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First impressions do matter. And they’re made in the blink of an eye.
It takes just 0.1 seconds to form a first impression about a person and it takes 0.05 seconds to evaluate whether a website is appealing or not.
These are some numbers to keep in focus when your goal is to find the best website redesigner in CA, USA.
How Is Website Design Evaluated By Viewers?
Design judgments differ from intellectual, scientific, professional, ethical and systemic judgments, since there is an intent to reach certain ends.
The main difference between making design judgments and making other types of judgments is that there is a strong emotional factor involved. The viewer has to feel something emotionally when they make a design judgment. Otherwise, there is no feeling of connection with the object.
Design judgments are made in about 17 milliseconds, according to a study conducted by Google. Viewers were attracted to websites that had lower visual complexity and attached higher value to websites that had a prototype design format (more representative of their category). Simple, familiar designs catch the eye and give a feeling of comfort and camaraderie.
The human eye takes approximately 3 seconds to focus on key areas of a web page. If the first impression is favorable, the viewer tends to stay longer on the page and 94% of first impressions are related to design.
The main areas of focus are:
- Logo
- Navigation menu
- Search box
- Main image on the home page
- Written content
- Bottom area of page
Impact of Good Website Design on Your Business
Visuals and navigation have the biggest impact. If the viewer didn’t find the design attractive, they rarely moved beyond the home page.
Good design allows people to have a feeling of trust and to explore further, while bad design prompts them to leave.
Shape and color help to draw attention to the elements you want to focus on.
Keeping the design simple enables people to move to the next level of action on a website, rather than waste time trying to process innovative or complex patterns.
Many purchasing decisions on websites are habit driven. When you limit the number of steps taken to achieve the final goal by providing simple and clear design elements, you create a better impression, leading to repeat-purchasing behaviors.
Simple doesn’t mean dumb – you need to respect your viewer’s intelligence and give them something to differentiate your website from the millions out there on the Net. You can convey this uniqueness and distinct visual identity through images, typography, presentation, latest technology, security, character and emotion. This will make your site memorable.
Find the Best Website Designer within Your Budget
Once you acknowledge the importance of design in your website, it’s important to find the best website designer who can implement it for you.
This is a task that requires patience, time, money and effort. When you have a budget set aside for this, your task now is to find the best value for money and get the best designer within this budget in California.
1. Planning: A big part of this task happens backstage. Spend a major portion of your time in a needs analysis exercise. Why you need a good designer, what exactly do you want, who is your target audience, how do you want to convey your ideas, when do you need the project to be completed. Look at websites of businesses similar to your own and figure out what to like and what not. Broadly plan how many pages, the features, extra services, what e-commerce functions you need, etc.
2. Referrals and recommendations: It’s wise to go with a designer whose work has given satisfaction. Talk to friends, family-members, your team etc. to get recommendations and create a shortlist based on genuine feedback. Resist the urge to experiment with a design firm that’s just been set up by your brother-in-law’s neighbor, unless you are genuinely impressed by their portfolio.
3. Freelancer or Design Company: Decide whether you want to work with an independent freelancer or a design company that offers the full suite of services. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. While freelancers may offer more flexibility regarding rates and services, a professional firm offers stability, security and inspires trust.
4. Where to look: You can find lots of listings on trade directories, related sites, job portals, online publications, blogs etc. If you love the design created by your competitor, there’s no harm in finding the designer and arranging a meeting with her/him.
5. Contracts: The very first thing on your agenda when you do zero in on a designer or design company is to ensure that you get the terms down in black and white. This will provide protection on both sides and prevent any miscommunication. The contract would clearly specify rates, deadlines, services, who would be working on your project, goals, outcomes, deliverables etc.
6. Your role: As a business owner, once you’ve entrusted the project to a professional, you need to be clear about your own role. There’s a difference between being involved and micro-managing the project. However, there are things you can take care of to ensure proper momentum, such as getting the copy/content out on time, provide complete information on branding and images, dedicate sufficient time for reviews and meetings, ensure timely sign-offs, provide clear and honest feedback and participate in testing.
7. Open to Ideas: Remind yourself that this is essentially a project of ideas. Keep yourself open to new ideas without compromising on your own experience and gut instinct. Conversely, find a designer or design company that also listens to your ideas and thoughts, no matter how trivial or unformed they may seem.
8. Technology: With tech moving at lightning pace, it’s important to ensure that your designer uses the latest technologies such as responsive design, intuitive design etc. You also need a strong resource for original, fresh content.
9. Pricing: While it’s crucial to work within a budget, never mistake “cheap” for “cost-effective.” If you haggle too much with the designer/company, you can be sure they will cut corners somewhere else. Check out the average pricing for a project similar to yours and then set your budget. Good, experienced designers will be able to give you a quick guesstimate on rates and time. Ensure that you get a clear cost break-down as well.
You may also like: Concept to Creation – A Guide to Web Development
Image Source: Shutterstock.com
