For businesses looking for websites there are a number of criteria that must be met. Of course the website needs to be fit for purpose and it needs to actually be successful in converting visitors into buyers/clients. Of course it also needs to work on a variety of devices and not inadvertently be ruling out any large portion of the market by failing to load on specific devices. But before all of this it also needs to quite simply look and feel professional so that visitors feel like they’re on a website that’s owned by a serious and capable business and not one that’s a botch job made by some kids.
This is why many people will use web design services in order to create their websites and why we often look at getting outside help also on creating the images etc. But what precisely is it that sets a good website apart from one that looks unprofessional? Here we will look at a few important areas.
Images
The images are something that often make a website look either very professional or very unprofessional. While there are various factors at play here, one of the most basic and important points is that your images should be high definition and they should look crisp and large. If they look fuzzy it will make your site seem outdated or just amateurish.
At the same time the nature of the images affects how professional your site looks, and essentially it’s crucial to make sure that your images look specially made for your site, and that they involve professional looking people.
Colours
Certain colour schemes feel professional, others do not. As a general rule more serious and muted colours are the ones that will attract a business audience and this means using navy blues, blacks and whites rather than pinks and baby blues. Look at the documents you use in your office and think about how you are going to mimic that.
Layout
It’s hard to put your finger on what it is about the layout itself that makes a site professional or otherwise, but there certainly is some correlation between the precise positioning of items and how professional the design appears. Make sure you don’t have areas of your site that look too empty, and at the same time make sure that it doesn’t look crowded or over complicated. Don’ design a page yourself if it means it’s just going to be a block of text.
Code
The coding of a website betrays how tech savvy the team behind it were. For instance, do visited links look purple still? Or are there flashy features like flash animations and drop down menus? Too much of the latter can be distracting, but in the right quantities it can show off that a professional team like LinkHelpers International Inc with real coding knowledge was behind the site which makes the site seem a lot more impressive as a result.
Font
And finally the font needs to be correct, so make sure that you choose a good one that’s easy to read but that also has an air of professionalism about it.