Back to the basics: 10 expert tips for your startup's website

Back to the basics: 10 expert tips for your startup's website

A website is a startup's opportunity to distinguish itself from its competitors while also promoting its value and offerings to current and potential customers. An enticing home page with attention-grabbing visuals and a user-friendly interface is sure to boost engagement, but when you're in a rush to launch, crucial components can be easily overlooked. Unfortunately, the cost of ignoring the basics is high when it comes to converting customers.

To find out which elements are most important — from specific design elements to general principles — I asked 11 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) which must-have elements are critical for any startup to put front and center on their websites. 

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The Proliferation of UI Patterns

One of the side effects of responsive design has meant that a lot of sites look similar. However, responsive design isn’t solely to blame. The rise of WordPress sites and the booming theme market also have a hand in it.

And some folks, such as Matthew Monbre, have copped to being guilty of following everyone else’s look with his company’s site.

But having a similar look isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That’s because we’ve changed the way we consume the web, which has resulted in a lot of common UI design patterns. Design patterns have matured and as such, there’s little in the way of innovation when it comes to UI patterns.

In other words, a checkout will still be a checkout and should function as such. Same with a login model. There’s no real reason to reinvent the wheel. UI patterns must guide users through a smooth experience.

- The honos creative team