Yes, we can! It’s far easier than you might think.

As someone who studied graphic design at Uni and has been working on website design for many years now, I’ve often heard fellow designers become frustrated when they receive vague feedback from clients like “just make it pop”.

I understand the frustration but I also understand the cause of the problem. Often clients don’t know how to articulate what they are looking for. They’ll often say “I’ll know it when I see it”. The answer to this communication problem is simple and it’s not the clients fault.

Let me explain, but first let’s consider what you might be looking for as a client of a web designer…

What does your website look like? Is it drab and lifeless, or is it eye-catching and engaging? The first thing that people see when they visit a website is its design. If you want to make your business stand out from the crowd, then you need to work on making your website pop. The challenge is, this will mean different things to different people.

When it comes to website design, what is suitable for one industry or brand may not be suitable for another industry or brand. In this blog post we will discuss how to make your website pop by modelling strategies.

Examples of Web Designs That Pop

In website design, the quick and easy solution to a communication problem is to look at other websites while discussing ideas. Why reinvent the wheel when there are already some great examples that you can use to explain what you are looking for?

Even if your brand is unique and specific to your industry or niche market, chances are what you are looking for has already been done. Even if it’s not been done for a business like yours, if you look across industries you should find examples of what you like and dislike in order to describe what you are looking for.

The best websites are not found by chance… you have to look at a lot of them, compare the good with the bad, and put it all together in order to come up with something that is uniquely yours.

It makes sense to model on similar brands who have already “popped” rather than to invent your own solution that may or may not work. Start by looking at your industry leaders websites, then look at brands with a similar culture to yours, next look at other industries that serve a similar target market to you.

If you look at enough example websites to discover what ‘pops’ you’ll start to see trends emerge that will help define the direction of your own website design.

What’s Hot Right Now in Web Design?

Some of the most popular trends at the moment are: bold typography, big and bright colours, large images, creative video content and engaging user experiences. These ideas, may or may not be suitable for your own website. Once you have an idea of what you want to achieve, it’s time to start pulling together your ideas to discuss with your website designer.

If you’re drawn to websites but find it hard to describe why, here are a few key things to think about when researching website designs:

  • What style do you want your website to have? (Minimalist, modern, traditional etc.)
  • What colours do you want to use and what feeling or message do you want your website to communicate?
  • Do you want to use large images, video content or creative text to make your website stand out?
  • What do you want the user experience to be like on your website? (Should there be lots of movement and information for them to absorb quickly?)

Website Designers Need to Ask Better Questions

Rather than website designers becoming frustrated with clients, it really is about asking better questions to extract the gold from a client. It’s usually far easier to review various website designs together so you can quickly understand what a client is looking for.

There are many different elements that can go into a website that pops. Even for the most unique and cutting-edge brands, there are likely to be many example websites to draw inspiration from.

So, website designers, ask yourself – what can you do to make your clients website design pop? What is it about your client that is unique and how can you visually communicate that uniqueness?

We love working with clients who have a passion for their work. Contact us today to discuss your website needs. We’d be happy to discuss ways we can make your website pop.