If you’re a web designer, you might do it for fun, but many people do it for profit. You can make a comfortable living designing websites because individuals and businesses frequently need them. Virtually any business has a website these days, and very few of them can get along without one.
As you’re getting ready to pursue a web design career, you should understand and acknowledge that your clients will probably look for some similar elements. While no two sites are exactly the same, there will be certain universalities for which clients and the public are going to look.
Let’s talk about five of the most vital ones right now.
A Call to Action
Regardless of what services or products your client offers, whether they measure brand awareness or sell lawnmowers, nearly every for-profit website will feature a call to action.
If your client has one particular product that they’re trying to push, you’re going to want to feature it above the fold, meaning that a site visitor should see something about it before they start to scroll down. If they’re trying to promote a particular service, you should be sure to mention that service before the fold as well.
Your client is probably going to want to feature multiple calls to action throughout the site. If they’re trying to sell a product or products, the site should show customers how to do that very easily. If the site’s objective is for the visitor to sign up for a mailing list or follow the business on social media, there should be obvious ways for them to do those things as well.
The Color Scheme
A site’s color scheme is also going to be more critical than the average person might realize. Many companies use color schemes as part of their branding. There are many examples, such as McDonald’s restaurants and their red-and-yellow, or Home Depot and their signature orange.
You can talk to your client about their branding efforts before you start building the site. If they have particular colors that they use, you will want to feature those prominently.
Even if they don’t use certain colors yet, you can probably still pick a color scheme based on the client’s industry. For instance, if they’re a lawn care company, it makes sense to use a mostly green color scheme.
The Font
The font, or the lettering that you use on the site, matters as well. There are tons of fonts that you can use when you set up a website either on WordPress or Wix, the two most popular site creation platforms.
If your client is running a classy, upscale spa, you want to use an elegant font. If they’re selling energy drinks for bodybuilders, you’ll want a bold, rugged font.
You can pick out some options to show your client to see if they approve of them before you proceed. Remember, you probably have plenty of opinions to offer based on your industry expertise, but ultimately, it’s the client who makes the final decision as to what elements they want or don’t want.
An About Section
If someone comes to a business’s website looking for a particular service or product, they probably already know a decent amount about that company. However, there are likely visitors who will show up to a website sometimes who know virtually nothing about the company. Maybe an outbound link on another site directed them there.
An “About” section can tell the casual or first-time visitor everything they need to know about the company. There should probably be a few paragraphs, no more than that. They should quickly get to the heart of what the business is all about and how it came into existence.
You don’t have to write the copy. It’s best if the client writes it since they’re the best one to tell their story. If they want to, they can also hire a freelance writer for this task, and you can plug in what they write.
An FAQ Section
Virtually all websites should also have an FAQ section. You should ask the client to think of some queries that their customers ask them frequently.
Again, you don’t have to write the questions and answers. You just have to plug them into this section that you’ll create.
Your websites should feature all of these things, and you should make sure not to neglect any of them if you want satisfied customers.
