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1. Keep your navigation simple

Interesting typefaces and flashy designs can spell trouble for any website. If your customers can’t read the words or figure out how to navigate your pages, they’ll most likely take their business elsewhere or simply end up with a headache and no desire to ever use your site again. The same goes for the number of links in your navigation; offer up too few or too many and you’ll find yourself needlessly complicating the entire design. That’s why it’s a good rule of thumb to keep your navigation clean, simple and easy enough that even grandma could use it.

2. Consistency is key—and that goes for every page

If your brand is already established, you need to convey those elements on your site. Visually, if your customers don’t recognize you, they’ll immediately begin to feel uncomfortable and confused. Have they navigated to a phishing site by accident? Did they land on an old site with old branding? Can they trust the information if it differs from what you’re saying elsewhere? When you design your site to be vastly different than the rest of your communications efforts, you raise more questions than answers and that’s never a good thing.

3. You Can Spell Success with the Letters SEO and UE

How a user experiences your website is a very big deal. Consider when building your websiteif you’ve buried the information they are looking for or simply don’t include it, chances are you may have lost yourself a customer. The same goes for drawing new customers in. If you’re not utilizing the correct terms and phrases, you could be bowling up the wrong lane. Regardless of your industry, it’s best practice to always put your most important information at the top and work your way down to more niche offerings. The same goes for your navigation and page design—establish the relationship first and then draw them in for what they’re looking for.

4. Content is Key

When building a web presence, you must remember there are both written and visual elements involved. One cannot take a backseat to the other; they must both work in unison if you wish to optimize the overall effect of your site. That isn’t to say you should fill your pages with hundreds of paragraphs or an endless array of galleries. You simply need to find the right balance for your brand and create an experience that’s concise, memorable and free of unnecessary clutter.

5. Build Trust In / Get Trust Out

Well-maintained websites always outperform those that look as if they were built a few decades ago. That’s because, as times change, people will demand different capabilities from their websites. If your web presence looks outdated, people will associate it with your product or service and assume they, too, are outdated. You have to build trust by ensuring you deliver exactly what the audience is looking for in a manner they can immediately relate to. Long gone are the days of hideous backgrounds and spinning text. Today’s world is a gorgeous flow of e-commerce, social media, brilliant visuals, compelling stories and much, much more.

While there are a number of other characteristics that factor into the overall success of your site, we believe these are five of the most important you must consider when building an effective online presence for your brand. Here at Baunfire, we work hand-in-hand with our clients to ensure each is met on every level—and to the highest degree. Find us on DesignRush to learn more about what makes Baunfire a top web design company.