As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, more and more businesses are focusing on building a strong online presence. Creating a website is the first step that you can take towards establishing a name in the digital world. With the eCommerce industry growing quickly, the competition is also getting quite tough. Your website can help you stand out to potential customers instantly and leave a positive impression. This is why you need to focus on web design elements that can improve the user experience.
Now, for business owners, this can be slightly tricky. Designing an interactive and responsive website requires some investment. You can collaborate with a professional or start building a platform with a CMS (content management system). To start, you will need to spend a good amount of your budget on web design. Since it can be a bit expensive, here are some savvy ways to spend less on such elements.
1. Establish Website Goals
This is one of the first things you should focus on from the beginning. Create a plan or list of goals for your website so you can set a budget accordingly. Think of what you want to achieve with the platform. Are you looking to attract more traffic or boost visibility? By doing this, you can pay attention to including elements that help achieve those goals.
For instance, you may want to increase conversions within the first three months of launching your website by 10%. If this is your short-term goal, then you should simplify the layout and add a lead magnet for the visitors. In the end, it’s a great way to save money on web design and spend it wisely.
2. Prepare Visual Brand Elements
It’s a good idea to keep the visual element of your brand identity ready beforehand. Decide on a color scheme, font, or typography and create a style guide to follow as well. Make sure that you have the logo and images prepared for the website too. This is another savvy way to spend less on web design. You can also cut down on the time it takes to launch the platform.
For a professional and appealing brand symbol, you can consider a DIY tool such as a logo creator. Once the brand visual elements are in place, you can start working on the structure or layout with the brand theme in mind.
3. Check Templates
In the beginning, this can be a great solution to creating an attractive website. If you are not collaborating with a web designer, you can search for templates and make changes according to your requirements. There are different preset templates that business owners can look through and purchase at a reasonable price.
It can help you save on web design and make it easier to create an eCommerce platform or business page that represents your business or brand.
4. Stick to Minimalism
When it comes to web design, you need to understand that less is more. It’s a lot simpler to create a responsive website that has fewer elements and ample white space. Keep the layout minimalistic and remove all the graphics that might be cluttering the pages. You can add a hamburger-style menu or a navigation bar at the top to reduce the number of elements on the home page.
This also helps simplify navigation for visitors. With minimalist and modern web design, you can create a platform that requires fewer upgrades over time as well. It is another savvy way to spend less on the design of the website without compromising on quality.
5. Cut Down on Landing Pages
It can be effective in reducing costs in the long run as well. You should keep the number of landing pages minimal and focus on simplifying the navigation and layout. With fewer landing pages, you can engage more visitors with valuable content and more attractive visuals. They may also find what they are looking for quickly and purchase before leaving as well.
Add pages that tell people about the business such as an About Us, Contact and Pricing Page. For an eCommerce platform, focus on product or service categories. Create a sitemap and organize the landing pages and sections accordingly. This can help you design a website that ranks highly in search engine results.
6. Maintain the Website Yourself
This could help you save money on website support and maintenance. Give a few tasks to your in-house team or look for affordable tools that can help you keep the platform updated. You can incorporate a live chat tool to provide immediate support to visitors to the website. Check the content regularly to make sure that it’s up to date and offers valuable insights and information.
Fix any issues or errors that might slow down the loading speed and test the website before launch. When you are maintaining a website without any external support, you won’t have to pay any additional money to an agency.
7. Repurpose Old Content
If you are just revamping an old website or have blog posts and articles that are still relevant, you can use them to attract more visitors at the beginning. Make small changes to it or update the visuals if required. You can create an infographic from an old article to engage a wider audience or produce a tutorial video that can be added to the website.
Repurposing old content is another savvy way for working on web design. You can avoid any external digital marketing costs when producing new posts, articles, or videos and still attract high traffic.
8. Use a Few Stock Photos
While it’s a good idea to use original pictures of products or people, you can still choose a few relevant stock photos for the website. These images are royalty-free and can be added to the website without additional charges. Make sure that you pick photos that accurately represent your business or brand.
You can also take pictures from a smartphone camera and save money on hiring a professional for product images. There are different tools that you can use for editing photos and improving their quality as well. Some of these platforms might be completely free and allow you to work online too.
9. Research Potential Web Designers
In case, this is an option that you want to consider, it’s a good idea to do extensive research in the industry. Look for referrals or ask friends and family members for recommendations. It’s also a good way to save money on web design and collaborate with a professional. Run a quick search and look through the listings near your location too.
You can also compare the prices for different web designers and hire one that can be accommodated within your budget.
10. Plan for Errors
It’s always a good idea to plan for problems or errors beforehand. This can help you set the right budget for web design and make it easier to reduce maintenance costs. When you are transforming your business to digital, the website is one of the first things that you may launch before anything else. The platform needs to run smoothly so you can boost visibility within the target audience quickly.
Brainstorm ideas about what can go wrong and work on preventing technical issues. For an eCommerce platform, you may have issues with processing payments and checkout fees. To prevent such issues, add multiple options and include a live chat option to help people instantly.
To Sum Up
There are several savvy ways to spend less on web design. If you are looking to create one for your brand or business, it’s a good idea to keep these in mind. Ultimately, these can help you save money on design costs that you can invest in digital marketing or branding.
About the Autor
Sabrina Jackson is a content writer with experience in web content, blogging, sales copy, and more. She writes with a passion to match her coffee color. Her favorite pass time is trying out new and unique tongue twisters.
