Web design

What to Consider in Having a Functional Website

GRAPHICFor those of us who are in the process of having a website built for our business, it can be easy to get carried away with how ‘beautiful' and ‘attractive' a site is. Of course, while a site's beauty and appeal is important, it is also crucial to consider its innate functionality. A site needs to have all the right elements in place - not just for form, but also for function. A site's functionality is based on its ability to perform and how well it performs according to your - and your visitors' - expectations.

A website with a functional design adequately responds to the needs and wants of those who are visiting it. You would want a site that performs according to your specifications, and also produces an outcome for its visitors.

What to consider in having a functional website

The goal of your site

Among the many aspects you have to consider in order to have a functional website, the primary factor is this: what is your website's goal? Is it simply a site that gives important information about your company, product, or service, or will it serve a related purpose as an e-commerce site? Determining your goal from the outset will help you decide how functional you want your site to be. It can be as simple as answering this question: is your site simply for getting information regarding your services, or are you aiming to sell items? Whatever your answers to these questions are will determine how functional your site needs to be.

Who is your target audience?

Another aspect to consider for your site's functionality is who your target audience will be. There are several questions you should ask in order to determine this: what is the age group you would like to target, and how tech savvy are your visitors? Does your target audience know a lot about computers and the Internet, or are they going to end up getting lost in your site? Does your target audience have plenty of time on their hands to navigate through your site, or are they the kind of individuals who would much rather have the information they need at the beginning? What are the personalities of your target audience? Do you think they need plenty of technical support, or would they be able to work things out on their own? Also, if your business is based in a particular area such as Cornwall and your target is your local audience, you may also want to consider adding local flavour to it. Perhaps if you are targeting a certain niche, you can be more specific with the site's design.

How clear is your message?

Your site needs to have a clear message for it to be fully functional. What can visitors glean from it? A functional website will surely speak for itself. Whilst it can be attractive to have catchy, flashy details and complex sitemapping, it may not work in imparting the image that your site has clarity. Visitors to your site should be able to immediately see what you have to offer - what your business does, and what it is all about.

There are other factors to think about when creating a fully functional site, including its navigability, its user-friendliness, and more.

If your business is based in Cornwall, web design professionals from springmediadesign.co.uk are usually on hand to give you the exact web design service you are looking for.

If you have any questions, please ask below!