It is difficult for businesses to survive and do well these days without a website. But not everyone out there on the internet with a website is doing brisk business. To succeed in the online circuit, you need to make sure that your website has an attractive layout, it has a user-friendly interface, and most importantly, it should have a responsive web design.

It is true that if you want to succeed in the online landscape, you need to have a responsive web design. Responsive web design is essential for your website not only because it offers a better user experience, but it also improves your search engine rankings.

In 2015, Google altered its search engine algorithms to take into account a website’s mobile presence for ranking purposes. What it means is simply this – you need to develop websites that are user-friendly on mobile devices, especially on smartphones. Your users should be able to read the text on mobile devices without zooming it, the design should have adequate space for tap targets, and users should be able to read the text without horizontal scrolling.

So, why is it essential to make your website responsive?

As the number of mobile users increases worldwide, businesses cannot afford to have a web design that is not responsive. Smartphone users worldwide crossed
2 billion in 2016, and according to estimates, in 2018 they will surpass 2.56 billion. Also, mobile searches have seen a steady rise in comparison to the desktop searches which has consistently seen a dip over the years.

What it means for businesses is that you cannot and should not ignore your mobile users. Hence, if your website is not optimised for mobile devices, it can experience a dip in your search engine rankings. And, it is not a cost-effective solution to have different solutions for different devices, so you need to make sure that your website design is responsive.

What is responsive web design?

RWD or responsive web design allows your website to fit into the size of your user’s device without changing the URL and content source. Responsive web design should offer a seamless experience to your users on all the devices. It means your website should look the same on all the devices, namely a desktop/ laptop, tablet, and mobile phones.

Responsive web design uses HTML and CSS to automatically resize a website to make it appear good on all devices, be it a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Earlier developers had to make more than one website to accommodate different screen sizes. But as mentioned above, it is not a feasible option to have different websites for different devices. Having a responsive web design, therefore, is not a trend anymore, it is a necessity which businesses cannot ignore now.

Why is it important for businesses to opt for responsive web design?

With a responsive web design, you can increase your reach to your prospects who use mobile devices. Also, with responsive web design, you offer a seamless experience to your customers which can increase lead generation, boost your sales, and improve your conversions.

Having a responsive web design ensures that analytics, reporting, and tracking can all happen from one place. You also save on time and money in managing the content of your website.

Last but not least, it helps you stay ahead of your competitors.

Benefits of using a responsive website

With Google dominating the search market, there is no way you can ignore it. And, according to Google, smartphone-optimised sites should have a responsive web design.

Opting for a responsive website offers several benefits, here are some of them:

Responsive web design increases your traffic – Mobile users form a formidable chunk of your prospective customers, and you cannot afford to ignore them. Also, it is not a viable option to maintain two websites – one for your desktop users and the other for mobile users. Hence, the best practice is to opt for a responsive website which works well for all the devices. When you opt for responsive web design, you do not need to worry about losing out on your mobile users. This also keeps you abreast with competition.

Responsive web design is cost-effective and low on maintenance – Maintaining two websites (one for desktop and the other for mobile) is not just more time consuming, but it is also a costly option. But when you opt for responsive web design, it turns out to be a cost-efficient option in the long run. Though responsive web design would cost you more initially, it is easy to maintain, and it is also more cost-effective. Moreover, setting up two websites is a more time-consuming option in comparison to creating one that is responsive in design. With only one site to maintain, you can have more time to focus on other areas which need your attention.

It offers a seamless user experience – If you cannot offer a seamless experience to your customers, it is difficult for you to survive in the business world these days. If your website is not responsive, it can distort the appearance of your site on mobile devices which can put off your customers. Nobody likes to do business on a site where the images do not align properly, texts are jumbled, and you have to search endlessly for one single information. And, when it becomes difficult for your users to navigate the site, they might leave you for good. It is, therefore, important to offer a seamless user experience to your prospects. That is why you should have a responsive web design.

Responsive web design adapts easily to all screen sizes – With a responsive web design in place, you do not have to worry about the competition. You can remain ahead of your competition because you can cater to all your clients. When your website adapts easily to all screen sizes, you will not lose out on customers who use smart devices like smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, other IoT devices, etc. When you have a responsive web design, your website can adjust to every screen with perfection.

Most importantly, it improves your SEO efforts – A website with responsive design is likely to rank higher on the SERP. After the Google algorithm update, if your website is responsive in design, it increases your visibility on the search engine because it is mobile-friendly. If your website offers a seamless mobile experience, it is bound to fare well in search results in comparison to the one that is unresponsive. The more seamless the user experience you offer to your customers, the more are the chances of improving your SEO efforts. And, the more you rank high on the internet, the better are your prospects of generating leads, increasing your conversions, and boosting your sales.

For making responsive website design, you should get in touch with vStacks Infotech now. vStacks Infotech is a digital marketing company, and we have the necessary experience and expertise in designing responsive web designs for businesses in all the verticals.

What we see has more impact on us than things we read or hear. Humans follow the visual stimuli in most of the things they do. The same is true when it comes to shopping and buying on the internet. Hence, it is important for businesses who have an online presence to create and design a website that attracts people. And, if you have a website that is boring and unattractive, it can put off your visitors permanently. But it is not all that easy to design a website that ticks with the masses. And, what can make or break your journey in the online arena is the website colour scheme. You have to be right on all the counts when it comes to website colour scheme.

Therefore, people who do not pay attention to the colour scheme of their website should not expect to do well on the online circuit.

Most of the buyers (85%) base their product buying decision on colour. Though the statistic is surprising, but it is none the less true.

If you think of some of the world’s most popular brands, you will notice that each one of them has a distinct colour scheme. Be it McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, or Dell, each of them is the leader in their vertical, and all have a distinct colour scheme.

Creating a brand….

If you are in the world of business, you must be aware that creating a strong brand identity is essential for the success of your organisation. A strong brand identity generates trust, comfort, and develops a long-lasting relationship with customers.

And, one thing that is central to any brand that has created a name for itself is its logo.

So, if you want to have a lasting effect on the minds and hearts of your consumers, you need to select the colour scheme of your logo carefully.

After all, colour is said to increase brand recognition by as much as 80%.

This proves our point beyond doubt that colour scheme is vitally important for creating a successful brand. It is not in the interest of the successful brands to play with their colour scheme. Hence, you would seldom see a change in the colour scheme of brands that are successful.

Website colour scheme – how to choose the best for your business?

When you start your business, you do a lot of brainstorming to select the right colour for your brand logo. Similarly, it is crucial for businesses to choose the right colour scheme for their websites. It is not advisable to select the colour scheme of your website randomly or follow your gut feeling.

If you want your website to look aesthetic, you should do a lot of deliberation when it comes to picking up the right colour scheme.

Within 90 seconds of initial viewing, people form an opinion about a product or an environment. And, 62 to 90% of that assessment is directly based on the colour.

It is therefore vital for you to select the right colour scheme for your website, one that suits your demographic.

Follow these simple tips to select the best colour scheme for your website:

Colours have an emotional connect with humans, try to understand it – Before deciding on the colour scheme for your website, it is important that you try to understand the human connection with colours.

Try and understand the psychology of colours. Every colour conveys a message.

For example, the colour green represents nature, health, wealth, and tranquillity. Green colour has relaxing effects and is the easiest colour for the eyes to process. It is the second most preferred colour by men and women. Leading brands using colour green – Tropicana, BP, Animal Planet, etc.

The colour yellow is associated with youthfulness, cheerfulness, and optimism. The yellow colour is mostly used to grab the attention of the audience. Leading brands using colour yellow – McDonald’s, Hertz, National Geographic, etc.

The colour orange represents enthusiasm, creativity, and friendliness. The orange colour prompts people to act – for example, buy and subscribe. It attracts impulse buyers. The leading brands using colour orange – Amazon, Crush, Payless, etc.

The colour red represents energy, passion, danger, urgency, vibrancy, and excitement. The colour red is mostly used to create urgency to buy. It triggers strong emotional reactions. You can see most of the restaurants using the colour red to stimulate appetite. Leading brands using colour red – Heinz, Coca-Cola, Red Robin, etc.

The colour pink is associated with sweetness, feminism, romance, fertility, and innocence. The colour pink is mostly used to market products and services that are used by women and young girls. Leading brands using colour pink – Barbie, Lyft, Pink Victoria’s Secret, etc.

The colour purple represents wisdom, royalty, success, and wealth. The colour is mostly used in beauty and aging products. It has a soothing effect on people. Leading brands using colour purple – Qatar Airways, THAI, Cadbury, etc.

The colour blue represents security, calmness, trust, peace, and stability. The colour blue is mostly used in banks and businesses to create a sense of security and trust among customers. It is the most preferred colour by both men and women. Leading brands using colour blue – Dell, GE, American Express, etc.

The colour grey represents simplicity, neutrality, calmness, and logic. The colour grey lacks emotion and is associated with precision, technology, control, industry, competence, and sophistication. Leading brands using colour grey – Mercedes, Bosch, Tesla, etc.

The colour black represents luxury, power, elegance, and sophistication. The colour black is mostly used to market luxury brands which evoke a sense of professionalism, precision, and strength. Leading brands using colour black – L’Oréal, Chanel, Rolls Royce, etc.

Hence, depending on the type and sector of your website, you should choose the colour scheme for your website. Also, very carefully you need to select the colour for the CTA button. You also have to understand that the effect of colours may vary on the place of your geographical location. For example, colours that attract Americans might not appeal in the same way to the Britishers.

Check out your demographic audience – This again is an important consideration. Try to figure out your target audience and then select the colour scheme of your website. Based on the emotions that colours evoke (as mentioned earlier), you need to choose the primary colour for your website. For example, if you are in the food business, you can consider making red as your primary colour.

Find out gender preferences – Depending on the business you are into; gender preferences can also play a significant role in selecting the colour scheme for your website. If you are specifically catering to a particular gender, try to pick up a colour that connects with your audience. You should know which colours attract men and women and those that they don’t like. Each gender has a clear colour preference. For example, the favourite colour for men is blue, and they generally don’t like brown and purple. Similarly, women’s favourite colour is also blue, and they don’t like brown and orange. Hence, it is important that you keep gender colour preferences in mind before finalizing the colour scheme of your website.

You also need to consider the age group of your audience – Just as colour preferences are different for men and women, it is different for people in different age brackets. Younger people like bold colours like yellow and red, while older people prefer sober colours like purple and white. Blue, green, and purple are liked by people in almost all the age brackets. As people age, their preference for green decreases, and they start liking purple. Hence, depending on the age group that dominates your demographic, you should select the colour scheme for your website.

Don’t be biased – It is not about what you like; it is about what others prefer. Hence, you should select a colour scheme that is based on psychology and not on your gut feeling. If you select your favourite colour as the primary colour, it might not give you the desired results. For example, if you like the colour green, you might want to select green as your primary colour for your restaurant business (which is not what colour psychology recommends). So, it should not be according to your likes and dislikes. Base your decision on psychology and not on your preferences.

Decide on the number of colours you want to use – After selecting the primary colour, you need to decide on the number of colours you want to use. Using too many colours can spoil the fun and can complicate things for your website. Usually, businesses opt for three colours in the following ratio – 60-30-10, where dominant colour takes up 60% of the space, secondary colour accounts for 30%, and accent colour takes up 10%. It is therefore best to follow a combination of three colours in the ratio mentioned here.

Now, select the colours you want to use – Choose the set of colours you want for your website. Do keep in mind that contrast generally works fine when it comes to websites. A background that is light in colour with contrast foregrounds can be an ideal combination for a website. The combination is soothing for the eyes of your customers and has an aesthetic appeal as well. However, websites with a dark background and light foreground can also look great. But, in such cases, you should select the colours carefully.

Take the help of the colour wheel – When it comes to selecting the colour scheme of your website, taking the help of the colour wheel is always a good idea. You can choose analogous colours that are pretty much the same and lie next to each other on the colour wheel. Alternatively, you can select complimentary colours that are bang opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Take the help of tools – The internet pretty much teaches you everything. Take the help of the tools that are available on the internet to select the best colour scheme for your website. It can make your job easy and save you time. You can take the help of Colormind, Colour Spire, colour explorer, or any other.

Study your competition – Your competitors can teach you a lot. Do a detailed study (check out at least three) to find what works best in your industry (colour scheme). You can choose a colour scheme that is similar to those of some of the popular websites, or you can pick up a combination that is just the opposite.

Work on two-three colour schemes then compare – Don’t finalize the first colour scheme that comes to your mind. Check out at least two to three colour schemes, and then finalize one for your website. Work out your options and show them to your friends and colleagues. See their reactions before finalizing the colour scheme of your website.

