Lessons in letting go: 3 flexible website design tips

Your website is the pride and joy of your business. It’s your identity; your mark on the world. So, when you commission a new design from a marketing agency – no matter how reputable they are – it can be difficult to let go and accept change.

But being too attached to the past will only hinder the website design process. Trust us, we know.

As the late and great George Michael famously sang, ‘[You] gotta have faith, faith, faith’. And that’s really the best thing you can do. Have faith in the experts.

Before we dig into some website design tips and the value of flexibility, let’s take a look at the ins and outs of a typical design process.

Breaking down the website design process

The process starts with a team of experts who are experienced in creating beautiful, responsive and tailored websites. They’re the Fab Five of the website world and they’re fully prepared to uncover the mysteries behind good site design.

At the heart of every website makeover, this team will take your needs and key best practices into consideration to create something that both works and looks fantastic.  

Ioana Negulescu, our senior graphic designer, had this to say:

‘With each website, we think of the following:

• How does this tie in with the company, what they do, and their personas?
• How can we design and build the fastest, most optimised and Google-friendly website?
• How can we support – through the website design process – all other marketing efforts?
• How can we design something that we’re proud of and that truly showcases our capabilities?
• How can we push our skills further to please our clients and create something that truly stands out?
• How can we design something that the user will love? And how will we track and measure that?’

As you can see, there are varying perspectives, challenges and moving parts to the website design process. Although the website – as a product – is commissioned by you, it’s also for your prospective customers, your employees and Google, too.

So, what should and shouldn’t you do during the process? And how can you learn to let go?

3 important website design tips

Although you won’t be designing your website yourself, there are still some important tips you can take into consideration during the design process.

Tip #1: Some design ideas aren’t always practical

Did you know that 85 percent of adults believe that a company’s mobile website should be as good, if not better, than their desktop website?

Some design ideas might look nice, but would impact your website’s responsiveness, which is especially important for mobile.

For instance, requesting a full width website without white margins may work on certain screen resolutions, but it’ll become a jumbled mess on others. In this case, you might find that the images and background will be very wide, while the copy will be small and centred.

In this scenario, it’s better to focus on responsiveness and the user experience than the latest website design trends.

Tip #2: Generic stock images aren’t good

Granted, stock images have some appeal. They’re often free, they’re easy to source, and generally you can find an image that conveys what you want to say. In certain marketing activities, such as a quick social media message, they’re great.  

But, for your website? They’re slow to load. They lack personality. And, let’s be truthful here, they’re really quite grating to look at.

At the very least, edit stock images to make them your own. Or, instead, use bespoke, unique illustrations. Depending on your needs, industry, and preferences, there are varying types of illustrations that you could use, such as geometric, playful, techy or abstract. There are a few benefits to using these instead of stock imagery:

• They’re unique to your company. They set you apart from your competition and help to strengthen your core brand identity.
• They offer consistency to your website. They’re also much more sophisticated than a cliché image of a man typing on a laptop.
• They’ll speed up your website and get you into Google’s SEO good books. Our team uses svg formats for every illustration, meaning they’re super sharp, high quality, and quick to load.

Tip #3: Your old brand guidelines aren’t gospel

Judgements on your website credibility are 75 percent based on your overall aesthetics. Although it may be the most obvious website design tip around, having a pretty website makes a huge difference to your user experience.

So, those brand guidelines you’ve been holding onto since 2006? Like a bad episode of Little Britain, they’re probably a bit outdated (and out of touch).

As an example, our Articulate website would have been a dull palette of dark red, grey and black if our design team hadn’t stepped in. Now, our website is beautifully vibrant and much truer to our brand and character.

It’s important you give your business the freedom to evolve with the times. Your chosen marketing agency will try their utmost to stick to your brand as much as possible, but some flexibility and trust is necessary along the way. After all, the most important thing is to provide the best experience to your website visitors.

Let go and love from afar

Your business, your history, and your brand are integral for the website design process – they’re what make your business unique. That’s why they provide the best foundation for web designers to build upon.

But, too much input on your end could be damaging to your site’s overall aesthetic, page speed and user experience. Ultimately, this could reduce the number of conversions and leads coming through on your website.

With the right team of expert digital marketers and designers, you can have the confidence to let go of the website design process and love from afar. Don’t worry, you’ll always have the final say in any and every alteration.

We hope you found these website design tips useful. Now. Are you prepared to get going on your next website design?