A really effective business website design is one that gives your visitor exactly what they want. It is about both the look and the functionality. It answers your visitor’s question. It’s not complicated, your visitor came looking for something… so what was it?

1. Solutions: Help your visitor solve a problem and reach their goal. Address a problem that the reader is facing and then a solution to fix it. Spotlight the benefits of your product or service and how it can solve their problem.
2. Trust: Start with a clean design and useful information and make sure there are no misspellings or broken links. Clearly show your phone number and address. Include a guarantee, a privacy policy and a returns policy.
3. Simplicity: Avoid confusing your visitor. Keep the design, navigation and information clear and to the point. Understand what a visitor wants to accomplish and help them reach their goal.
4. Image: Make your business look professional by having an organized, well thought out website. You have 3-5 seconds to interest a visitor or lose them in a click.
5. Content: Original content is the most important trait of a great Web site. Every time you write new web content, there should be some call to action at the end of the topic. The idea is to involve the reader emotionally and to encourage action.
6. Interactive: Get your visitors to do something when they arrive. Provide free tools, sign-up for a newsletter or send them a free report or an ebook. Use a survey tool like surveymonkey.com to conduct weekly or monthly surveys.
7. Action: People need to be told what to do. Each page should be designed with a clear action designed in. Avoid leaving the next step up to the user’s imagination.
8. Traffic: Decide your traffic source such as organic search, pay-per-click or referral traffic before you start the design. Organic SEO is much more effective when designed into a site.

Related posts:

1. What Makes a Great Business Website?
2. How to Design Your Website to Convert Visitors into Buyers
3. 10 Ways to Improve Your Website Conversion Rate
4. What Makes a Website Trustworthy?
5. Your Website Must Build Trust