Top 5 Small Business Web Design Tips

If you are a small business building a website, then budget is crucial. It is not always easy to build a website on a budget, although a few “make-or-break” design elements can promote an affordable and successful small business website.  Whether you wish to design your own site or hire a professional, pay attention to these helpful tips and build a winning website without breaking the bank.    

Tip #1:  Make sure your site loads in 5 seconds or less.

Online users take only a short moment to decide whether to stay on the page or migrate to another one.  If your small business website takes 10 to 20 seconds to load or more, then you can expect a high bounce rate.  Remember that users have short attention spans and very little patience.  Make sure that the purpose of the website can be easily understood within the first 5 seconds of viewing it and visitors should start exploring the deeper and more complex pages.

Tip #2:  Limit the menu bar to 5 options.

Two key elements motivate visitors to explore a website – purpose and appearance.  It is critical to define the purpose of your small business website as singular and to reflect that purpose in the overall appearance.  Try to be all things to all people and you will ultimately be of value to no one.  At the cornerstone of website simplicity and focus are the navigation and menu options.  Limit the menu bar to five options and make sub-menus only when necessary.  Remember to make sub-menus available only after the user selects one of the five main menu bar options.

Tip #3: Make a clearly visible call-to-action.

Think of your website as the showroom at IKEA.  IKEA’s non-traditional layout successfully leads customers from one section to another in a style that allows you to look around freely.  From the furniture displays to the multiple cash registers and right on through the food goodies, IKEA makes it abundantly clear what it wants visitors to do while in the store.  The IKEA layout is the perfect model for which to set up your website.  Guide visitors with calls to action, which could involve contacting the site administer, ordering a product or service, adding a comment or performing any other website action.  Always ensure that every call to action is easy to spot both textually and graphically from anywhere on the site.

Tip #4: Provide free and clear access to additional help options.

You never want to lose sales, visits or any online goal due to unanswered questions.  Always assume that visitors will need help on every page of your website and make it as easy as possible for them to access that help.  Just as with your calls to action, make it clear that visitors can find help via phone, e-mail, live chat, call back, user forums or knowledge databases.  You can also prioritize the various help options so that visitors can easily locate the best one available for the particular question.

Tip #5: Show consistency among other design elements.

The look and feel of your entire site is essentially a combination of its individual components.  Pay close attention to even the most minor details to ensure a level of consistency.  Start by making sure that all messaging on the website is readable.  Use appropriate colors and graphics and pay close attention to font size.  You also want to ensure that every image looks crisp and appealing.  Remember, even a minor component can form the basis for whether a visitor decides to stay on your website or migrate to a competitor.

Akesh Gupta is President of Light Speed Solutions. Light Speed Solutions offers quality web design services on time and on budget.