• Web Design

Integrating Webstore Design with Branding, Usability and Offline Presence

Every website consists of two elements – the look and the content. The look and the content contribute to the branding of your webstore. The branding reflects on the position the store occupies in the human mind. Another key element of a website is its usability – how intuitively built is the website? In addition a webstore which is linked to an offline presence must reflect key elements of that presence in the form of colors, mission, vision, tagline and overall appearance.

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Key Elements of Webstore Design

A website should be optimized for search engines and user experience. The font used in a website is key to communicating content. Do not use a combination of Serif and Sans Serif, use one of the two. Good websites use a few typefaces and only ones that are related.

Page layout should be done in a way that makes navigation easy for the user. Every page of the website should feature consistent page layout for uniformity. Coding should be of a very high quality. Visual design should be appealing – easy on the eyes.

Simplicity is a friend of both the web designer and user. Design based on convention. Don’t try to over-innovate. Ensure pointed, easy communication through the web pages. Remember white spaces in websites reduce brain processing – hence they are friends.

Among the objects of web design – the design, size, contrast, color and position are crucial to overall user perception.

Usability

When you put every department of visitor experience above all else then you are focusing on usability. The success or failure of your website depends on the user experience (UX) it provides. Finding stuff in your website should be easy for the visitor and so must be making a purchase.

To ensure usability you need to study website analytics, best practices in the online business and needs of your business and visitor and combine these to create a highly usable website. One quality of usability is a holistic approach. The website should function as an integrated individual element.

Usability of a web store must also reflect the needs of the marketing staff as well as the design staff in communicating to and enticing individual visitors to the site. Creating a positive image of your web store by making it easily usable is key in ensuring repeat visits from clients.

Branding

Branding is a marketing concept that is closely related to positioning. It involves creating a psychological patch in the mind that connects your website with certain emotions in the individual. The emotions could be happiness, nostalgia, stylishness, holism and simplicity.

The brand should be easily evoked in memory and non-forgettable. Along with the rest of the branding elements of the website the slogan is essential to make the brand positive and memorable to the mind. The Logo design should be stylish and evoke the feelings you want your customers to associate with the product.

The Logo, Icon and Favicon should be unified in emotional appeal. Display your personalized website emails rather than free emails on your website. This creates a professional image. Every email should carry your website link in its signature. Feature a well written “About Us” page carrying positive emotion about the business.

Integrated Offline Presence

The offline presence should be integrated with the webstore, through similar colors and theme in addition to logo and slogans. The online store should be an extension of your offline one and should feel like another arm of your business.

People visiting your online store should remember your offline business (if they have seen it) and vice versa. This is branding in action calling the same emotions to mind in both your offline and online presence. Bring together branding, design and usability to give your customer a complete emotional experience both online and offline.

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About the author: This is a guest post by online marketing and SEO expert Endre Rex-Kiss for Worldmarket.com. Check out their offers for great quality world market products.