An effective website is more than the hub of your online marketing and lead generation efforts. It shares common goals with your competitors’ websites to build trust, add value, and convert visitors.
So, what makes yours unique?
You are establishing an audience and building a community that will grow your business and build a brand that becomes the powerhouse dreams are made of — and maintains that status going forward.
And just like your personal style reflects your attitude, confidence, and posture, your website does the same for your organization.
This is true whether or not there is intention behind the story being told.
While clear content organization, creative writing, and custom design all combine to create an excellent user experience, your website should tell your story in an interesting and determined way to differentiate your organization from your competitors with a customized online journey.
Then the question becomes, is your brand’s voice clearly accessible through each element on your website, effectively creating an emotional connection with your audience?
The Importance of Developing An Emotional Connection With Your Target Audience
The text on your web pages should become more than just words when they describe your brand.
They should tell a compelling story, embodying a specific personality that fastens your brand securely into the hearts and minds of your audience.
This is important because your website’s visitors are more likely to retain the information presented on your pages and respond to your call to action when they are emotionally connected.
Each element, including the typeface you use and the content’s tone and delivery, reflects exactly who your organization is — and what you stand for — which ultimately leads to a personal connection that converts visitors to clients, members, and advocates.
When you dedicate a significant amount of time to what your website should say, it is equally important to understand what not to say. After all, brevity is the soul of wit. Which is to say, your website should not overwhelm the users but dazzle them instead.
Consistent messaging evokes brand dependability, which allows your organization to engage prospects quickly and effectively. Dedicating a succinct summation of your value and expertise allows you to develop a relationship with your visitors to create the best possible user experience.
Select Your Design Elements Wisely, So They Represent An Accessible Digital Experience
Images, illustrations, infographics, and overall design elements allow your website’s visitors to see the best of what you have to offer at a glance.
And that should be true for all visitors.
Keep in mind how important it is for your digital experience to be accessible, so your unique elements and quality images can be reviewed by those who may not have the ability to use each of their senses as clearly as others.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 20% of our population has some form of disability. Vision, hearing, voice, cognitive, and mobility impairments, to name just a few, require websites to be inclusive, accessible, and operable from concept and design to development and testing.
Upon the website’s launch, each design element should speak volumes about your brand equity with the scan of an eye, a screen reader, and audible tools that provide the best user experience available for all.
Web Design That (In)Directly Translates To An Effective User Experience
Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say. Your body language, posture, and eye contact deliver cues to your in-person preferences. Your website should do the same in the virtual world.
Each design decision produces a psychological impact on your visitors that may be hard to quantify, yet every choice is extremely powerful.
The indirect user experience your website provides will directly influence their connection with your brand.
Consistency in your brand’s voice will create the ideal flow from a visual design standpoint, using the following elements:
Speed and Responsiveness
Navigation
Search Engine Optimization
Font Choice
Balance and Spacing
Color
Structure
Font Choice
Font choice is a direct reflection of your brand. Fonts speak in a tone and tempo all their own, so if you are marketing scientific instruments, using the Playbill Font is probably not going to make the best connection. Your font choice should be easy to read, and reflect your company’s personality — not detract from it.
In this example from Technicolor Games, the fonts feel modern, high-tech, and high quality.
Balance and Spacing
Strike a harmonious visual balance between color and white space, so the website’s layout supports your brand’s voice. A preferred design balance allows users to find what they are looking for without becoming frustrated by clutter or confusing graphics.
The goal of Happier Living is to ensure that you feel taken-care-of, relaxed, and at ease when finding a mental health professional. The balance and spacing are designed with intentionality to provide this emotional response.
Color
The psychology of color plays an important role in how your brand is perceived by visitors, and the emotional connection they associate with its display. Color increases brand recognition by 80%, which means your website’s design should be congruent with the balance of your marketing materials, so visitors know they are on the right path.
PRISM Network’s bold use of color puts a new spin on higher-education recruitment and job seeking, and immediately speaks to diversity and inclusion.
Structure
Structuring your content by relevance provides a comforting and reliable experience for users. Ensure the items of the highest importance, like headers and the overall call to action, carry the most visual weight by highlighting their existence in larger font sizes, bolder colors, or creative design elements.
Speed And Responsiveness
We live in a technologically advanced world where now or never is no longer a flippant phrase, but an actual demand. Your website is no different. Its speed and accessibility on all devices, large and small, are paramount to the user’s experience and should be monitored at every stage of the design, development, and testing phases, so you are not losing prospective engagements to lagging load times or inaccessible navigation.
Navigation
Visitors want to be led through your website with more than just ease, but a commitment to finding a solution. Compelling navigation should take your audience from the home page to the actionable method in seconds, allowing conversion to become a reality.
In this example from the Army of Women, the call to action is front and center. Additional navigation is provided for those who want to learn more before jumping in to participate.
Search Engine Optimization
Do not make it harder for prospective clients to locate your products or services. SEO plays a large part in your digital marketing success, and it should be strategically aligned with your overall branding goals.
Celebrate The True Progression of Your Brand’s Culture Through Design, Authenticity, and Community
Do not forget to celebrate what makes your company different from your competitors. Certainly, supporting materials including highlight reels, videos, testimonials, and exciting new services or solutions can set your brand apart from the masses. But, so can your brand’s commitment to the community. When someone is looking for a reason to partner with your company, share your organization’s authentic culture and create an immediate and genuine connection by establishing why you are the best choice.
If you need help telling your story in a compelling way, contact us today to learn how we partner with our clients, allowing each to create their own category by delivering genuine brand value through web design and mobile application solutions.
Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash
