How to make your website different

What shall I do?

Well, it’s not rocket science, you have two choices:

#1 Go for a high street website generator and you will find a website for £100 (I am not considering the friend of the friend, that has a cousin, who knows another friend...)

#2 Use an agency, indeed the £100 benchmark from the high street website generator will be a drop in the ocean. In this second option, we are talking about tailor made, bespoke, all optimised and thought to answer your needs. Also, you shouldn’t see your website as an expense, but an investment, and do not be too emotionally involved in the process, after all, you need a website for your clients not for you, so the approach and look needs to be adequate and not personal.

Colours

Defining your website colour scheme is very important, ideally, you will need a dominant colour or your brand colour, paired with one or two accent colours. Below an example for our client Beverly Landais, we went for an analogous selection from green to orange. Analogous colours are a group of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, they usually match well.

Other detail, such as putting text on a colourful background or image can be a tricky business, so make sure that the words are short and easy to read for a better impact. For reading purposes, find a high contrast pairing for most of your text and make it clear where actions are. Using contrasting colours and white space to direct each user’s eyes to the most important aspects of your website are fundamental.

Typography/Font

Choice font: this is really important. Each font has its own character, for example, you are a renowned company, using comic sans would obviously not be wise …

Nowadays web fonts are a big asset.  What are web fonts? It simply is a font that doesn’t need to be installed on your device to be seen as it is hosted on a server. This font can be bespoke or custom which is different of the “web safe” already installed on your computer like Arial, Times New Roman, Comic Sans (*cough*). Here are a few names of classical web fonts: Roboto, Neuzeit Grotesk, Baskerville, Mrs Eaves

Distinct letterform is important, some fonts are difficult to distinguish for example o and 0 or 1 and I and so on.

Serif VS Sans Serif, ahhhh the traditional argument, well again, it is a matter of readability! Technically Sans Serif stays the best choice in terms of web readability, simply because if we compare it with a serif font, the serif font is coming from the calligraphy known for its curves and the thickness variation of stroke. There should always be a contrast between thick and thin strokes, and letters should be in regular proportion to each other. Too light a type will cause the letter to appear grey and indistinct, conversely too dark the letter will appear to be too thick.

However, let's not put the Serif font down, for exampl, a quintessentially English Serif design, Baskerville dated from 1757 was adapted for screens in 1982 by John Quaranda as ITC New Baskerville.

Another variation is Mrs Eaves (font named after John Baskerville's housekeeper who became his wife) a beautiful revival of Baskerville.

Content

Start by ensuring each page of the site overall has been planned before beginning the design. This means asking yourself what the goal of the page should be, what the information architecture should be displayed and how accurate they will be for your user. One main condition is to put yourself in the user’s shoes; too much text and you will lose their attention, too short and or vague they will go somewhere else.

Let's wrap up

An effective website should trigger engagement. Making a website from A to Z is a constant remaining challenge. From research to design to making content, every stage should be thought through and comprehend your clients. Your client should feel at ease and confident while browsing your website, they should be naturally guided to the information they are looking for and express an intuitive feeling without distractions. For any help on how to make your website different and stand out from the crowd, do not hesitate to get in touch with us!