It can be challenging to stand out when you’re designing your website, app, and other digital products. If your design doesn’t stand out, your audience won’t either. A lack of attention to detail can result in a bland site or an amateurish presentation. If you want to impress potential customers, partners, and suppliers, then you need to make sure that your site highlights the features and benefits that set it apart from the competition. The following 5 tips on how to make your internet design project stand out will be your guide to creating a successful project.
Research is key
When it comes to researching your audience, you’re in luck. There are many online resources that will help you get information about your target audience. You can search Google to see what topics are related to your industry and search Bing to see what topics are trending. You can also look at forums, message boards, and other social media to get additional information. You don’t have to go completely crazy looking for information. You can quickly and easily find out what your target customers want by looking at what they search for.
Show, don’t just tell
The images and content on your site play a crucial role in getting your audience to notice you. If people see an attractive design, but then find out what it’s actually about, and it’s not in line with what they are looking for, they may feel uninterested or even irritated. To avoid this, try using visuals that get people’s attention and illustrate what you are trying to say. Simple images like photos, graphs, and infographics can help you engage your audience and get them excited about what they are seeing. If you need images for your project, you can find free stock photos on websites like Flickr, Canva or use your own photos. One tip is to make sure any images you use are relevant to your project. You also need to be aware of copyright so don’t use images without permission. Using a stock photo service is your best bet to cover yourself from being sued for copyright infringement.
Use your audience to understand their needs
If you’re designing a site for students, you’ll want to make sure that it’s user-friendly. However, if you’re designing a site for people who work in marketing, it’s likely that your visitors will be more technical. To get information about your target audience, find out what they want. You can do this by looking at what your visitors are searching for, as well as what they click on when they land on your site. You can also get information from your audience by using a mix of opt-ins, surveys, and in-site comments. Don’t be afraid to let your visitors give you feedback—this is exactly what you want to hear. You could spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars doing a focus group, but the people that land on your website are worth their weight in gold in the feedback that you can glean from them. Don’t be afraid to ask what they like and don’t like about your website and what they are looking for specifically.
Avoid over-the-top designs
Your design should convey information and ideas clearly, but it shouldn’t scream, “Look at me! I’m great! I can do whatever I want!” Your design should be reasonable and functional—not eye-catching or distracting. To avoid looking amateurish, always make sure your images and graphic elements are optimized for the device they are being rendered on. Low-quality design elements can look unprofessional and cheap on a higher-res display.
Don’t be afraid to break the rules
Some rules of thumb for designing websites and apps are to keep it user-friendly, minimal, and clean. But sometimes, to create a site that your visitors will love, you need to break the rules. This means you have to be willing to take risks. Your design shouldn’t just be simple and clean, it can also be bold, creative, and unique. If you want to create a site that your visitors will love, then go for it! Don’t be afraid to break the rules.
Conclusion
Now that you know the ins and outs of designing a stand out site, it’s time to turn your attention to marketing. It’s important to use the right channels when it comes to marketing your project, use the right keywords, titles, and descriptions, so you can rank high on search engines. Think about your keywords and the words or phrases that would be most useful to your audience. When you do a search, look at the related searches to see opportunities to rank for those keywords related to your business. Keep these tips and the other points in mind and your design will be much easier to rank for and stand out from the crowd. Best of luck in your internet design project and if you need any help, please reach out via text, phone or email. We’re here as a resource to get your business noticed online.
Owner of takecareofmysite.com, Patti Muldoon helps small business succeed online with digital marketing strategies, including website design, SEO, email marketing and social media.
