inform them, sell the benefits of your products or services, and be an effective sales tool.

A badly designed website on the other hand, can turn a customer away. Whether it’s an ugly website giving a poor representation of your business, or a confusing one which even a spirited customer gives up on, bad design can hurt your chances of making a sale.

Trends will come and go as fashions evolve, but here are the key staples that must always be considered when building a website that gets results.

1) Make an immediate impact

Web users are, in the main, impatient beings. With a wealth of resources available at the click of a mouse or a tap of a screen in just a few seconds, it’s important that your website grabs the visitor’s attention instantly.

You’ve got just a few seconds to convince them that they’re on the right website before they start looking elsewhere. That means branding, bold visuals and key messages go right at the top, equally so whether it’s a desktop browser or a mobile phone screen.

And that latter distinction is a key one. Today, more than half of all web traffic occurs through mobile devices. If your website can’t easily be viewed this way, you risk as many as half of your visitors instantly clicking the back button.

2) Simplicity is key

While important information should be front and centre, we’re only referring to the vital stuff, not absolutely everything. An overload of information can be overwhelming.

Too many links can make a website hard to navigate. Too much text outside of the right setting won’t get read. Strip out anything that’s not necessary. Pare back what’s left. Then make it all intuitive to find.

View your website through the eyes of a first-time visitor. Have their goal in mind and see how few clicks it takes to get to what they need.

3) Accessibility and usability

While advancing technology is making all sorts of weird and wonderful design elements possible, it’s not necessary (or advisable) to use them all.

Many web users have less than perfect vision, for example, which is something National Rail forgot when they turned their entire website grey to mark the passing of Prince Philip earlier this year. A flood of users took to social media to complain that it had made the site unusable to them, and what the company thought would be a nice PR move turned into the exact opposite.

Consider providing transcripts of videos, and detailing photographs in the description tab. Avoid using elements which require the use of a mouse. And Dark Mode is becoming increasingly prominent across the internet, using darkers colours to help protect the eyesight of users.

Just as would be the case when designing your premises, your website design must take into account the full spectrum of needs of potential users, otherwise you risk turning them away.

4) Images, video and beyond

The better a customer understands what they’re considering buying, the more likely they are to part with their money. Shoppers want to inspect their potential purchases, and visual representations are a vital way of enabling this.

High quality photographs are an absolute must, and worth your investment. Video is increasingly becoming part of online catalogues, whether that’s an outfit on a model, a simple demonstration of a tool in use or drone footage of a property.

While professional production is a bonus, these can be produced on a budget using off-the-shelf technology and editing software. But where there is budget available, augmented reality is emerging as an exciting new tool. It can be used to enable a product to be viewed from a variety of angles using handheld devices, it can insert a product into the user’s surroundings, and it can add ‘virtual’ labels to a real-world product the viewer is holding in their own hands to aid their understanding and enjoyment.

5) Social proof

Say what you want about how amazing your own product or service is, the glowing reviews always carry more weight when spoken by an independent third party. That’s why major retailers carry customer star ratings and reviews on product pages.

You can use external sites to gather reviews of your business, such as Trustpilot, which bolster credibility. Then use their widgets to seamlessly embed up-to-the-minute reviews on your site.

Hearing from satisfied existing customers gives added confidence to potential new customers and increases your chances of making a sale.

6) Calls to action

Whatever design decisions you make when putting together your site, you should have an end goal in mind.

When you’ve defined the purpose of your site – that is, what you want your visitor to do – you need to make that action especially obvious to users. If you’re collecting email addresses, make it clear where users can enter their information and give them a reason to do so. If you’re arranging appointments, explain the benefit of two-way communication and make it easy to book a time and date.

Ultimately, the design of your website should centre around the action you want potential customers to take, and then provide very clear signposts from initial interaction to completion to make the process as straightforward as possible.

Latest news

1

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration Collaboration between BAE Systems FalconWorks and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and BAE Systems’ FalconWorks announce strategic collaboration

09 Sep 2025

2

High street retailers urged to ‘take advantage’ of new funded support programme Brian Moore, Lee Johnson, Anne Williamson and Andrew Leeming

High street retailers urged to ‘take advantage’ of new funded support programme

08 Sep 2025

3

Beaverbrooks invest in the high street in difficult conditions Mark Adlestone And Anna Blackburn Beaverbrooks

Beaverbrooks invest in the high street in difficult conditions

08 Sep 2025

4

Preston City Council invests £250,000 in NW Mutual NW Mutual chief exec Dave Burke and Valerie Wise and Matthew Brown from Preston City Council

Preston City Council invests £250,000 in NW Mutual

08 Sep 2025

5

Profit before tax doubles for Eric Wright Group in latest results Jeremy Hartley

Profit before tax doubles for Eric Wright Group in latest results

08 Sep 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs
Sub36 Deaf Village Social1200
Networking
17 Sep 2025

Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs

The Deaf Village, Blackburn, BB2 5EN

10:00 - 12:00

LBV124 September/October Launch Event
MBP Arc Cinema Preston Opening 205
Networking
18 Sep 2025

LBV124 September/October Launch Event

The Arc Cinema, Preston, PR1 2BL

08:30 - 10:30

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Longridge Soap Box Derby
Screenshot 2025-06-10 090035.png.png
LBV Hub Fundraisers
14 Sep 2025 - 14 Sep 2025

Longridge Soap Box Derby

Berry Lane, Longridge, PR3 3WH

10:00 - 16:30

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!
Preston Tech Connection Sept 25.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Sep 2025 - 16 Sep 2025

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:00

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
17 Sep 2025 - 17 Sep 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

Cumbria Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880461633-4862066883-1-original.20241022-110415.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
19 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Cumbria Business Expo 2025

Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS

09:00 - 15:00

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation
Chorley Council breakfast event new
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

Worden Hall, Leyland, PR25 3DH

08:00 - 11:00

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September
Sept Freelancer (1).png.png
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Speed Networking with BNI
2.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
24 Sep 2025 - 24 Sep 2025

Speed Networking with BNI

Chorley Football Club, Chorley, PR7 3DU

16:00 - 19:00

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September
TMM Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
25 Sep 2025 - 25 Sep 2025

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September

Chorley, PR7 2SL

18:00 - 20:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV 123 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin