- Web Design
5 Quick Website Refreshes
Looking for some tips to give your website a quick facelift?
Here are 5 things you can do right now for a quick refresh in 2023.
1. Use original photographs as much as possible
Stock photos have their place in the digital world, but if you’re using only stock photos on your website, you’re losing trust from your visitors. Viewers want to know if your company and/or product is the real deal. A picture speaks a thousand words–so show them. Use original photos of your product and of real customers as much as you can. A good ratio of original photos and stock photos is your classic 80/20%. If you must, go no further than 50/50%.
The goal of every website is to build trust in your brand. Original photos accomplish that in a split second.
2. Use two to three fonts
Choose an accent font that looks great in bold along with a readable body font. The body font should be cross browser friendly. Yes, you can download customized fonts nowadays, but the hassle isn’t worth it. It’s best to choose a font that can be used on your website and on the software you’re using. Most viewers aren’t fontography specialists–so they won’t know the difference anyways.
To make life easier, use Google Fonts.
3. Use icons sparingly
Icons date your website back to the 2010s when web designers went icon crazy. Some designers would disagree, but here at Red Cliff, we do our best to avoid using icons unless it’s necessary. When we do, we use customized icons for a streamlined look.
4. Add a new accent color
Good web designers know that our eyes need a break when it comes to color. So we choose one main color (a bold, branding color) and add an additional 1-3 coordinating colors. Note: Your set of colors doesn’t include white, black or shades of gray, which are the three neutral colors that go along with every website color palette.
A website needs balance. Mix-up the chosen colors to avoid an in-your-face approach. Vary the colors by using different opacities, which causes less stress on the eyes.
5. Fit content to design
Copywriters are more than just clever. They must simplify their content to the space allotted. This is a design principle that many websites, like the one above, are quick to break. Why? Because it’s easier to not edit your content to fit.
A word of advice though: We’ve found that challenging yourself to write content according to space has helped us to write more effective copy.
