The concept of web design and development for startups is a creative challenge that requires a different philosophy than designing for an established business. Arguably, designing a website for a startup is equal to a first-time author trying to get their work and name known in the literary world. With all the competition out there, it's a daunting task to try standing out in a very crowded industry where everyone else is doing the same thing.
With web design, you have some advantages in being found thanks to SEO. As with first-time novels, however, you have to keep people interested immediately or risk having them become bored, frustrated, or just moving on. Consumers want information, and they want it fast. This couldn't be any more apparent than with today’s burgeoning mobile culture.
With all of this in mind, what steps should you take to make your startup website worth visiting for prospective customers? The key lies in the details relating to simplicity and proving credibility.
Creating Immediate Recognition
When someone visits your website for the first time, you want them to have something that gives immediate visual recognition for a sense of branding. Typically, it occurs on the header, where you need a logo encompassing everything about your company.
A simple logo is best, though its effectiveness is in how compelling the image is and what colors you use. It's not easy to convey your company’s essence in a small space, yet the design and color of your logo creates a sense of recognition that sticks in the memory.
While your logo needs simplifying as much as possible, it's just the beginning of your design, where simplicity also needs consideration without looking like a shoestring budget.
Quality Simplicity
It's worth keeping those above words in mind as a serious philosophy in designing a startup website. You have quite a difference between cheap simplicity and quality simplicity, even if the former still exists out there.
Ultimately, you don't want to go with an overly economical design just to save money. Most of the time, it simply doesn't look good and shows you're not willing to put any effort into a decent web design. In turn, this only reflects badly on your startup.
What's important is to simplify in ways that still look professional and attractive. Flat design is a good example in how this works where you have more open spaces, simplified fonts, and warm colors to create positive moods.
This isn't to say you couldn't place some special effects in your design like parallax scrolling for the sake of branding. It's best to keep this at a minimum since you don't want to confuse people who want immediate information about who you are and the products you offer.
In the world of mobile, this is even more essential. That's why you need to think about your site's navigation functionality in relation to both desktops and mobile.
Honing in on Easy Navigation
There isn't any question that responsive design is imperative now for a startup website since statistics show mobile users already far exceed desktop users. With these numbers, it means you have to provide easy navigation for two separate types of people. A user-friendly navigation is important for both desktop and mobile users since first-time visitors want information about you in seconds.
A simplified menu (with a prominent "About Us") is the best way to get people familiar with you and your team. In the beginning, it's sometimes better to stick with a one-page design where you provide only essential information about your startup all together. These pages work best for mobile, where those on the go have no patience for anything overly complicated.
There are many ways to merge simplicity and credibility to make your startup stand out from the ever-growing crowd. By starting with these easy-to-follow tips, you’ll be starting your journey on the right foot, well on your way to impressing visitors and potential investors alike!
