If you work in a company offering professional services, and have been tasked with having a new website built, chances are the phrase professional design was mentioned in your brief when discussing the website design. But what exactly is a professional design? In this article we will discuss how to design a professional looking website and the cost of building a professional website.
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What is professional design?
Professional design is the opposite end of the design spectrum to fun and light hearted. A professionally designed website’s sole purpose is functionality and giving users the information they need as efficiently as possible.
What are the elements of professional design?
There are elements that should be taken into consideration when designing any professional website. Here we will discuss some of the basic topics that should not be ignored.
Number of clicks
When it comes to a professional website, there should be no wasted clicks. The website user should be able to make a purchase, inquiry, or find the information they needed in no more than 3 clicks after reaching the home page. Any more than 3 clicks is wasting time for the user and will result in a conversion drop off rate.
Content scanning
In today’s fast paced online world, people want their information now and don’t want to waste time doing so. That is why website content should be structured in such a way that users don’t have to read the full article to find the information they need. Users want to scan the article quickly and find the information they need.
There are a few tricks to help with this. The most effective of which is to have a table to content with all the topics at the top of the page. Clicking on the topic you want to be covered will bring you directly to the paragraph where that topic is covered.
Content also needs to be formatted in a way that is easy to read quickly. Clear font and line spacing is crucial. Paragraphs should be no more than 2 to 3 sentences long to allow for easy scanning.
Having short readable paragraphs has a secondary function of improving readability for Google’s algorithm. This will have major implications for your website SEO
Website color scheme
When choosing the color scheme for a professionally designed website it is important to not go overboard with colors. Try and stick to your brand colors or other colors that portray professionalism, trust or environmentally consciousness.
To effectively outline information, white space plays a huge role. White spacing keeps the focus on the content with no distractions for the user.
Examples of professionally designed website
BeQuick Media are specialists in designing high quality professionally designed websites. An example of a professionally designed website is the National Pension Helpline who offer advice on pensions and retirement planning in Ireland.
Cost of a Professionally designed website
How much does a professionally designed website cost?
When it comes to developing a professional wordpress website then cost is generally quite low in comparison to an ecommerce website or other types of websites that might need a lot of functionalities built in. The only functions that are generally needed for professional services are a contact form and in some cases a payment facility.
The cost of a professional website should cost in the range of €2,500 – €5,000. The variation in price is due to the functionalities, number of pages and a number of other factors.
Are there grants available for website development?
Yes, there is a website development grant available for most small Irish businesses with under 10 members of staff, under €2 million in annual revenue and over 6 months trading. To learn more about the trading online voucher grant from the Local Enterprise office, take our quick grant assessment quiz. This grant will cover up to 50% of your web development costs.
Conclusion
If you are interested in having a professionally designed website of your own, drop an iniquity below for a free website consultation. A member of our team will be in touch to discuss your website today.