“Your ‘About me’ page should be up and running before you push the publish button of your blog as that is a great way to connect with your reader instantly and giving a human touch by telling your story. A good friendly description of Why you have started the blog, what to expect from your posts.”

“Always double…no triple check to make sure that your pages are mobile-friendly. I switched themes on my site a few months ago and rebuilt some pages with a page building tool. It was absolutely gorgeous on desktop, but my affiliate sales slowed down on that page. Over a week later I pulled up that page on my phone and realized it looked terrible. Things weren’t lining up right and it definitely wasn’t the vision I had for it. I was rushed on that page and forgot to optimize it for mobile too.”

“Simplicity. People are busy and distracted so the number one advice I can give would be to keep things simple: from the amount of copy, to the number of menu items, to the features and elements. I love colors and surprises and textures, so I’m not saying minimalism. I’m saying simplicity is your friend from top to bottom when designing a great website; and if done right, it trickles down into your business, your communications with clients, your file organizing, and the processes with your team! Hope this helps!”

“Load time: Everyone hates a website that takes eternities to load.
Mobile friendly: It is now commonplace to access websites from multiple devices with multiple screen sizes Colours & Images: A well thought out color palette and good image quality can do a lot to improve the user experience.”

“I would advise creating a moodboard first. The moodboard and the process of creating it will help to start with the creative flow and organize your thoughts. Look for pictures, words, quotes, textures anything which best captures you and your business and represents the qualities of your brand! By doing this, the mood board will help bring things into focus. It helps with the emotions and your vision, that you want your brand to show.”

“Easy of navigation. I think it’s extremely important to have an easy to navigate website. If your readers arrive on your site and do not know how to find the information they need, they’ll go somewhere else. Clear menu items, a search bar and related information are just a few key elements!”

“Your website needs a conversion goal mapped out for your audience to take action on. Whether this be to sign up for a course, fill out an online contact form, collect email addresses, purchase products or get on a waiting list. Your goal should align with who your audience is and speak directly to those individuals (or businesses) by identifying pain points and addressing solutions through case studies, testimonials and video proof.

Your website is the entry way into gaining more traffic, leads and sales! Make it clear to your audience on what you want them to do, and where to take action so you can easily connect and help them with their needs.”

“If you care about your website users and businesses you design for, then leave your creative ego at the door and design for others. It doesn’t really matter if your website looks cool or old-school. Many of us, creatives, forget that what we do is a business service, not an art. Our main goal is to learn what your users expect and ensure the right experience in order to reach business goals. Even if it has to be an ugly design. It’s ok!”

“I think many times new bloggers or entrepreneurs try to do too much with their website design. Doing too much can be overwhelming to the visitor and make it difficult to navigate. With my sites I strive for simplicity.”

“It’s important to make sure your audience knows exactly what your website is about as soon as they land on it. Nothing makes someone click away faster than a confusing design with no clear direction or too many distractions. Keep things simple and let them know who you are and what you’re going to provide them right away.”

“One of the best things you can do before you begin designing your website is to draw out your concept. When you sketch out your ideas first before you start making your design you won’t be stuck staring at a screen trying to figure out what you want to create. Then once you start the actual design of your website, you will have a reference sheet that you can look at and it will keep you on track and make the design process go a lot quicker and smoother.”