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Web Design & Development

5 Key Elements of Efficient Website Design
October 7, 2021

What is brand integrity? How do I implement SEO-best practices? Are people even clicking on my website? These are some of the questions you may be asking yourself as you try and find a starting point for getting your website up and running.

Well, here’s some good news for you: this is your starting point.

Every website guru knows at least two key points to remember at the heart of every efficient website design.

  1. Creating a website with easy-to-navigate features.
  2. Creating desirable products or service descriptions to entice customers.

That’s it; you’ve accomplished everything you need for an efficient website design. There’s nothing else to it.

….well unfortunately, there is more to creating an efficient website design.

But luckily for you, we’re here to break down the top-key points to improve, or help with, your website efficiency.

There are five ways to go about creating an efficient website design. Remember that no matter if you’ve had multiple websites or this is your first one, your eye to see efficient website design will improve over time. But, for now, let’s keep to the basics. After all, you cannot become a master of website design efficiency without starting from the beginning.

From the most important to the most critical point of the process, here are five things everyone needs for efficient website design:

1. Having a Game Plan (Strategy):

How does this help my website? You might be asking yourself this right now.

Well, having even a basic game plan will make you stand out from your competition when deciding how to create an efficient website design. Ideally, you should already have a solid idea of what services or products you would like to offer potential customers. If you have this checked off, then you’re one step closer to forming a winning strategy that will set you up for success throughout your business’s life cycle.

Here are a couple of critical points to keep in mind when trying to figure out how to maximize your website’s efficiency:

  • Do you need an online store, or do you primarily offer services only?
  • Would you like to incorporate a ton of photography into your website, or does your business primarily need written content?
  • Is consideration for social media presence and imagery more critical than descriptions of products or services?

By weighing the different options at your disposal, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to start working out the specific details of your business’s website needs to create a more efficient appearance.

2. Remembering Your Audience (Customer Experience):

How does remembering your audience make for an efficient website design? Well – it doesn’t. At least, not directly.

But indirectly, placing the customer experience at the forefront of whatever endeavor you’re trying to achieve is a good exercise in staying focused on the goal at hand. In addition, it will increase your creativity when deciding what a customer (not you) would like to see on your website. In turn, it can help simplify your website design so it remains efficient in the process (eliminating any unnecessary”flashy” or “cool” features along the way).

People might think this is synonymous with common sense. But, unfortunately, many small and large businesses sometimes lose sight of this most pinnacle truth of operating a website for their business.

The good news is, you don’t have to make that same mistake. Here are some ways you can keep the focus on your customers rather than yourself:

  • Place yourself in the “customer’s seat.” Imagine the experience a customer would receive from your online website and how they may interact with essential features or read product/service descriptions.
  • Try out different features on the beta version of your website to see what aligns with the type of customer behavior you would like to see on your business’s website.
  • Seek out people online who can be “testers” of your website (it doesn’t matter if in beta or published if you’ve already started your website). Having testers play around with your website can encourage any necessary changes you may need to implement.

Also, simple things like having a note on your desk to remind you whom you are doing this for will help keep your mindset, future activity, and tasks aligned with providing exceptional products or services for your customers.

Bonus: For influencers or anyone who generally has an online presence already, fusing your personality style with efficient website design could be a formula for a winning website that generates real passive income for you. Your customers want to see a touch of your tone infused into the product (or service) you provide. So give the people what they want, and do it with complete confidence. You can achieve anything you put your mind to, so you might as well aim for the stars!

3. Having a User-Friendly Interface (Website Design Efficiency):

Time and time again, many business owners (or even just your average everyday Joe and Jane) think that having a “user-friendly” interface requires top-tier technology to achieve this as a reality. In essence, getting a user-friendly interface is as easy as tying shoes. All you need is to keep a couple of points at the forefront of your efficient website design goals. Here is a specific list of a few attributes to keep in mind for a user-friendly interface on your website:

  1. Having a website that is easy to update.
  2. Consider using a GUI that is easy to navigate.
  3. A software that can be easy to troubleshoot.

You should be fine if you don’t have a unique or particular way to operate your website. Any web developer can help you create your vision. There are even websites wholly dedicated to helping you start your website journey (think Shopify, Prestashop, WordPress, Medium, Blogger, Wix, and so on).

With a different view of the above list, here is a better way of simplifying those statements into real-world results:

  1. Utility
  2. Relevancy
  3. Value

For utility, if you’re asking yourself: “What does this feature do for my website?” Then chances are likely pretty high that you can do without that one “cool” feature.

For relevancy, ask yourself if you can find an easier way of getting potential customers to do what you want them to do on your website. For example, you can achieve better results if you create an “F-Shaped Pattern” on your website. In essence, this means building a reading pattern that aligns with most website visitors.

Finally, for value, you want to make it so that your efficient website design speaks for itself. In addition, the less hassle it is for the customer, the better the chances they’ll purchase a product or service off of your website.

If you are willing to take some time out of your day to create a website – or pay a skilled web developer to get your website working – you’ll potentially achieve some spectacular results. You got this!

4. Analytics (Website Audit):

This one takes the cake for being the pinnacle of making an efficient website design work for you.

Suppose for a moment you don’t invest in having a marketing specialist, an SEO specialist, or even check your website’s analytics yourself. How do you think your website will do in the long term? To save you the heartache and headache, you’ll quickly find your website dropping off the face of the Earth.

If you never check your website’s performance metrics, you’ll never know if your efficient website design is optimized to be the best version of itself! That’s why spending a little cash (or spending a little of your own time), researching SEO best practices, or finding methods of attracting more potential customers to your website can go a long way to succeeding in your endeavors.

But, more importantly, if you, or your marketing specialist, review analytics for underperforming products or services – you’re one step closer to finding a solution to putting a replacement for said product or service! All you need to do is brainstorm, test out, and review future results on any new products or services.

Playing the long-term game can help you achieve your future goals for your website in a sustainable manner. If there’s anything we’d like for you to take away from this section – it’s this: do not forgo reviewing your analytics from time to time. The more frequently you (or someone else) can do this, the better positioned your efficient website design will attract and potentially even retain ideal customers.

5. Brand Integrity:

How does this tie in with creating an efficient web design for your business needs? Brand integrity sounds like a fancy phrase, but in reality, it’s simple.

To keep both your new (and hopefully returning) customers happy, you should focus on some (or all) of the following bullet points:

  • Community
  • Authenticity
  • Purpose
  • Image

Community is the act of fostering and encouraging your customers to interact with your brand. Allowing a sense of community to grow can be as simple as hosting some special promotional giveaways from time to time. After all, who doesn’t like to feel like they’ve won something unique or exclusive?

Authenticity, above all else, is king. So don’t underestimate the power of having a unique or bold tone to your website. Owning your business’s voice can only help your efficient website design stand out even more. In addition, potential customers will respect your efforts of brand integrity.

Purpose can make or break an efficient website design. Why? Well, if something looks shiny or lovely but is shallow inside, nobody in the real world would want that. So having purpose infused into your website’s design will only further support the efficiency you’re striving for in the end.

Image is a problematic segment of business to tack down. Moreover, with ever-changing customer tastes and values changing, you can struggle to find the right balance for your business’s image through your website. On the other hand, suppose you can understand the importance of authenticity (as discussed above). In that case, you may have an easier time adjusting the brand’s image to match your modern audience with an authentic voice to pave the way.

So what did you gather in the end? We here at Walker Media Agency sincerely hope you pulled a lot of golden nuggets out of this article. Website design efficiency may seem like a daunting task, but when you break it down task-by-task, it becomes much easier to tackle and own in the end!
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