The days of cheesy, boring, generic stock photos are far behind us. Is your website essentially a portfolio of stock images surrounded by text? Don’t fall into the same mistake many of your competitors may. Customers want to know who they’re working with. By using real photos of your facility and staff, you remove a barrier of uncertainty and suspicion that most potential customers uphold before making a decision with their wallet.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s always a place for stock photos. Overusing them, however, can lead to your brand making a negative impression. Visitors will ponder questions such as:

Don’t allow customers to come up with their own conclusions about your business.

Potential clients are actively searching for the story behind the faces and people that make up your business. GetPhound’s Meet The Team page was visited twice as much as any other page on their website! Leave a warm, welcoming impression and instill trust, you won’t regret it.

The web is made up of thousands of identical sites that have little to no distinguishing features aside from some of the content. These are called templates, and although they are an easy way to get a site up and running, your brand will be lost in a sea of goldfish. Give your website a distinct look and customers will remember you from among the others.

But don’t go overboard; everyone wants their website to stand out, but tread the wrong path and it can spiral into disaster. When donning your creative-thinking cap, make sure you stay patient and take a strategic approach. Avoiding basic design principles never ends well. If you’re using Comic Sans, stop. If bright colors make up more than 10% of your website, stop. It’s important that creative aspects never compromise the accessibility and readability of your website.

Follow the guidelines above to keep your website clean and professional. Giving site visitors too many choices will overwhelm them. By limiting options in different places such as the navigation, you can direct users to exactly where you want them to go.

Have you ever heard of the phrase “less is more”? Many web designers take a minimalistic approach when building websites. Some of the most successful websites on the internet are minimal, needsupply.com being a prime example. Having too many elements on a website is distracting and leaves no clear path for users.

In a perfect world, your website visitors go straight to your contact form and inquire about your services. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in most scenarios. Users want to explore and make an informed decision before they make a commitment. Call-to-actions are a great way to draw attention and compel users to commit a specific action on your site. One of the most successful call-to-actions is the offering of a free piece of content in exchange for an email address. This is an efficient, cost-effective way to gain more leads. If the call-to-action is too overbearing or obtrusive, it can stand in the way of the customer’s original goal. Even the smallest amount of frustration can result in a lost opportunity. Keep things simple; you don’t want to stray from the creative, professional site you’re aiming for.

Some business owners make the mistake of building the perfect website for themselves and neglecting their audience’s agenda. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Figure out what experience would make the most sense for them. What are they looking for? How do they expect to find it? Make sure your website addresses these questions.

Usability is the founding principle successful businesses like Amazon and Google invest thousands of hours researching. Caring about their customers keeps their website traffic and sales through the roof.

If you can predict how your audience thinks, you can steer them along a linear path. Place relevant content in practical locations where they expect it, leading up to the ultimate goal: capturing them as a lead.

Through the use of personality, creativity, professionalism, engagement, and relevance, you can craft a highly successful website that brings you business.

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