If you still have any problem, you can get in touch with vStacks Infotech and get new ideas for the colour scheme of your website.

vStacks Infotech has been in the business of website designing for long, and we know what it takes to design an attractive website.

Businesses exists because of the customers, and not the other way round.
Why do retail outlets invest significant amount on the upkeep of their stores – have plush interiors, comfortable seating arrangement and well-mannered men and women to talk to? All because they know the importance of their customers. No wonder they constantly strive to improve and enhance their experience.
And, as the same customer moves to the virtual world he or she expects the same here as well. Of course you don’t want to create the “negative” first impression. To provide a good customer experience the first step an online business needs to take is set up a user friendly website.
Website is the face of your organization, an interface that can either make or break an association. Thanks to the internet, designing a website these days is not a big deal anymore. But, getting a design which enhances user experience is still an art that very few have mastered. And, this enhanced user experience starts when you offer your customers a website which is easy to use.

Why do you need a user friendly website?

With more than one billion websites it is survival of the fittest on the World Wide Web today. You constantly have to outsmart your competitors or else nobody would take note of your website. It could well be the beginning of the end of your online journey if your customers are not able to navigate through your website comfortably.
A website is said to be user friendly if your customers find it easy to access and are able to manoeuvre through it with ease. A user friendly website helps in increasing the number of visitors coming to your site, which also improves your search engine rankings. And, more the footfall greater would be the chances of revenue generation for your organisation.
Just creating an attractive website is not sufficient to increase the number of visitors, usability is of prime importance as well. If your website is found wanting in the usability quotient it does not take long for an individual to move from your site to that of your competitor. Hence, if you want your customers to return, make sure your site is user friendly.

How to make your website user friendly

It is the customer who comes visiting your site – you have to make things easier for him. Smart website designers would tell you to put yourself in your customer’s shoes – think what they want and not how you would like it to be. Your site is there to solve the problems of your customers, it is not there to complicate things further. The more you are able to help your customers chances of doing business with them becomes greater.
This is how you can make your website user friendly:

1. Intuitive Navigation – The general rule of the thumb in case of making your website user friendly is to keep things simple. It should not be a tough task for your customers to find what they are looking for on your website, hence make it easy to navigate. A menu and/ or drop down menu with all the relevant information on how to navigate your site is always a good idea. And, most importantly do not complicate the menu.
   Always add a search bar on your website. This simplifies the search of your customers and saves their time. Also, introduce pictures wherever you can so that those who are not aware of the name of the product do not leave your site.
   Another important factor is making your website accessible on all platforms. From desktops and laptops to smartphones and tablets, it should be accessible on all of them. Also, try and make sure that your website looks the same on all the platforms, which help your customers in locating their favourite products with ease.
2. Crisp and informative content – People engage with a website primarily because of the content you offer. Pay special care to the content of your website, make it informative, target your audience appropriately and keep it simple. Also, make it interesting so that it can capture the attention of your audience.
   Content layout is also an important aspect you should invest your time in – mix up your written text with photos and videos wherever you can.
   Do a bit of research and come up with targeted content, which is a great way to engage with your audience.
3. Responsive design – Most of the times a simple colour scheme should work fine for your website, though a few would suggest a bolder design. When you are promoting your best product a simple colour scheme is more appropriate. But, if there is more than one product to promote, you can go in for a bolder design.
   There should be a symmetry when it comes to selecting colours – the entire website needs to look unified.
   Just as a cramped room makes you feel claustrophobic, a crowded website can put your audience off. Make sure the layout of your website is clean and the information is evenly spread out. You can try the F – design, which is known to have given successful results.
4. Contact Information – Adding contact information on your website increases your credibility. People get suspicious if the contact information is not there on the website. Giving your customers a concrete address and telephone number further enhances their confidence. Including an email address is also desirable. You can provide all this information on the bottom of the page.
5. Increase the loading time – People generally are short of patience these days. If your website takes a lot of time to load your prospective customers can desert you. You have to look for a web hosting company that provides ample bandwidth so that your site loads faster.

If you are planning to get your website designed from professionals, which you should – a web designing company in Noida can help you get a user friendly site. Contact vStacks Infotech with your idea and see your dream translate into a reality.
From website designing to hosting and fast load times, vStacks Infotech – a web designing company in Noida can propel your online journey with a thrust.