How Do I Evaluate My Website Design?

Your company’s website is one of the most important facets of your business. Your website should show consumers exactly who and what your company is, and as a customer-facing platform, design is paramount.

It can be difficult to tell whether your business’s web design is effective without a trusted web development professional to guide you. Luckily, there are a few ways to tell what’s working and what’s not.

To evaluate your company’s web design on your own, there are a few categories you should focus on. Here’s what to look for:

STRATEGY
Does your web design fit your company’s goals?
If your website doesn’t do what your business needs it to do, then having a website is pointless. Fortunately, strategic web design can be used to guide customers in ways that help fit your company’s goals. Thinking like a web developer, ask yourself these questions:
● What purpose should my business’s website serve?
● Does the website fulfill that purpose?
● Does my website quickly define how my business operates?
● With my target demographic in mind, does the company’s website cater to them?
● Will my customers be guided to act the way I want them to act based on my website’s design?

AESTHETICS
Is your website pleasing to viewers?
Though the term ‘web design’ is not the internet equivalent to ‘interior design’, cultivating aesthetically pleasing pages is an important part of web development. An unattractive, cluttered website is extremely unappealing to consumers and can hurt your business. Focusing on your company’s goals, ask yourself:
● Are my company’s purpose and brand message easily understood through my website’s design?
● Do all web design elements (logos, colors, fonts, photos, etc.) support my brand and purpose?
● Is my company’s logo displayed?
● Does my web design cater to my target demographic?
● Does my web design look the same (or specifically tailored) to be used on mobile devices?
● Is the text readable, or does my font style, color, etc. obscure the message?

USER EXPERIENCE
Is your website easy for customers to use?
No matter how beautiful and inviting your website may be, it will be all for naught if your website doesn’t work as intended. Aesthetics and user interface go hand in hand. The easiest way to ensure that your website is functioning properly for users is to check (and double-check!) your work during each stage of web development. Here’s what to look for:
● Is my website easily navigable for customers using links, menus, and buttons? (Bonus points for a ‘search’ feature.)
● Are all these links, menus, and buttons functional (i.e., no broken links)?
● Does my website function properly across different devices and browsers?
● Does your web design encourage customers to act, depending on your company’s goals?

CONTENT
Is my website optimized for users and web crawlers?
Your website’s content is about more than just giving users a bit of reading material. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of web design, as it helps web crawlers understand and categorize the material on your site. With hard work and consistent SEO practices, your site may reach the front page of Google. Here’s how to evaluate your website’s content:
● Does my website feature a blog?
● Is my website’s blog content informative, worthwhile for customers, and always relevant to my company’s goals?
● Does my website frequently use (but not overuse) relevant keywords on each page?
● Do all images on my site been optimized with ALT text, tags, and descriptions?
● Does my website feature URL slugs, title tags, meta descriptions, and H1/H2 tags?

Don’t be afraid to bring in professionals.
This list just scratches the surface of how to evaluate your web design. Web development is a time-consuming process that never seems to end, and you may find yourself in need of a website redesign as technology advances. Whether you want to ensure your web design is working for you or start from scratch, the professionals at RIDIL group are ready to lend a hand. Schedule a call.