Your website is more than just your calling card because when customers stop by, their first impression is going to help determine your success – in terms of sales, repeat business, and word of mouth. It’s akin to walking into a grand bricks-and-mortar establishment – only instead of great architecture that will wow your customers, it’s literally ALL down to how good your web design looks.
Thanks to WordPress, you don’t have to be too stuck to find an amazing design as so many templates have already been designed for you. But one of the problems online retailers run into is just what is the best design because we’re all so spoiled for choice. That’s what separates the winners from the rest; a great design helps your marketing, your sales, and your longevity.
In no particular order, here they are.
If you’ve ever wanted to tour the iconic Abbey Road studios you’d have to book a trip to England – and even then you’d probably only get a look at the outside. Google has put together a phenomenal virtual tour of the studios that let’s you be a music producer right from your own laptop. It’s a testament to all things interactive but comes with amazing sound design, beautiful navigation, and stunning visuals. For those of us disappointed we never made the title of Fifth Beatle, this is a fantastic consolation prize.
Citrix is a cloud-based software company but this website is born of their relationship with Red Bull – specifically Citrix’s support of Red Bull Racing’s new race car. The website comes alive and even if you’re not interested in the sport of car racing, it will still leave you breathless with its design and use of movement.
By blending animation and video, Feed immerses the viewer in a unique way that’s both instant and accessible. From the swirling design that remains constantly swirling to navigation that doubles as a scroll progress bar, Feed is mind-blowingly fascinating.
In fact, if you keep scrolling, the swirling background is eventually replaced by other moving images – maintaining a constant and unique presence. It’s hard to take your eyes away or click to another site – and that’s a force to be reckoned with.
Another amazing website that draws you deeper in the more you scroll through it. You’re greeted with a simple message (in a simple font) that introduces what the site is (“a crypto-currency trading bot based on machine learning”). As you scroll, the graphics improve – but never at a pace that’s too dizzying or off-putting. If you’re tech-savvy, and let’s face it, if you’re into crypto-currency then the chances are that you’re very tech-savvy, this is a site that pays off beautifully, explaining more of its methods the more you scroll.
Here minimalism is the order of the day for this shoe-selling website. It’s almost naked but for the shoes – but that’s what you’re there for. Shoes. Between the compelling visuals, and 2-dimensional, colored backgrounds, ETQ has powerful typography to let you see what shoes they have and explanations as to why you need it.
With its beautiful visuals, fantastic navigation, and unique sound engineering, this is a website that engages the consumer with its tale of how their coffee beans make their journey from a plantation to your morning cup of joe. If you’re selling something as ubiquitous as coffee, this is one way of calling attention to yourself in a very crowded market.
An interactive site with powerful visuals that seem to glide in whenever you scroll, the Swiss Airlines have NOT missed a trick with this one. The website is packed with information – something many airline websites don’t seem to bother with beyond their own marketing info – so it speaks to not just the casual business flier.
This is the homepage for a branding agency so you’d better believe it looks good. Their motif is the tile, and the tiles change up as you scroll through them; click on one and you’re led to a page of new ones – some clickable, some not – meaning you’re always exploring. And, of course, by exploring means you’re familiarizing yourself with their portfolio – and all because you want to, not because they’re asking you to. That’s a brilliant design.
Whatever design you decide to go with – even if it’s a phenomenal WordPress template – make sure you put in the time needed to make it work for you. Your website isn’t just a calling card; it’s where your customers are doing business.
