Every business’s goal is to have a website that makes a profound impression on visitors, prospects, and current customers. The first time many consumers encounter a company is often online–and through its website, no less–so it’s essential to make the most of this opportunity.
Now, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably built or are getting ready to make your business’s website with WordPress. Perceiving as it is the most powerful content management system in the world, that’s an intelligent resolution.
But you’re also here because you’re curious if there’s a winning formula for designing a WordPress website. In terms of design, you need to know the following key elements:
- Branding
Before entering WordPress, your company’s labeling should be evaluated. Branding gives all your connections and marketing channels a cohesive and consistent look and bolsters your company’s perceived competency.
Within WordPress, you need to have the following components ready to go:
- Logo: It’s on you to decide what your logo would look like, but to tell you, there is one main area where it needs to be seen on your website: that is, in the top-left corner side.
- Color palette: The colors you select for your label should exist in the logo and across your website. Remember to use complementary ones highlighting vital elements on your website just because you want to avert profusing amounts of primary colors.
- Typography: With visitors accessing the web from various devices, typography plays a vital role in the readability, scannability, and accessibility of any company’s website. Select your fonts wisely.
- Navigation
It might seem like such a simple but poorly constructed, labeled, or placed navigation can harm one’s WordPress site. Many visitors are quick to judge. Many of them may bounce off your site if they are still looking for the menu within a few seconds. The same goes for overwhelming navigation; it requires many layers or too much scrolling (especially on mobile devices).
Make it intuitive and keep it simple.
- Responsive Layout
There’s no room for excuse with this; every website must be ultimate- responsive. To strengthen this, Google now uses a mobile-first indexing approach to award websites that uplift the mobile experience for visitors.
Thankfully, WordPress has several tools that make this easy to achieve. Page creators like Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and, soon, Gutenberg design developing websites in a modern and mobile-friendly style.
- First-class Homepage
The website’s main or home page should be an impressive and unique representation of your label. And there’s no better place to establish that impression than with the main hero banner that sits above the fold on your home page website.
This clearly-designed banner (which often includes image and video backdrops) will inform visitors quickly about two things:
- Who you are
- What will they get from being there
It’ll look pretty darn cool, too.
- Media
There are several arguments why you should include visual content such as images and videos on your website. There’s the comprehension piece: visual content is processed almost 600,000 times more quickly than text-only subject matter.
There’s also the visibility aspect: Visual content attracts 94% more views than content without media. Images and videos play a vital role in web design. We’re living in a period where people don’t have much patience, and visual content is a relatively quick way to communicate your message without forcing visitors to read much.
- CTA
The clickable call-to-action (CTA) button is a significant design element, and it can appear anywhere on your website. It can be used for navigational purposes and to move visitors to conversion.
Just be wise about how you plan to design it (i.e., big, bold, and easy to click) and where exactly you place the button. Studies show that such buttons are best placed at spots where visitors are primed to make a move.
- Contact Us Form
Every website should have at least one of these, as “contact us” forms offer quick and convenient means for visitors to contact you. Just be conscious of how many steps you ask them to make. Time is always of the essence.
- Pop-ups
These have become relatively popular in recent years. However, you have to be extra careful with pop-ups on mobile devices as Google castigates websites that employ what it considers to be intrusive pop-up elements.
Try adapting more subtle pop-up elements like slide-ins and sticky banners to stay on Google’s (and your visitors’) safe side.
- Blog
We don’t say everyone has to write a blog, but it’s a great idea to have one, even if it’s to publish updates about your business or company. When you write a blog, you’re helping your website do several things:
- Add new content daily, which Google happens to love.
- Share valuable content visitors want as you become their benchmark for timely and helpful details.
- Offer your business share-worthy content for other existing platforms (like social media and newsletters).
- WordPress automatically comes with a blogging feature, which is very easy to use.
- Social Media Links
Your ultimate goal is to retain visitors to the site until they convert. However, if they wish to leave, social media icons will allow them to connect and stay in touch with your business.
Social media icons also allow visitors to serve as brand preachers for you, publicizing your products and content with others.
Conclusion
You’ll need to use these elements in your WordPress design to give your website a strong start. Not only will they give your website a professional and more polished look, but they will help your site perform better in search and increase conversions with those who enter it.
