Posts

What is User Experience in Web Design?

Your business website is a digital portfolio that tells your target audience more about your company and your products/services while persuading them to take action. However, to achieve this, you need to provide customers with the best user experience so that they can do repeat business with you and recommend you to friends and family.

But, what exactly is user experience?

User experience can be defined as any interaction a user makes with a certain business and its products/services. It includes everything from how a user feels to what they see and hear and their emotional reactions.

What is user experience in web design?

In web design, user experience focuses on practices that make a website easy to use and appealing to consumers. A good user experience in web design means that:

• Your customer visited your site
• They scrolled through the different web pages
• They understood what your site is all about and what you sell
• They got what they wanted and took action, e.g., contacted you or made a purchase

Many factors influence a user’s experience with your website, but the main ones include:

• Usability: Is your site easy to use and navigate?
• Value: Does your site’s content/service/product make the time spent on it worthwhile?
• Credible: Does your brand build customer trust, belief and loyalty?
• Usefulness: Does your site satisfy visitor needs and requirements?
• Desirable: Does your website evoke or create an emotional reaction with the end-user?
• Accessible: How easily accessible is your website?

Achieving all these aspects might seem challenging, but it’s not impossible. Working with an experienced web developer or designer will help you improve your website, which improves user experience.

Importance of improving your website’s user experience

User experience is vital in web design as it significantly affects conversion rates. For example, if visitors find your website difficult to use and navigate, they’ll log off within a few minutes and find another site to purchase from.

Similarly, if your website looks outdated and functions poorly, visitors are less likely to purchase from it. Ultimately, if you want to improve your conversion rates, ensure you’re offering the best user experience.

Get in touch with us today for affordable, and adaptable web design services.

What is the Golden Ratio in Web Design?

While not everyone may have heard of the golden ratio, it’s actually a mathematical theory that dates back over 4,000 years. Invented by the Ancient Greeks, the golden ratio is all about achieving aesthetic harmony and balance. So, how does it work with regards to web design?

Golden ratio explained

The golden ratio is a theory that uses maths to determine how different elements can be placed together to create a harmonious look and feel. It’s by no means a new concept and has been used in the construction of many famous buildings, in nature and music, as well as by renowned artists such as Salvador Dali and Leonardo Da Vinci.

The theory states that the different sized elements used to create something should equal 1:1.618. This is often represented by spiral shapes and goes by the formula A/B = (A+B)/A = 1.618. So, if length A is equal to 100 px, then length B would be 161.80 px.

You first need to work out the length of the smallest element and then multiply this by 1.618 to achieve the ideal length of the bigger element. This could relate to images on a page, artwork, photography, as well as all other areas of design.

Golden ratio in web design

One of the major characteristics of effective design is a clear user interface. All the elements of the website need to be well-balanced and placed so that users can easily understand the information on the screen and interact without any effort.

A website design company will make use of the principles of the golden ratio theory to understand how different design elements are best placed on a screen to enhance the user experience. This will include considering small elements such as icons, buttons, and logos to larger elements like images and text.

By using the golden ratio theory, a web developer can ensure that all the elements are in proportion to each other, are harmoniously balanced, organised, and easy to read, without looking out of place.

These designs just look right. Images, blocks of text, sidebars, buttons, etc can be placed in golden rectangles that form a “perfect” design. This makes visitors feel comfortable viewing the website because it, sub-consciously, reminds them of familiar works of art and, particularly, nature.

If you’re looking for a web design company that builds aesthetically pleasing results, contact us today.

Is Web Development Part of Digital Marketing?

By now, most business owners know what digital marketing is in general. For those who are unsure, digital marketing is marketing your company online via digital channels. Although it sounds simple to grasp, the individual parts which make up online marketing can sometimes be less clear.

In this blog, we’ll be taking a look at whether web development can be classed as part of marketing via digital channels.

Can web development be included in digital marketing?

The simple answer is that web development is part of digital marketing. This is because any website you develop exists online in a digital format and has a direct impact on how your business is perceived. Even if you do not use the site you develop in marketing campaigns per se, it can still be the first place people interact with you online and can help you to attract new customers.

In addition, a website that has been expertly built can be a valuable marketing tool for showing consumers you are a professional company. When people use your site and see you have invested resources into its core functionality, they will view you in a more positive light.

Web development takes the basic design of a site and brings it to life for consumers with scripts, dynamic content and coding.

Web development is key for SEO

It is not just the impact on brand image and showcasing your business online which makes web development essential for digital marketing. The functionality of your website also has an impact on SEO.

Search engines will take into account how well your website functions, how easy it is to navigate and how long it takes for pages to load. By getting the development of your website right, you can improve your SEO and move your website up to the top of search engine results pages.

At Real Internet, we know how important expertly built and developed websites are for digital marketing. Based in Wotton-Under-Edge, our affordable web development services help clients get the functioning, agile websites they need.

