5 Lessons in Web Design
There are few things we love more than strong website design and The Great British Bake Off….and they have more in common than you might think!
When designing a website, as when baking the perfect three tiered pork pie; there are some golden rules that you must follow….
Keep it neat
If The Great British Bake Off has taught us anything, it’s that neatness is the key to success. We like our websites like our Black Forest Gateaux: well presented. There should be a place for everything, and everything should be in its place. Think of Paul Hollywood’s icy glare when he can’t find the raisins in a Garibaldi biscuit; that’s the face your customers will be pulling when they can’t find the something on your site. Make sure that its simple, neat and user friendly.
Keep it (relatively) simple
We’ve all seen what happens when a baker guns for that 17th tier on their showstopper: it never ends well. The same goes for your website. You don’t want to be over simplistic; would Mary Berry stand for a plain shortbread? No she would not. But, equally, you don’t want to over load your website with widgets; sliding banners; too many fonts; and pop-up offers. It’s akin to covering your showstopper with fondant flowers, fresh flowers, hundreds and thousands and chocolate. Too much.
Don’t try and cut corners
Mary and Paul can sniff out a cracked piece of gingerbread at 50 paces, and Google can sniff out lazy web design just as well. Make sure your website is clearly set out with a good sitemap. Don’t try and hide anything from Google. Don’t just add keywords to every sentence to try and rank highly. Google will find you, and will crush you like a perfectly brittle meringue (or just rank your quality score as ridiculously low meaning you will rank low for pretty much everything).
Know your limits
We have witnessed it time and time again; bakers who get too confident too quickly. Just as that overzealous croquembouche will crumble and fall, your website will suffer if you try to go too far too soon. Let your website grow with your business; don’t try and overdo things. Make sure that you are transparent with that you offer your guests and don’t try to be something you aren’t. If you don’t have award-winning food, then don’t state that you do. Play to your strengths and a good digital marketing agency will help you do this.
Make your website stand out (for the right reasons)
Just as fondly as we all remember Nadiya’s fizzy pop cake, we also have the image of Iain’s Baked Alaska sliding sorrowfully into the bin seared onto our memories. Remember this important lesson. You want your website to stand out because it looks striking, works smoothly and provides any information a customer could possibly need. You do NOT want your website to stand out because the shopping basket or booking engine doesn’t load and the buttons link through to 404 pages.
Thank you Bake Off, for teaching us what it means to strive for perfection. If you need any more tips on web design (or indeed the perfect Dampfnudel) then give us a call on 0117 930 4365, or drop us an email.
