In many ways, the website of your business is something that’s purely functional. It’s there to drive up traffic and inform as many customers as possible about your brand, especially if that website also contains a direct link to your services.
However, this core functionality doesn’t mean that your website has to follow a certain template, and even if you are hoping to hit certain targets, you want it to excite visitors. If the mere act of visiting and interfacing with your website is enjoyable then that might encourage more people to return to it. It could even become the metric by which your competitors’ websites are measured.
Aesthetic Quality
Your first thought might be that your website needs to look good. This is true. However, looking good is subjective, and even if you can identify another website that is aesthetically pleasing, you wouldn’t want to design yours in exactly the same way. A large part of this comes down to branding.
For example, there might be certain elements of your web design that are directly inspired by what else is out there, but the way in which that choice is presented to your customers might have your own spin on it. Say that the button around a link reacts when it’s pressed, or when a mouse hovers over it. The colors that you use to signify when this button both is and isn’t being interacted with might be specific to your own brand, or it might be an animation that harkens back to your marketing, building up a cohesive image of your brand from marketing to website to purchase.
Functionality and Design
At a point, however, aesthetics might only seem like the surface layer. If visitors to your website quickly discover that this is all there is to it, they might not be so inclined to return.
There are multiple layers to functionality; on the one hand, it needs to pass all of its tests and operate without major error or flaw. On the other, it should also offer your audiences slightly more than they expect, able to provide a suitably impressive experience that your customers might then positively associate with your brand. You can do this with the implementation of technologies like API gateways, researching Insomnia vs Postman to make sure that you go about this in a way that is going to make sense and be effective.
The Question of Payment
If the use of your website is tied up in the service or product that you provide, there’s inevitably going to be a part of the process that involves payment. It goes without saying that customers are going to want this to be a secure and safe process, but they might also want some flexibility in how they pay. Giving your customers options in all areas can go a long way in making your brand feel more customer-friendly, and this can avoid a situation where someone in particular is feeling disadvantaged due to their preferred choice of payment.