Get in touch today for more details.

 

What is a Sitemap in Web Design?

A sitemap is one of the most crucial aspects associated with developing and designing a website, but what is it exactly and why is it so essential to creating an effective, user-friendly site?

Sitemaps explained

A sitemap is akin to a blueprint or road map for a website. It’s a visual representation created by a web developer to detail the layout of a website and its contents before it gets produced.

Usually drawn on a large piece of paper, a sitemap consists of boxes to represent each web page, set out in a hierarchy, with the most important at the top. The boxes for each page will detail what content will be included, with arrows to show how each page connects to each other.

A web design company will also list on the sitemap what the goals and functions of the website will be, so close collaboration between the website management company and the client is key to creating a successful sitemap, and, therefore, an effective website.

Easier collaboration

Since there are often lots of parties involved with creating a website, including the client, developer, designer, web hosting company and, possibly, an account manager, having a sitemap that everyone agrees on before the website is created ensures it can be developed smoothly and seamlessly, with fewer problems along the way.

By creating a website’s layout on paper before it gets put together for real, the website design company can make sure each part of the site will flow together and function effectively so that no costly or time-consuming changes would need to be made once the site is in the actual design and development stages

Improved user-experience

A sitemap also provides benefits for anyone visiting a website, as it allows a user to see how the pages are organised in a hierarchical structure, to enable easy navigation and an improved user experience. Since the sitemap includes details of what will be included on the website, it also ensures there’s no room for any duplicate or superfluous content. This promotes a high-quality website that will be favoured by search engines.

Indeed, search engines and web crawlers look at sitemaps when determining the ranking of a site, so it’s a good move to have an effective sitemap as part of your SEO strategies.

If you’re looking for effective web design services in the South West UK, contact us at Real Internet today.

How to Achieve Responsive Web Design

One of the biggest directions in digital marketing and website management is responsive web design. This is something that all brands and business owners need to be aware of, especially if they are hoping to attract online visitors, build engagement, and win those all-important conversions.

But what, exactly, is responsive web design?

Essentially, responsive web design is a tech-led, intuitive way of designing websites so that they integrate and work seamlessly with a host of other online technologies, across a range of different digital devices and interfaces. Why does that matter? Because your customers expect to have exciting, seamless, and fast online experiences that allow them to do what they want to do.

Remember too, that today’s online customers have varied needs and different preferences in the way that they interact with brands and spend money online. Many will go online via smartphones. Younger buyers, in particular, will expect to see products and services advertised on social media and then click to buy in just a couple of swipes. Others will want to use web chats to make bookings, find information rapidly, or switch between branded platforms to engage with a range of content.

Designing with different users in mind

Most digital devices are now touch screen enabled, so websites now need to be designed with mouse and touch screen users in mind. Responsive design means thinking about these aspects and adjusting the design accordingly. For example, drop-down menus are fine for mouse users but less so for touch screen users, hence the rise of single-page scrolling sites.

The rise of the fluid grid

Most web designers are now using fluid grids to achieve responsive design. These fluid grids intelligently scale website components for better sizing, which adjusts to every user’s screen. This prevents users from needing to zoom in and out. Users must be able to enjoy the same great experience on your website, whether they access it via a smartphone or desktop PC.

Achieving responsive web design

For better digital marketing, most businesses are now outsourcing their website design to a professional website design company that can deliver a responsively designed website that is future-proofed to integrate with all emerging technologies and to engage customers. Contact Real Internet to find out more about our excellent web design services that are designed to help businesses of all sizes enjoy better results from their digital assets. We provide affordable and adaptable websites, and cover the whole of the South West.

How Does Web Design Work?

Web design is what creates the overall look and feel of a website. It involves planning and building the elements of a website, from its structure and layout to its colours, fonts, and graphics. Web design is not to be confused with web development, which is the coding that makes a website work. Here are the four stages of the web design process, from beginning to launch.

Web Design Project Discovery

Project discovery starts with defining the project. You will need to work with business analysts and researchers to help you identify existing problems in your industry, define your product’s unique selling points, and learn more about your customer segments. You’ll also need to conduct competitor analysis to help you to get a general idea of what has been done in the past to see what design improvements you can offer.

Architecture and Layout

Website architecture begins with code. These code templates determine how elements such as graphics, ads, and text will be represented. Simpler code results in fast page load speeds, less maintenance, and lower bandwidth and labour costs. Website architecture also encapsulates the functionality shown through templates like search, commenting, RSS, etc.

User Interface Design

User interface design is all about creating the visual components of a website. Besides the visual appeal, UI design helps establish your brand identity, draws visitors’ attention and keeps them engaged with your website. During this stage, your web designer defines the visual direction and layout of your site. After that, they decide on a preliminary product structure and conduct a series of interviews to establish a visual language that your business needs. Based on this information, your web designer should be able to create two or three mockups for you to choose from.

