Much was made about the new design of Apple’s iOS 7 release. As a matter of fact, it seemed that the way the thing looked was more important than the way it worked. A lot of people seemed focused on the flat look and the bright colors surrounding the new operating system. But Apple wasn’t the only one making a move in this direction. This has been the direction of web design for a while. Web-watchers line25 even posted an article about the rising trend of bright, flat colors in website design. Who influenced whom? Did web designers change because they knew what Apple was doing? Or was it the other way around? Or is re-designing your website like putting lipstick on a pig?
How your website works is more important than how it looks
People don’t view your website to ooh and ahh over your choice of colors or your fonts or your images. They are there for information. They are looking for answers to their questions. Are they finding them? Some people may even be visiting your website to do business with you! Are you making it easy for them?
The other thing your website should be doing is generating leads. Of course to do that, people need to find your site. Is your site optimized so that people can actually find you online? And if they do find you, are they engaging with you? Are you creating calls to action that allow you to capture their information so you can stay in touch with them?
Redesigning your website really can matter—if you focus on the right things. Here’s a helpful 10-Step Checklist to help you do things like benchmark your current metrics, see what things drive traffic the best and help you analyze your competitors. It’s free, and it will help you do things that make a real difference in how your site performs. And that beats the heck out of putting lipstick on a pig!
Photo illustration: Mick Coulas
