In
last week's post on Simplicity in Branding, I said that I would talk about your website on another post. So in this post we will look at how you can use the power of simplicity for your website and web presence.
Your website has now become an essential part of your branding. It's usually one of the first things that your audience will come across when interacting with you. As a result, it's of paramount importance that your website is easy to use and communicate the correct information. I've broken down what you need to look at in 5 parts:
Layout
The layout of your website needs to be two things, simple and balanced. The more elements it has the more difficult it will be to use and the user will feel lost. You need to review the layout and remove parts until only the essential elements remain. Be careful since you don't want to end up with something that doesn't look good, always keep the elements balanced.
Design / Aesthetics
Whenever there is a new trend in web design, people run to implement it on their sites. It happened when gif animations and flash were introduced and it still happens when a new ajax or javascript effect is released. Always use simplicity to review your design. If something is unnecessary, think twice before putting it in. As we've mentioned before, be careful of how many colours you use (up to three is a good guide), how many fonts (up to two) and make sure the design fits within your brand's image.
Navigation
The navigation of a website is crucial. If the user can't find how to go to the next page and get more information, they will leave. This happens after a few seconds that the user lands to your website, so make sure they can see where the navigation is and that it is easy to use. Hidden menus, sub menus, and links that don't look like links are things to watch for.
Content
Your content needs to be to the point and clear. The attention span of a user on a website is usually about 5 seconds, so in those 5 seconds you need to communicate your key points. Your homepage needs to provide a summary of who you are, what you can offer and then lead the user to other pages on your website. Avoid also lengthy paragraphs, instead give a synopsis and then have a link that can give them more information.
Web Presence
I wanted to cover a few more points about your web presence, so I decided to put them under this heading. By web presence I mean other pages that are available on the internet about you (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc.). Although there is not a lot of things you can change about the design of these pages you can still make them look as part of your brand. When possible change the colours and fonts to match your brand's image. Add images that are part of your website and image to provide consistency. Finally, use similar content and terminology for consistency.
When it comes to your web presence, it's all about the experience you offer to your audience. The person that comes to your website and enjoys the time they spend on it will talk about it and bring you more traffic.