Launching, Analyzing, and Revising

This is the last stage of the web design process. The website is ready to go live at this stage, and all internal reviews have been completed. After a successful launch, a comprehensive review will be required to prove that the design is functioning as expected.

If you’re looking for web design services in Gloucestershire, get in touch with us today for more information.

How to Write Content for Digital Marketing

Much of your success in digital marketing will rely on a steady stream of web page updates, blogs, news items and social media posts; fresh, dynamic content that informs, educates, persuades and influences.

Here are a few tips on content to get you started. These form the basis of an effective content marketing strategy.

How to write content for digital marketing

1. Know your audience

Good content talks directly to your ideal customer. You need to drill down on your target audiences and their buying behaviours and preferences. What do they want to hear?

2. Reinforce your brand

Page visitors and social media browsers make their minds up about you in a split second. They won’t linger to read lots of flowery text or wade through endless scrolling images, so make your brand statements loud, clear and compelling. Tell them why they should buy from you, in a way they can appreciate instantly.

3. Look at your competitors

Evaluating your own content strategy against your main competitors should be a constant process. What are they saying and what imagery are they showing?

4. SEO matters!

Your content is the central pillar of Search Engine Optimisation. Keep track of what keywords and questions your customers use when searching for your products or services. Make sure to work those naturally into your copy, as ‘keyword stuffing’ detracts from your SEO and your credibility.

5. User experience (UX)

Carefully consider the best ways to improve the UX on your mobile responsive website and within your social media. For example, your text should be succinct and sum up your products and services in a clear way. Your images should be strong.

For eCommerce websites, pay particular attention to content and UX on payment pages. Make the process easy and reassuringly safe to use.

6. CTAs

Lastly, make your calls to action prominent and persuasive to encourage your customers to get in touch with you or make a purchase.

If you’re looking for web design services you can rely on, give us a call

How Long Does It Take to Design a Website?

Creating a website from scratch can take days, weeks, or even months. With so many variables in the website development process, the time required varies from one project to another. While we cannot give you a definite answer of how long website creation takes, we will be sharing the four steps of website creation and will give you a rough estimate of how long it takes to design a website.

Planning process to design a website

Without proper planning, you will lose sight of your goals and end up creating a website that isn’t suitable for your business. Therefore, the first thing you should do when developing your website is gauge your needs and create a plan. Communicate your primary goals with your website developer and let them know the pages and functionality you want your site to have. The planning process for a standard website takes about one to two weeks.

Design process

Once you have a plan of action in place, it’s now time to start designing your website. At this stage, your web designer should give a mock-up of how your website will appear based on your requirements. If there are any changes that you want to be made, communicate them early before development begins. The design process can take anywhere between one to three weeks.

The development phase

In this next stage, your website developer takes all the information you’ve given them and turns it into a fully functional website. Your web designer should always keep you in the loop of the progress being made because you may wish to change a key part of your website once you see it in action. As expected, this stage takes longer to complete because changes take longer to make. In most cases, it takes at least one month to fully develop a standard website.

Final review

Before any website is officially finished, it must go through one final round of revisions. This is to ensure that it looks and works as you anticipated. If there are no major changes required, then this process should take no more than two weeks.

At Real Internet, we cover the entire web design process from initial design to build. If you are looking for a reliable website design company based in Gloucestershire, contact us today to speak to our team of experts.

 

How To Do Market Research For Digital Marketing

Market research is used to generate a greater understanding of the existing market, including what your potential customers and clients are looking for. By collecting this research, you can refine and adjust your business to suit demand and boost success. Once you have determined your targeted demographic, you can also more easily set out a marketing strategy and create appropriate content or products that will reach your target audience. So, how should you conduct market research?

1. Take inspiration from leading experts

You can learn from industry leaders when conducting your market research. Researching global leaders or successful businesses in your field will be hugely advantageous to gaining inspiration for how to boost your own business. Explore what steps these businesses took when they were in their early stages, note what worked for them and what didn’t, and apply this to your own business. Many larger companies and corporations have published their market research, and this may be valuable for those trying to reach their desired audiences.

2. Be aware of your competition

Having an awareness of your competitors is important for ensuring your own business success. Sharing a target audience with other companies and businesses can be daunting, but an advantage to take from this is that you can judge your competitor’s reach to your targeted audience and learn from their mistakes and their successes. You can research the best strategies to take to maximise the awareness and presence of your business for your audience.

3. Maximise the potential of social media

Social media is such a dominant aspect of everyone’s everyday lives, which is why it should be utilised to the full to benefit your growing business. Ad campaigns across social media are one of the most successful ways to increase the awareness and presence of your business or brand. If you set up a Facebook business page, you can monitor the activity of your audience and use this to ensure you are reaching the right people with your product or service.

If you would like more information about how to conduct market research for digital marketing, contact our professionals at Real Internet for more information. Based in the South West of the UK, Real Internet specialises in website design to boost businesses.