What should you consider when designing a website?
The website decides customer trust, often within the first five seconds. It’s not just a digital business card, it’s a tool that brings in new contacts, builds trust and supports sales even if you don’t invest in marketing yourself. Good results don’t happen by chance. It comes from a clear strategy, strong technical execution and knowing who you want to reach.
Below we go through the most important things to consider before planning a new website or updating an old one. This applies to planning, designing and developing a website.
1. Purpose and target audience: the basis on which the website is built.
Start with two questions: why do you need a website and who is it for. It’s easy to start with the design, but you need to have a strategy in place first. If the purpose and the target audience are loose, the page may look pretty, but it won’t help your business achieve its goals.
If you are selling a service or product, you need to design a clear path from interest to purchase. It starts with an unambiguous headline and continues with a short explanation of what you are offering and who will benefit. In the first view, there should be a single clear call to action (CTA) that leads to either a price enquiry, a booking or a purchase. If the aim is to build authority, keep the structure simple and consistent so that people can find answers quickly. If you want people to get in touch, the contact should be visible in both the header and the first view of the front page, not hidden in the footer.
The specificities of the target audience guide both the tone and the placement.
– Younger audiences expect a fast, mobile-friendly experience and vibrant visuals.
– Business clients are attracted by a concrete value proposition and a professional tone that gets to the point quickly.
– Older readers will appreciate the larger font size, good contrast and clear menus that don’t require too much clicking.
– For a small business, it’s important to have a phone number and a contact person right in front of you, and a gallery of work for a quick overview.
– A website with an international focus needs content in several languages and it is worth highlighting certificates of competence.
Example: if you’re selling training equipment for young people, use energetic visuals, short texts and a well-designed mobile placement that leads to a purchase in a few steps. If your audience is 50+, a calm design, clear instructions and a simple contact form that’s easy to complete on your phone will work better.
At the top of the front page, put a clear sentence that says who you are helping and what the result will be. Describe the target group in the title or subheading so that the reader can see immediately that you are talking to them. Avoid slogans and describe a specific benefit, such as “more enquiries” or “faster bookings”. Choose one main button and make it clearly visible in the same place. Keep the tone appropriate to the target audience and reinforce the message with real photos of the team and the work they’ve done. This way, the next step is immediately clear and the user has a reason to take it.
2. User experience (UX) and design (UI): a seamless journey for the visitor.
A good user experience keeps the user on the page and naturally leads them to the next step. If the website is uncomfortable to use, the user will quickly leave. A well-designed UX means that the user understands what to do next at every moment and gets to the goal with a few clicks.
A phone number that hides at the bottom of a page and requires a long scroll is a bad experience. A well-designed page will have a short and logical menu, usually with five to seven main options. A visual hierarchy helps the eye move from headings to subheadings and then to clear calls to action. Buttons are clearly named and easy to press.
The majority of visits are made from a phone, so mobile viewing is a key, not a peripheral, feature. Too small a font or small buttons make navigation cumbersome. Keep text dark on a light background, avoid light grey on white and use large enough lettering and buttons that are comfortable for your thumb. This way, the page is readable and usable on different screen sizes.
Example: a dental clinic’s homepage should have a big “Book an appointment” button at the top, a simple menu and a visible address and phone number. One of our clients saw a 40% increase in bookings after the contact button was moved from the menu to the first screen and the wording was made clearer.
If you want to quickly check that your homepage is working, take a fresh look at it as a first-time visitor. Do you have an immediate idea of what to do next? If the answer isn’t clear, refine the layout and wording, and make the main call to action visible. This way, the journey will be smooth and the user will arrive confidently at the desired action.
3. The technical side: speed, SEO and security
If the page is slow, the user’s journey will be interrupted and he or she will select the next result in the search.
Speed
After three seconds, most visitors leave. The reasons are usually large image files, heavy add-ons or a weak server. Image optimisation, code clean-up and quality hosting deliver a quick, measurable win. PageSpeed Insights measures how user-friendly a page actually is: LCP shows how quickly the main content appears, INP how quickly the page responds to clicks and input, and CLS whether content jumps out of place during loading. The goal is simple: the page must be fast, responsive and stable.
For more on page speed and load time, click here: Website speed – why a slow page is costing you customers and Google rankings.
SEO
In 2025, it’s all about the user experience and a clear response to a query, not keyword stuffing. Use a single H1 heading and logical H2-H3 subheadings, create a network of internal links (service → case study → FAQ) and divide the text into short paragraphs. The title and the meta description are designed to earn clicks: describe the value clearly and avoid clutter. Add structured markup (Schema markup) to help Google understand the content and highlight it in search results (e.g. Organization, BreadcrumbList, FAQs if applicable). Use Google Search Console with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for measurement and refinement.
SEO is not just about technique: consistent, useful content brings visibility. If you’re installing windows, for example, write “How to choose windows” or “5 mistakes in window maintenance” – stories like these answer real questions and bring in organic traffic. Seo service
Security
HTTPS is the minimum. Without it, the browser will warn you that the connection is not secure, which reduces trust and prevents you from going to your page. Add an SSL certificate, keep content management and add-ons up to date, use strong passwords and two-factor authentication if necessary. This is particularly important for an e-shop.
