Web Design Types That Make For the Best Business Website

January 24, 2023 | By: Scott Lard

When creating a website for your business, choosing the right style and type of web design is an important part of making the site consistent with your company’s branding and overall goals. While your website design firm will handle the coding and internal development side of things, the type of design is largely up to you as the business owner.

There are many different types of web design styles. From modern and minimal to bold with striking typography — how your site looks and feels is completely unique to your business. There are also different types of site designs regarding functionality, layout, features, and content. The user experience is largely defined by the choices you make for your site’s aesthetic and functional appeal.

To make the best choice for your business purpose, read on to learn about the different types of web design, the pros and cons of each, and other important considerations when choosing from different website designs.

Different Types of Web Design

The ideal web design type for your business will depend on a variety of factors, including what kind of business you do, what kind of consumers will be visiting your site, and how attention-grabbing you would like your site to be. While a web development firm and its team of designers can help create the visual elements according to your preferences and branding, you’ll have the opportunity to choose between the many different website layouts available. Below are some of the most popular web design types for business websites.

Single Page Layout Web Design

One of the most common types of website design is a single page website. The simplest website layout available, a single page site, consists of just one page that features everything on the site in one place. Although it sounds extremely simple, don’t think that these kinds of websites are flat and lacking in presence or functionality. Visitors can scroll through the single page or navigate the page with a navigation menu that links to the different components on the page.

Pros & Cons of Single Page Design

Single page designs are easy to create and are ideal for an organization looking for something clean, to the point, and functional. However, this type of design won’t be functional for an e-commerce website for businesses looking to sell products and services. For businesses looking to have multiple landing pages, single page web designs aren’t ideal.

Responsive Web Design

Responsive web designing has become increasingly popular, and for good reason. With a responsive design layout, the site will adapt to fit and perform on any display type, size, or orientation. This increases accessibility for users and opens up your site to a much wider audience. With a responsive design, you won’t lose a visitor simply because their device doesn’t accurately fit their screen or browser, as the images, text, and menus will be manipulated automatically for any size of screen. This eliminates potential cross browser issues. As mobile devices like phones and tablets have become the most common way we access the internet, web standards have shifted to prioritize this style of design.

Pros & Cons of Responsive Design

Responsive design has many benefits, not the least of which is increased usability for all users, including those on the go and individuals with particularly large or small device screens. With a responsive design, all users will have a seamless experience regardless of what device they view web pages on. In addition, this eliminates the need to build a separate mobile site. However, for responsive designs, you’ll need to hire a professional web design agency with expertise in responsive design, and the site will take more time to create.

Custom Web Design

With a custom approach to web design, your web designer will create a site that is completely unique to your business. Whether you would like a blog website, a site with an online shopping cart, or a basic webpage for your business, a custom design will help you achieve exactly what you’re looking for. To create a custom site, web development companies take information provided by their clients and cultivate a one-of-a-kind website. Custom design requires a large set of skills from the developer, including things like CSS, HTML, javascript, jQuery, and more, to create a totally unique design. But the work is often worth it, as a custom site will set companies apart from their competitors.

Pros & Cons of Custom Design

The main advantage of having a custom design is that your site will be completely your own in every aspect. There is no better way to create a database, e-commerce site, portfolio, or other online space for your business than with a custom creation. However, despite that, there are some reasons why businesses may steer away from custom design. For example, custom design typically costs a lot more than a template website, and that may not be in every business’s budget. In addition, businesses may not have time to wait for a custom design.

E-commerce Web Design

E-commerce websites are some of the most common sites required for businesses. Technology has made it possible for shoppers to access products and services online at the touch of a button, and now it is up to businesses to take advantage of customers’ desires to shop via an online store. The key to doing so is having the right front end shopping cart interface to meet the needs of online customers.

To sell items or services online, your web developer will need to prioritize features and functions including: 

  • Product pages with categories/sections
  • Product display visuals via images and/or videos
  • Product description, details, and reviews
  • Secure online payment processing
  • Shipping partner integration
  • Customer account creation/management of payment, shipping, and contact information

Whether you sell products or specialize in selling a service, having the right tools on your website to help facilitate sales is key. People are more likely to spend money with companies whose sites are easy to navigate, use, and have a seamless checkout process. When it comes to online shopping, first impressions truly matter.

Pros & Cons of E-Commerce Design

The main advantage of having an e-commerce website is the ability to sell products and services online. With the right structure and functionality, your clients and customers can purchase anything available from your company at any time. However, the challenges associated with creating a new e-commerce site or updating an existing one include finding the right experts to assist in construction, finding ways to set your online shop apart from competitors, and the time and investment it takes to not only create the site but also handle marketing and advertising for it.

What are the Most Important Considerations When Choosing a Web Design Type?

When are we choosing a Web Design

Before choosing what type of web design is right for your business, evaluate what your needs are, the interests your clients and customers might have for the new site, and what purposes the site will fulfill in terms of achieving your business goals.

To best achieve this, you’ll need to find a web designer with expertise and range. Be sure to choose a web designer or firm that has experience creating the kind of website you’re looking for. Ask for examples of their past work in order to see if their approach to design is in line with your overall goal.

What are the Most Common Web Design Challenges?

Creating a website is not without its challenges. Some of the most common situations clients find themselves in are:

  • Balance visual appeal with site functionality
  • Struggling to integrate the site with existing third-party platforms and business technologies (WordPress for blogs/articles, YouTube integration for videos, shipping platform integration, payment processing, etc.)
  • Helping the site rank high among search engines through SEO optimization
  • Ensuring the site is scalable for the future
  • Not clarifying how website maintenance will be handled throughout the course of the site’s life

Although these seem daunting, rest assured that the most experienced web designers will be there to help ensure the items on this list don’t cause frustration for your business.

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