August 3, 2017

Have you seen the new Alzheimer's WA website?

August 3, 2017

Have you seen the new Alzheimer's WA website?

Have you seen the new Alzheimer's WA website?

When it comes to web design, it’s easy to get carried away. Businesses can get swept up trying to impress their customers with fancy new design techniques that show off their products and services. However, if they’re not careful, they can get so caught up in adding on all the extra bells and whistles to their new site that they forget the most important thing: their target audience.While they might end up with a stunning, cutting-edge website, it’s of little use if it doesn’t appeal to those who are actually going to use it, and therefore fails to deliver any tangible benefits to the business.At Bang Digital, we understand the importance of staying focused on the primary audience and designing websites that enhance the end user’s experience. Because ultimately, the website design is only as good as the audience thinks it is.Here are some of our top tips for developing a finished website that appeals to your target audience and how we helped one of our own clients achieve a website perfectly suited to their specific needs.Working with BangAt Bang, we love partnering with not-for-profit organisations who work tirelessly to help make a difference in the lives of others in our community. That’s why we were extremely excited to team up with Alzheimer’s WA (AWA) - an organisation working with those living with dementia and the organisations that care and support them.However, now Alzheimer’s WA were the ones who needed the support. Working within a tight timeframe for the project, they needed a website built from scratch as they were moving away from the Alzheimer’s Australia federation. With very little lead time, they needed to act fast as they couldn’t risk not having an online presence.“I found the team at Bang to be very professional and easy to work with for the development of our new website. The communication was clear and the response time was very quick to any queries we had,” said AWA’s Digital Coordinator Richard Green.“We knew we were putting pressure on the team with our tight deadline, but they worked really well with us in meeting the initial ‘Phase 1’ project deadline. I was really impressed with their professionalism and skill at delivering a website which met our project objectives.”The change meant AWA would also have to go through a whole organisational rebrand, which brought further challenges to the tight deadline. However, it also presented them with the perfect opportunity to build a fantastic new website to match their stellar services and excellent resources.

The Importance of Designing for your Target Audience

Working to get the project completed in time, we were also focused on delivering a website that spoke to the needs of AWA’s primary audience - people in the WA community living with dementia, their families and their carers.With one of their main objectives outlined as delivering a complete creative redesign of the website with a focus on usability, ease of navigation and branding, we wanted to achieve a clear and concise design that would enhance the user experience and be a perfect fit for their intended audience.Knowing AWA’s target audience helped us to identify the key features that needed to be included. When rebranding the site, we wanted to ensure the new layout was accessible for all users. This meant making sure the website was fully responsive with all the intuitive functions their users would need, including:

  • The ability to change the contrast to normal, yellow and black, black and white, and text only
  • The ability to change the text size from small, regular and large
  • Plenty of links and downloadable content from info sheets to e-newsletters

Bang’s Top Tips when Designing your Website

Having a clearly defined audience is a great start for your site design. After all, your website should act as a marketing tool for your business, so if it doesn’t appeal to the right people or provide any value, then it isn’t serving its purpose.So before you even begin the website build, you need to ask yourself:

  • What am I trying to accomplish with this new site?
  • Who needs to visit the site in order for me to accomplish these things?
  • How will I drive these people to my site?
  • Is there any prominent or defining demographic information I need to include?

These insights should then guide your website rebrand. Here are several factors you should consider:

1. Layout & Navigation

Your website needs to be user friendly so your visitors can easily navigate through the pages and absorb the information presented to them. This means a nice and simple layout with clean white space and clear navigation. The site should be laid out according to a visual hierarchy, paying attention to what content is most important for your users and how they’re likely to expect the site to work for them. Conduct an in-depth site review as if you were a new visitor before going live to increase the efficiency and appeal of your site’s navigation.

2. Colour Scheme

When it comes to using colours in your website design, it’s essential to consider your company’s niche, target audience, branding and the elements of colour theory. Colour is a powerful tool with the ability to influence a user’s mood, emotions and even sway their behaviour. So ask yourself what colours your target audience will best respond to. For example, don’t use dark colours if you’re wanting to uplift your user and offer advice and support. Instead, stick to brighter colours that match your branding.

3. Typography

The style and size of the font on your site will go a long way with your users. It needs to be easy to read, especially if your audience includes senior citizens or people with visual impairments like Alzheimer’s WA. You’ll also want to include the option to increase the font size as necessary to further enhance accessibility for your target audience.Are you looking to launch or re-launch your company’s website? Bang has an experienced team of web developers who will work with you every step of the way to ensure a design that resonates with your target audience. Contact us today.