For many years, having a website for your business has been viewed as a non-negotiable. But in our digital world, it’s not enough to just have a website; you also need to make sure your website guides web users along their customer journey by providing the functionality consumers expect.

Even if you don’t think you currently have a need for website design services, you might be surprised by how your own site measures up. To that end, we’re sharing our “10 commandments” that we always keep in mind when providing the website design Phoenix business owners depend on. Does your website adhere to these rules? Or are you guilty of committing a website design sin?

1. Thou Shalt Make Site Navigation Simple

You shouldn’t make web visitors work to find what they need on your site. Your website navigation needs to be clear and easy to follow. Making sure that users can easily travel around your site is crucial. Reduce the number of necessary clicks and provide more than one way to get to a given page for best results.

2. Thou Shalt Design With Responsiveness in Mind

More than ever, web users are searching on their mobile devices. To avoid alienating mobile users and potentially leaving a lot of money on the table, you need to enlist website design services with mobile responsiveness in mind. Your site should provide the same experience no matter how it’s being viewed.

3. Thou Shalt Make Your Website Speedy

A slow-loading website is akin to the angel of death. Your site’s load time plays a huge role in user experience — and if you make visitors wait too long, they’ll abandon the page within a matter of a few seconds. Not only will you lose that prospective customer, but your site’s bounce rate may also increase. Don’t let something as simple as loading speed get in your way.

4. Thou Shalt Reign In Your Color Choices

It’s easy to get carried away with the visual aspect of website design. Time and time again, businesses have sacrificed functionality for aesthetics. Visitors won’t care about how much time you put into making your website look cool if they can’t read your content. The hues you choose should choose support your branding, color psychology principles, and general usability.

5. Thou Shalt Keep Users On the Page

One of your main goals should be to keep web visitors on the page for as long as possible. The time spent on a given page can have positive impacts on your search ranking. Creating long-form content with an endless scroll can keep visitors interested and can provide you with more chances to optimize. Aim to keep visitors around once they arrive.

6. Thou Shalt Incorporate Calls to Action

CTAs are commonly found in blog content, but they’re also part of web design. Buttons or fields that prompt visitors to learn more, schedule a call, or buy a product should be featured prominently in your design. Rather than burying them at the bottom of the page, make sure these elements are obvious to all.

7. Thou Shalt Feature Contact Information Prominently

Consumers want to know a website is legitimate. This means you should display your company’s contact information in obvious places. Don’t make them work to figure out how to get in touch!

8. Thou Shalt Pick the Right CMS

Picking the right content management system (or CMS) is no easy task. Although more than 500 WordPress web designs are built every day, you might find another CMS is better suited to your needs. Discuss the features and benefits of each with your website design services team before agreeing to any specific CMS.

9. Thou Shalt Include Technical SEO

Too often, SEO becomes an afterthought. Although there are many ways to optimize, SEO should be baked right into the backend of your site. That way, you won’t have to make as many changes later on.

10. Thou Shalt Hire a Website Design Agency

Finally, it’s essential to work with reputable website design services. Building your own website can jeopardize your brand perception and lead generation, so don’t take a chance by DIYing. Work with the website design services experts to ensure your site reaches its potential.

For more information on how our team will help your site ascend to the next level, please contact us today.