How to make an appealing website

February 13, 2024

Introduction

Creating an appealing website involves a combination of eye-catching design, robust functionality, and positive user experience. At DesignJT, we use the following checklist to help our clients create a visually appealing website:

  1. Research your target audience
  2. Create a clean and mobile friendly design
  3. Use high quality visuals
  4. Write compelling headlines and content
  5. Incorporate clear Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons
  6. Include social proof
  7. Make user-friendly forms
  8. Optimize website for fast loading speed

Research your target audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial. Always remember to design your website with their preferences, needs, and expectations in mind. By customizing both content and design, it will make your site more appealing and relevant to the people you want to reach.

Use this simple and effective customer avatar worksheet to get started!

By filling out the worksheet, it will help you in creating a user experience for your specific target audience. This increases the chances of engagement and satisfaction.

Read more: Why does my website look bad on mobile

Create a clean and mobile friendly design

Choosing a clean and professional design sets the tone for your website. Make sure your website is responsive, meaning it adjusts well to different screen sizes. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, having a mobile-friendly design is crucial.

Remember to pick colors that match your brand identity for a consistent look. Also, maintain an organized layout and utilize white space to prevent visual clutter. This ensures a positive user experience for visitors accessing your site from various devices, contributing to better engagement and accessibility.

Book a free consultation call with us to start creating your first appealing website.

Use high-quality visuals

Investing in high-quality visuals for your website, whether through professional photography or reputable stock photo sources (i.e ShutterStock) , is essential for creating a visually appealing and professional online presence. Another alternative is to use generative AI to generate high quality images.

Write compelling headlines and content

Writing compelling headlines and content accomplishes 3 things,

  1. It creates a strong first impression thats grabs attention and sparks interest.
  2. It conveys the main message or value proposition immediately.
  3. It also improves search engine visibility.

Remember to use language that is easily understandable to your target audience. Also, break up the content into sections with clear headings and subheadings. This improves the overall organization, making it easier for readers to scan and find relevant information. Lastly, choose a readable font like Montserrat with font sizes no smaller than 12px for mobile and 16px for desktop.

Read more: Website design onboarding checklist

Incorporate clear Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons

Use attention-grabbing CTA buttons that encourage user interaction by doing the following,

  1. Place key CTAs at the top of your page and in your hero section.
  2. Use contrasting colors that complement the overall color scheme of the webpage.
  3. Use strong, action-oriented verbs in your CTA copy like "Get," "Start," "Try," or "Join".
If you would like a free redesign of your existing homepage to look like this, book a call now.

Include social proof

Incorporate social proof elements such as testimonials, reviews, or client logos if you have them. Place them in your homepage, product pages or checkout pages. This establishes trust and credibility for potential customers.

Make user-friendly forms

If your website includes forms, make them user-friendly. You can do this by

  1. Limiting the number of fields to collect only essential information.
  2. Clearly labelling each form field with descriptive and concise labels.
  3. Using color coding or error messages to highlight problematic areas.
  4. Ensuring buttons are appropriately sized for touch interactions on mobile.
  5. Displaying a clear confirmation message after form submission.

This increases the chances of users filling up the entire form. And allows you to collect valuable information such as their emails or preferences for future sales.

Optimize website for fast loading speed

Lastly, optimize your website for fast loading times. You can do this by

  1. Compressing large images by using free tools like Tinypng or Optimizilla.
  2. Caching your page by using free plugins like WP Optimize for wordpress sites.
  3. Using asynchronous and defer loading for your CSS and JavaScript file.

Utilizing the above methods will ensure that your website loads fast and users have a smooth user experience.

Conclusion

I hope this article has answered your question of, "How to make an appealing website". By combining these elements, you can create a visually appealing website that not only attracts visitors but also provides a positive and memorable user experience. Regularly review and update your website to stay relevant and meet the evolving expectations of your audience. Happy designing!

Cheers, Joshua

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