Small Business Website Design: Your Definitive 2023 Guide

As a small business owner, you understand how important it is to have a website that not only looks amazing but also functions well. After all, your website is often the first point of contact between you and potential customers.

That’s why we’ve compiled this guide on small business website design in the UK for 2023. We’ll take you through everything from choosing a domain name to designing your site to driving traffic to it. You’ll have all the information you need to create a successful website by the end.

Small Business Web Design: Doing It Yourself vs Hiring a Company

When it comes to small business web design, entrepreneurs can choose between two paths: Do It Yourself (DIY) or hire a professional company.

DIY web design requires researching, understanding, and mastering the necessary skills involved in creating an effective website. This has its advantages, including being able to customise your site more freely and having more control over upfront costs.

However, hiring a professional puts experienced web design professionals at work with insight into best practices, user interface considerations, and SEO that could drastically improve the look and effectiveness of your website. In the end, it all depends on how much time you’re able to commit to the project as well as how confident you are in your ability to build out a quality website without help.

Hosting for Small Business Websites

With so many possibilities available today, deciding on the best hosting solution for a small business website can be challenging. The options can be overwhelming, from shared servers to dedicated ones, from free services to premium plans.

However, with the right choice of host provider, small business websites can get plenty of features and resources – with adequate control and customisation as desired – for an affordable fee.

So it’s worth taking the time to understand these different hosting solutions to make an informed decision that aligns with their budget and requirements.

WordPress Themes & Plugins

WordPress themes and plugins are powerful tools for websites to manage the look and feel of their pages. With an ever-widening array of options, it is easy to customise sites to meet individual needs.

From elegant portfolio showcases and blogs to online stores and calendars, a WordPress theme or plugin is perfect for any situation. Whether you need basic functionality or more complex changes, the right theme and plugins can make any vision a reality.

With WordPress themes and plugins, creating engaging content is easier than ever before.

Website Design Tips for Small Businesses

Having a website is becoming essential for small businesses. Not only does a website give customers information about your product or service, but it also allows you to make an impression on potential customers.

Creating a website can be daunting, and there are many different choices – from the colours and images used to the site’s overall navigation. Taking some time to consider the design of your website can increase user comfort and trust, as well as boost the conversion rates of visitors into customers.

To ensure that your small business website design is working for you, try to keep it simple and avoid cramming too much content into one page; use attractive visuals; optimise pages for mobile devices; pay attention to colours and fonts; have clear calls-to-action; create high-quality content; offer appropriate search tools; stay consistent with visuals throughout all pages; and use organised navigation menus so users can quickly move around the site without confusion.

By taking these steps, you should be able to design an effective website that resonates with your target audience and helps you build a loyal customer base.

Use Consistent Branding

Consistency in branding across all your marketing and communication channels is critical to establishing a solid identity for your organisation. Without consistently branding your business, people will fail to recognise it, leading to difficulty building trust with potential customers or clients.

With clear and consistent branding over time, you’ll start to develop recognition from the audience and grow in credibility. Additionally, acting as a unified company rather than siloed teams promote solidarity internally as well as externally. Make sure to keep your branding consistent – from visual elements such as logos, colours, and fonts to internal brand values such as tone of voice – for optimal results!

Keep Mobile Users in Mind

As a business, it is crucial to keep mobile users in mind. In today’s day and age, more and more people are connecting to the internet through their phones and tablets, so having a website that caters to mobile users can be essential for success. Ensure that your website’s content is optimised for viewing across all devices.

You will also want to pay attention to your site’s design, ensuring its layout works across all platforms. Making sure that mobile users easily navigate your site can encourage return visits and recommendations from friends and followers.

Optimise for Search Engines

Optimising your web pages for search engines can help maximise the visibility of your online content. Proper optimisation techniques make visitors more likely to find exactly what they want when performing a search query.

Additionally, by ensuring that your site is optimised for the best user experience and hits the key SEO targets, you can also increase overall engagement rates, thus converting more of your traffic into customers or readers. In short, optimising for search engines can effectively promote your brand and get noticed online in today’s crowded digital market.

Keep Contact Information Above the Fold

Keeping your contact information above the fold is essential for online and offline businesses. It enables your customers to find what they need quickly and easily and keeps them informed about who you are and how to contact you.

Having your address, phone number, or email prominently displayed at the top of your page makes it possible to ensure that any client or visitor can reach you quickly and have a positive experience with your company. Not only will this help boost customer service, but it also helps build trust between you and your potential customers or visitors. 

Use White Space

Including white space in your design allows for breathing room, allowing users to focus more easily on important information. This can be achieved by strategically using lines, magnification, colour combinations, and text alignment.

White space supports straightforward navigation throughout your website or application. As a result, buyers feel more comfortable engaging with your product, creating a user experience that not only feels smoother but encourages further engagement.

In short, white space is crucial to any successful digital design with its power to highlight essential elements and provide visual separation between sections for better user comprehension.

Ensure Fast Page Speeds

Page speeds can make or break a website user’s experience. It is vital to ensure page speeds are fast, no matter what type of device the user is on, whether desktop or mobile.

Fast page speeds give your users easy navigation and a quick download of content, leaving them wanting to return for more. With tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights or Web.dev, you can easily measure page speed and find opportunities that improve your site’s overall performance.

With these available tools, any website can make sure pages load quickly so users can access the information they need quickly and easily.

Incorporate CTAs

To make your website or digital platform more effective, it’s important to use calls-to-action (CTAs). CTAs not only provide users with concrete steps they can take when interacting with your content, but they also let you track how well your campaigns or landing pages are performing.

Furthermore, CTAs allow you to guide visitors to where you want them to go within your site, making for a much smoother web experience for them.

Focus on UX

Throughout the digital landscape, UX has taken centre stage as one of the most important facets of product design. Companies are increasingly focusing on creating experiences that not only achieve their desired customer outcomes but also give their customers the delightful moments they crave.

It’s a balance between ensuring customers can use and navigate your product or service quickly and easily and implementing thoughtful touches to connect them emotionally.

That emotional connection can be enough to build a customer for life, so UX should not be overlooked in marketing. Investing in the user experience will pay dividends both now and in the future, so businesses should stay focused on bringing great designs, smooth transitions, and delightful user moments to the top of their priorities.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s clear that having an up-to-date and responsive small business website design is vital for your businesses in the UK. There are many design trends to be aware of, so ensure you keep your website looking up-to-date and of good quality.

Your website can stand out from the rest through clever design decisions and knowing what customers want. When you start designing your small business website, remember to check that the reports and analytics allow you to measure your site’s effectiveness.

Additionally, there are many advantages to working with a professional web designer; they will know precisely what techniques and themes will work best for your business.

So if you want help creating your new small business website, why not talk to us? We specialise in cutting-edge designs suited best for businesses thriving into 2023 and beyond.