DOs and DON’Ts of Small Business Website Design from a Professional Web Designer

Setting up a business website with limited funds can be daunting, especially if you have no clue as to how to go about it all. Well not to worry, following is a list of some dos and dont’s that are intended to give you an outline of how to proceed with designing and developing a small-business website. These tips of course do not cover the entire topic at hand; nevertheless they attempt to fill in the gaps left by other advisory resources you can find on the web. Besides these tips are what you might call “rules of thumb” which I have discovered during my strut as a web designer, I hope they can help you make better design related choices.

Research your Audience

You website should be an extension of your business online. Try to re-create the perceived value of your brick and mortar brand on the web.  Identify your site’s target audience, and work to create a custom web design that speaks to them. Only three things can give your site the leverage you seek on the web – research, research, and some more research.

Now from the theoretical, let’s move on to the practical elements of site design.

No Flash

Flash may look cool, but its impractical in today’s Web 2.0 environment. For instance a number of tablet PCs don’t support flash, which can practically handicap your website to a large chuck of your potential audience. So from the ROI point of view using Flash can be considered as bad investment.

Avoid Pop-Ups

Avoid using pop-ups! I hate web sites that bombard people with pop-up ads and call to actions. In fact, a lot of people close a site straight away when they see pop-ups; even if it is a site operate by an established brand, company or organization. So steer clear of irritating adverts, and try your best to keep your site ads free. Trust me, this will help you keep your bounce rate in check and will keep your visitors happy.

Use Professional Logo Designs

A “Logo” is a symbol of your brand identity, and should depict your business and its culture. The internet is flooded with logo design resources and logo design tutorials, but most of these resources are crude, and aren’t worth a pence in the crowded landscape of the World Wide Web. To be competitive, your logo needs to be unique, it needs to give your business an iconic brand identity, in short, and your logo should be truly YOURS. So opt for a professional logo design company, that will give you an emblem you need to project your brand.

Don’t Hire Friends or Family

Finally, and I can’t stress this enough, don’t hire friends or a family members to design your website. Don’t do it even if your friends or family members have firsthand experience of designing websites. You may find it difficult to tell your acquaintance that you don’t like a particular element of design; and even if you summon the courage to blabber out your view, you may find it impossible to win them over to re-do the design. In fact, you may find yourself in a situation where they’ll try to influence you to go with the design they have “worked” so hard to prepare.

Go with Professionals

Finding a web design firm is relatively easy. There are literally hundreds of website and custom logo design companies in UK alone. Most of these firms don’t cost an arm or a leg in design fees, and are fully equipped with designers and developers to meet all your web needs quickly and efficiently. Plus they usually don’t try to sell you designs that have nothing to do with your business; instead they usually sit with you and try to develop web solutions that best fit your vision.