Nowadays, no kind of business can do without its own website. The fact that your company exists online, helps it to get promoted and to increase its sales. Therefore, a web design of your corporate site is rather important.
Different kinds of business have different requirements as for their websites. However, there are still several common things that every corporate page needs when it comes to its design. Especially when we talk about small businesses.
Why do we distinguish small business from others?
According to the recent researches, 97% of all businesses are classified as small. Such kinds of businesses are not only the most widespread ones but also on demand. They differ radically from large conglomerates, starting with the number of employees and ending with the budget that can be spent on design and marketing. That is why the requirements to the website design vary as well. If you want to design a perfect website for your small business that can bring a substantial profit, you need to stick to 5 ground rules for the home page design.
Why start with a homepage?
A homepage design is probably the most important part of your website. Your current users visit it first and foremost and already know its functionality. Your potential users can evaluate their risks and the chances whether to start working with you, just browsing on your small business homepage. It contains the main information about the products or services you provide along with the most crucial part that brings benefits afterward: call to action buttons.
Therefore, let us give you 5 guidelines that will help you to design an excellent small business homepage.
1. Make the homepage design consistent
The first rule of any homepage development is to make its design consistent. The consistency, in this case, means making the homepage follow the same style as your other landing pages, sharing colors, fonts, and even supporting elements. People often forget about the fact that their landing pages should be united in one single idea. There should be at least one zest that appears on every webpage, starting with a homepage. This zest can get different implementations: a special scrolling, an icons set, or an animated logo design. Whatever you choose, make sure you use it everywhere.
Due to staying consistent, your website receives new impressions and becomes integral in your clients’ eyes.
2. Simplify your webpage design
Small business should be all about making things simpler than they used to be. Though not everyone understands this and even fewer people follow this advice, it is crucial for a successful homepage design. Don’t add too many details to the webpage you create because they will distract your audience from the only element you (as an owner) should be interested in: a call to action button. Stop oversaturating your homepage with bright colors and fonts that can be hardly read. Remember the truth that always works in the XXI century: the simpler you go, the better your final result will be.
The simplicity of your small business homepage design has one more advantage: it brings people closer to your business and helps them to understand it better.
3. Tell about your product or service
The showcase that illustrates your product or service is a significant part of your marketing strategy. What is more, it should be an important element of your homepage design. You might want to use some explanatory videos or photos that show the goods you are offering. These descriptive materials need to be placed on your homepage in order for people get acquainted with the products and services you provide. The quality of the visuals you provide is directly connected with the way your brand gets perceived.
The aim of your homepage design is to sell your products or services to people who could get interested in them. Therefore, make sure your product can be seen from the best side.
For example, the German retail company Eska offers its clients to take a look at their products using a simple function of scrolling. People scroll the homepage to the footer and find out more details about the product the company represents. Which brings us straight to the next point.
4. Make your homepage inventive
As a rule, homepage designs for small businesses don’t have a generous budget. However, even with a limited one, you can achieve success. Just make sure the homepage design you are creating is inventive and highly engaging. This can be reached through various ways. The easiest one is scrolling. Though it might seem odd and it is definitely not the first thing that comes to your mind, scrolling is a great approach to making users interested in your homepage. There are so many ways a scrolling can be used in a webpage design. Up and down doesn’t seem to be a right option anymore. Different homepages offer users to scroll them from right to left and from left to right, diagonally, in circles etc. Just use your imagination and don’t forget about making your page user-friendly.
5. Responsive homepage design
Last but not least is the way your homepage design gets reflected on different devices. Though this seems to be a common truth, people often forget about it or think that “it’s good enoughâ€. However, it is not. More than 50% of people visit your website using their phones and tabs. Do you want these people to see your products and services at their best? Or at their worst? Think about it. The answer is crystal clear. Ethan Marcotte came up with an issue of the responsive web design for a reason. This should never be left without your attention.
Bottom line
There are so many examples of successful websites of large conglomerates but not so many famous websites that belong to small businesses. Why? Chasing after great profits, people sometimes forget about the way people see their brand. As a rule, it is seen through the homepage design. So make sure yours is great and far better than the one your competitors have!
