Creating a website that impresses and converts visitors can be a challenge, but with the right approach, it’s possible to build a site that stands out and drives results. Whether you’re launching a new website or revamping an existing one, this blog will provide insight into how you can create a website that is aesthetically impressive and also converts.

Don’t Let Creativity Outweigh Functionality

Firstly, with the capabilities and functionalities of websites increasing, it is common for many businesses to fall into the creativity trap, where their creative spirit overtakes the practicality of the website.

Creating an engaging and memorable user experience through the use of visuals is an excellent tool to increase engagement. Alongside the aesthetic benefits, including visual elements as part of your website design allows you to break up large blocks of text which improves readability, emphasises important information, and creates a sense of hierarchy on the website. Get the balance right and your website will be visually appealing and easy to interpret.

However, an imbalanced text to picture ratio will prevent your business website from converting as the website will appear to be overwhelming, difficult to navigate, and suffer from slow loading times.

Too many images and not enough text can make the site appear cluttered and overwhelming, making it difficult for visitors to understand information.

On the other hand, too much text and not enough images can make the site appear boring and uninviting, making visitors less likely to stay and engage with the content.

Additionally, an unbalanced ratio can also negatively impact search engine optimisation, as search engines favour sites with a healthy mix of text and images.

Achieving a balance between functionality and creativity in website design can be a challenging task, but it is essential to achieve a high-quality and  engaging user experience that prompts visitors to return.

Top Tips for Managing the Creativity Functionality Balance

During the website design process, keep these steps in mind will help to ensure your creativity doesn’t outweigh functionality:

1. Your purpose. 

Define the purpose of the website. What message do you want to convey? What outcome do you want to achieve from the users? This should always remain at the forefront of all design choices to ensure the website works to achieve your goals.

2. Your visitor’s needs and wants. 

Before you start building your website, it’s important to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is. This information will inform your design and content decisions and help you create a site that speaks to your visitors’ needs and interests.Understand the user’s needs and preferences through research and testing to ensure that the website is functional, easy to use, and serves your intended purpose.

3. Navigation is key. 

Don’t let creativity overtake navigation. Visitors should be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily on your site. Create a clear and intuitive navigation structure, with well-labelled menu items that make it easy to access and understand different pages and sections of your site.

4. Focus on user experience

Your website should be designed with the user in mind. Focus on providing a positive and seamless experience, with fast load times, mobile-responsive design, and easy-to-use forms and buttons. Also, make sure that your site is accessible and easy to use, regardless of the device or screen size visitors are using.

5. Clear calls to action

Calls to action (CTAs) are buttons or links that encourage visitors to take a specific action, such as filling out a form or making a purchase. Make sure that your CTAs are clear and prominent, with action-oriented text that motivates visitors to take the next step. Without this, your website will fail to provide any real conversion.

6. Design time!

Now that you have considered the functionality of your website, you can focus on the creative aspects. We often find when it comes to website design, less is more; avoid cluttered and complicated designs that detract from the user experience, and instead utilise a consistent colour pallet, clean lines, and easy-to-read text. A clean and simple design that balances creativity and functionality will be more successful at portraying brand messaging, engaging the user, and directing them towards the desired outcome. However, first impressions are important, and your website design is a key factor in how visitors perceive your brand so it is important that this reflects your business in a positive light. Less is more does not have to equal a boring website design but it is important to stick to a few creative concepts rather than overloading the website.

7. Test and refine

Once your site is live, it’s important to continually test and refine it to ensure that it’s delivering the best possible results. Use analytics tools to track your site’s performance, and make changes based on the data you collect. Pay attention to areas that need improvement, such as high bounce rates or low conversion rates, and make changes to address these issues. You may discover that there are functionality and/or design issues that are acting as barriers to conversion that you can alter.

Creative Conversion Machine

Creating a website that impresses and provides results is a creative conversion machine! However, this requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a focus on delivering value to your target audience. By following these tips for managing the balance between creativity and functionality, you can build a competitive website that is visually impressive, engages visitors, and drives results.

Got Ideas but Lack Technical Ability?

We understand that the website design process is complicated and requires a high level of technical knowledge and experience to undertake correctly. There are DIY website builders available online but unfortunately these provide very limited creative options and produce websites that have similar themes and designs, reducing the competitiveness and differentiation of your website.

Using a WaaS (websites-as-a-service) provider allows you to bring your ideas to life without the hefty development price tag. For example, Creatify works with their clients to develop aesthetically engaging websites and their technical experience ensures that the functionality of the site is never compromised. Additionally, their unlimited revisions and redesigns policy allows clients to make small or larger scale changes as often as required for no additional cost, providing total flexibility.