For more on security and protecting user accounts, see here: How to protect your accounts online in 2025? Passwords and 2FA in plain language
Example: one small e-shop lost 30% of purchases because it took 8 seconds to load a page. After image compression and a server change, the number of purchases increased significantly in the same week.
Practical step: order a speed and safety check. Image compression, cache tuning, CDN deployment and system upgrades can cut load times by up to half and reduce common security risks. This is a basic need for a website, not an additional service.
4. Content and communication: a message that drives action
The design and the technical solution bring people to the page, the content shows the next step and gives a reason to take that step. Generic slogans such as “we offer a quality service” are not convincing. Be clear about what you do, who it’s for and what the customer will get. Plan your content so that you cover topics consistently – service descriptions, customer stories, FAQs and more in-depth guides.
A call to action, or CTA, is a message or button that tells the user what to do next: “Request a quote”, “Book an appointment”, “Call”. Make the main call to action visible from the first view, repeat it in logical places and keep it clearly distinguishable from other buttons. One clear CTA guides the user more confidently than several equally important buttons.
A well-functioning wording is specific and result-oriented. For example. This kind of phrase says who the service is for and what the benefits are.
It’s the real photos of your team and the work they’ve done that build trust, not archive photos. Short videos – an introduction to a service, customer feedback or a snippet of a workflow – hold attention and help convey complex information quickly.
Example: a real estate broker changed from a vague “Contact us” to a clear “Book a free valuation” and the number of enquiries increased by 70%. The content remained essentially the same, the only change was to the call to action.
Practical step: put the main CTA in the first view, keep its text specific and link it to internal links for a smooth journey. For example, from the service to the case log and from there to the CTA, which removes the last doubts before the query.
5. Maintenance and development: the website lives with the business
A good website evolves with your business. If you ignore it, information becomes outdated, technology becomes obsolete and trust diminishes. The result is less visibility and fewer queries.
The content needs to be regularly updated. Add new services and case studies, publish guides and team news. This shows customers that your business is active, and search engines prefer fresh content. The technical side also needs to stay up to date: software updates, backups, security patches and speed optimisation are not an extra extra, but daily maintenance.
Example: one client had a blog for several years. The last post was in 2019. When the content was updated and the necessary technical fixes were made, organic traffic from Google increased by nearly three times. The company stayed the same, but the impression became fresher and the user found the information faster.
Recommended frequency of maintenance: once a month
- Install the latest versions of content management and add-ons.
- Check that backups are working and restores have been tried
- Check over speed and security, fix broken links
- Update at least one content unit: article, case story or service leaflet.
This monthly routine keeps your website functional, secure and visible, and supports your company’s turnover targets without big jumps.
Learn more about website maintenance here.
6. Accessibility and WCAG: convenient for all
Accessibility means that the website is easy to use for everyone – on phone and computer, young and old. It is good practice to have clear headlines, legible text, sufficient contrast, descriptive alternative text to images and buttons that are easy to press. This way, your message reaches all users and you avoid easy mistakes.
In practical terms, this means that text is easy to read, headings help you to navigate through the content, images have alternative text to describe the content for those who can’t see the images, and important actions can be performed without a mouse. If the layout is clear and the buttons are big enough, the user will find their way quickly.
The impact is measurable. When we made the buttons bigger on one customer and increased the contrast, we saw a 50% increase in contact. Accessibility isn’t a burdensome rule, it’s a business opportunity: more people can take advantage of your offer.
Practical step: open the page on your phone and computer and try to do three things – find the contact, fill in the form and navigate to the main menu. If any of the steps are cumbersome or confusing, refine headings, enlarge lettering and buttons, and improve contrast. This will make the homepage both more user-friendly and easier to understand for everyone.
More on website accessibility and WCAG here: Accessibility 2025.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Information piled up on the homepage creates noise and distracts focus
- Too long menu makes you search, not find
- Poor readability: small font, poor contrast, long and dense paragraphs.
- No call to action – visitor does not know what to do
- Outdated content and broken links undermine trust
- Lack of mobile-friendliness drives away a large part of the audience
Summary and next steps
A website is first and foremost a business tool, not just a design sample. A clear purpose, an understanding of the target audience, a thoughtful user experience, proper technical execution, meaningful communication, consistent maintenance and accessibility are the foundations. If you are active in a local market, add contact details and business category so that the page appears in local search results.
Start with a simple check:
Is what’s important immediately visible on mobile?
Is the main call to action on the first screen?
Is the content fresh?
Is HTTPS and updates OK?
Does accessibility support real use?
The first measurable improvements often come from increasing speed and making CTA more visible. In the long run, consistency wins.
Web Systems has been developing websites for 20+ years. Our team covers the entire chain, from strategy and design to development, maintenance and security to keep everything running smoothly. Making a website
Sources used:
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data
https://web.dev/articles/why-https-matters
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide
