If you want to leave a lasting impression on site visitors, you must be authentic and engaging. People want brands to be honest with them. However, they have no reason to trust what you say — their visit to your website may be the first time they’ve ever heard your name. Working with clients on a solid brand vision can help you create a web design that is relevant, engaging and unique.
1. Know Who You Are
Authenticity is crucial regardless of which generation you want to reach. However, Gen Zers care deeply about companies being upfront and caring about the world around them. In a survey of 5,000 respondents, researchers found 82% of Gen Z trust those using images of real customers in their advertising. Another 72% prefer enterprises that support social causes.
Before you can present a transparent image, though, you have to know who you are as a corporation and what you stand for. Take time to write out your mission and think about the image you want the world to see.
2. Consider Your Target Audience
You must also factor in your target audience and their preferences regarding your website’s layout, colors and function. For example, if you want to appeal to millennials, you might want a minimalistic design.
If your target audience is Gen Z, you could incorporate some bright colors and pop culture references. Boomers might like clear calls to action (CTAs) and simple forms. Think about what will keep the user engaged once they land on your site and what they care about as a group so you can personalize landing pages.
3. Add Trust Factors
As many as 90% of customers look for authentic brands before making a purchase. Build trust factors into your design to show them you are an honest business that guarantees the quality of your products or services. Some things you can do to add trust to your website include:
- Adding a page that details your guarantee.
- Including ratings from the Better Business Bureau.
- Letting customers leave testimonials or reviews.
- Adding your phone number and other contact information in a prominent location, such as the top of the page.
Put yourself in the user’s shoes. What would you need to feel confident a firm would stand behind its promises?
4. Meet With Clients
If you design for other people rather than just your own company, spend time with them, catching their vision for the site. What are some key images that relate to their enterprise? Customers may recognize colors, a logo or certain phrases. Do your best to incorporate these into the website.
Find out what designs the client enjoys from other businesses. Learn who their competitors are. Ask if there are any industry colors or symbols used frequently. Once you have a concept for the web design, ask the client to give additional input.
5. Create a Style Guide
A style guide keeps everyone on the same page as changes occur or the site grows. Although people have grown more distrustful in the last few years, around 61% stated they trust brands more than the government or media.
A style guide helps a company develop an overall look that can appear across multiple channels, including social media, print materials and a website. You should define everything, from font choice to when and where to add the brand logo. An enterprise can even indicate whether it wants to seem young and hip or serious.
6. Remain Consistent
If you want to build your authenticity, you must present a consistent appearance across all the touchpoints of your website. For example, when users land on the homepage, they should see an identical layout to other pages. If the CTA button says “Learn More,” try to keep CTAs on the site similar by using direct language.
7. Put User Experience (UX) First
Brands that are authentic and truly care put the user first. If the site’s UX leans more toward conversion and less toward offering help to the site visitor, you may lose them before they convert.
One way to figure out what users need is to poll them. You can also ask current clients why they chose to do business with the company and what they’d like to see added or removed from the website.
Authenticity Takes Time
Users begin to trust you after they’ve had experiences with you. While you can build in some design elements to start the process, you’ll need to deliver high-quality, consistent effort for months or years to build a loyal customer base.
Fix the small elements that make a site more authentic and pay attention to the aspects you need to change along the way. People will appreciate your growth and come to see that you try to offer high value to site visitors.
