2 key design decisions when undergoing a website redesign

If your B2B company is about to undergo a website redesign there are a few important design elements that need to be considered prior to reconstruction. The face of your organization’s website is not something that should be overlooked. Some may argue that the back end or ‘what’s under the hood’ is what’s most important, and who can argue with that? After all, most companies today are focused on increased traffic and leads, so naturally their attention to ‘what’s under the hood’ is to be expected.

How you present your brand and your business online should not be overlooked. Think of your business website as the face of your company. Let’s assume that you’ve been successful at driving traffic to your site. If they land on your home page will they be impressed or disappointed? You can’t underestimate the value of a well thought-out website design and the impact it can have on the success of your business.

Here are a two key design decions to consider when undertaking a website redesign.

1. Branding and color – branding is not just about your logo. It also encompasses type, color, images, messaging and more. But first let’s talk about color. Make sure that you choose a simple color palette that ties in with your logo or your company’s corporate colors. Keep it simple; we usually select two colors – one primary and one secondary that can be used throughout the site. To be consistent, make note of your web colors in your graphic standards for future reference.
   For Guy Stuff Counseling, (using web only colors), we established Grey #666666 as our primary heading color. We used orange #FF6600 as a primary accent color, with our body copy text in a dark grey #333333.
2. Branding and type – just as you've established your color pallet, you need to do the same with your type. First, choose a font that is web-friendly. Verdana, Arial and Helvetica are classic ‘san-serif’ fonts – and are widely accepted. A great serif font is Georgia or Times. All these fonts offer a variety of styles within each. For example: Times Roman offers: Times Regular, Times Bold, Times Italics and Times Italics Bold.
   Decide on what size and color your type should be in. Be consistent with your headings, sub heads and text. For example: your main heading can be in one point size, all caps and in one color. Your subheads can be set in upper lower case in a smaller font size and another color. I recommend using black or grey for your text with open leading and in a point size that makes it easy to read. With Data Cable our headings are set upper lower case in Georgia using regular and bold with the body text set in Verdana. For body copy, I like to use at least 12 pixel with an open leading. (that’s the space between each line, or line height) that makes it more reader friendly. Mixing a Serif with a non-serif font is safe to do so long as you use it wisely, and maintain consistency throughout the site.

Projecting a professional business website starts with a few design decisions. Both color and type are key elements in the design process and play an important role in establishing your site as a professional credible company.

WhiteSpace specializes in helping organizations thrive by leveraging the power of the internet. Our digital marketing and creative agency can help develop strategic and tactical direction to help boost your business.