Web design in Washington DC.

People often associate great web design exclusively with aesthetics. Though this makes sense, not everyone has the same taste when it comes to visual appeal. However, the functionality and usability of a website are far less subjective. A website is either easy to use and understand or it isn’t.

Check out what your web design should look like to fall under the first category and be much more than just a pretty face.

There’s no doubt about it – building a website can be extremely fun. With all the types of content you can insert, from texts and infographics to images and videos, it’s easy to go overboard. Before you know it, your website can overflow with unnecessary widgets, forms, and interactive elements. In such an environment, you’ll be unable to tell your website’s purpose, and a new visitor certainly won’t be able to do the same.

So, rule No.1 of efficient web design – never forget your website’s purpose.

Let’s say you run an e-commerce business. Beyond the homepage, your website should feature pages like Shop, User Account, and Shipping and Returns. Sure, you can add a Blog page to take advantage of the benefits of content marketing in e-commerce development.

But packing product pages with multimedia bells and whistles, adding features like a Guestbook, or inserting outdated news can distract the visitors from the main goal – purchasing a product.

Whenever talking about web design (and design in general), one principle always stands out – the KISS principle. The first three letters of this acronym stand for keep it simple (We’ll let you Google the fourth one on your own).

The premise is as simple as the principle. There’s no need to overcomplicate things, especially when catering to internet users who typically seek quick and intuitive experiences.

For web design, the KISS principle means using a legible typeface, avoiding design elements with no functional purpose, limiting the color scheme to five colors, and using purposeful, high-quality visuals.

Besides the KISS principle, professional Washington, DC web designers usually follow another somewhat similar principle: Don’t Make Me Think. Established by Steve Krug, a reputable user experience consultant, this approach advocates for intuitive and easy-to-understand site navigation.

In other words, website visitors should be able to go from Point A to Point B (and however many points in between) without any frustration or confusion.

To achieve this desirable scenario, the best web designers will make each page on your website self-explanatory, include conventional navigation tools (primary navigation at the top, secondary navigation at the bottom, and a visible search bar), and make each web page clearly interconnected.

If your customer has to dig too deep to find your contact information, returns policy, or additional information on your product(s), they’ll probably give up and click away.

Take a look at NEWMEDIA’s homepage, for instance. Everything you might need is two to three clicks away at most.

What you put on your website isn’t all that matters. It also matters how you arrange it. As many as 38% of website visitors will exit a website with an unattractive layout, so effective organization is crucial.

There are several ways top web designers can organize website content to make it appealing. For instance, a grid-based layout is a popular choice for successful websites. With this layout, all elements align, falling into a rigid grid, keeping the overall web design clean.

The goal is to create a focal point, ensuring that visitors gravitate toward the most crucial elements first.

Your website might be visually appealing and packed with useful content, but it’s all for naught if there’s no one to see it. For your website to rise in the search engine rankings, you need one thing – Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Now, search engine optimization includes numerous factors associated with web development but not web design (technical SEO) and others that venture past your website (off-page SEO). However, web design plays a huge role in on-page SEO, which involves optimizing elements directly on your website.

By optimizing graphic design elements like images and videos and focusing on structure (from the entire website to individual content), Washington, DC web designers can help your website rank higher in search engine results. This ensures your visually stunning and content-rich website gets all the attention it deserves (from customers and search engines).

Let’s say that you’re adamant about creating your website on your own. You might be tech-savvy, have previous web design experience, or are simply used to handling everything regarding your Washington, DC business by yourself. Whatever the case might be, more power to you!

But the amount of time, energy, and effort you must invest into building a successful website still stands. With how much time you must spend learning about, creating, implementing, and adjusting web design, one question arises – could your time be better invested in managing your core business operations and achieving your business goals?

After all, there are numerous Washington, DC web designers who can offer quality work and build you a high-performing website. But there’s only one of you.

Business owners who choose the DIY route often rely on website themes and templates to build their websites. Given how easy these are to use, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

However, using website themes and templates has numerous disadvantages.

The one that might be the most essential to a Washington, DC business owner looking to establish a recognizable brand is the lack of control over your web design. With these cookie-cutter website builders, your website will look almost identical to thousands of other websites in Washington, DC, and beyond.

With a custom design from a digital marketing agency, on the other hand, you can get a top-of-the-line, unique website where every element has its purpose. And best of all? Every element can be selected by you, down to the call-to-action button.

You’ve already seen all the boxes web design has to check to ensure optimal user experience. Who do you think can check them off quicker and more successfully – you on your own or a marketing firm where every team member is trained in a wide range of digital marketing services? We’re afraid the odds are simply not in your favor.

Professional web designers will always put the user first and focus on providing them with a seamless journey through your website. All that’s left for you to do is enjoy the trust, loyalty, and revenue stemming from this pleasurable user experience.

Bill Gates famously proclaimed, “Content is king.” Although said several decades ago, this still rings true, perhaps more than ever.

With high-quality content, you can attract and attain your target audience, offering them long-lasting value. For this reason, content marketing is often mentioned in the same breath as other digital marketing strategies like SEO and web design.

In web design, for instance, your chosen digital marketing agency can help you choose only the best visuals for your website. But what does “the best” mean in this regard?

It means high-quality visuals that are appropriately sized for your website. It also means using purposeful visuals that complement the overall style and elevate the written content. And perhaps most importantly, it means staying away from stock images and videos thousands of other websites use.

Hire a full-service digital marketing agency in Washington, DC, and your assigned team can help you create all types of content, as seen below.

When talking about web design, we primarily focus on how your website looks like. And that’s perfectly understandable, as aesthetics lie at the core of web design. But web design alone can’t build you a website. You also need web development services.

But you don’t have to hire a separate web development firm. Hire a professional full-service digital agency, and you get a package deal – a beautiful and highly functional website.

The functionality and usability of your website can also make or break its success. Sure, web design is what first attracts your target audience to your website. But it’s these two factors that keep them there.

At NEWMEDIA, we follow the so-called TETO principle: test early, test often. To ensure your website operates error-free, we test it all along, emphasizing the final testing before launch.

Once we’re certain your website is flawless, we’ll launch it for the world to see. Depending on our agreement, this can be a “soft launch,” with no bells and whistles, or an elaborate, grand launch complete with promotional strategies.

Our job doesn’t end with the launch. By constantly monitoring your website and tweaking it as needed, we ensure its optimal performance over time.