Here at Wix, we think a lot about how to help people create websites their audiences won’t be able to resist. When it comes to this pursuit, you could say we walk a fine line between passion and obsession.
For Valentine’s Day, we’re putting a romantic twist on our usual advice. Think of your website as a Valentine’s Day card for your crush. Just like these festive cards, your website is aimed at making your shoppers feel valued and eager to explore a relationship with your brand. Follow these seven web design tips from our experts, and you’ll have your crush swooning over your website in no time.
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7 ways to make your site irresistible
01. Make it love at first “site” with a gorgeous hero design
Although a long-lasting connection is about more than just looks, a great first impression can kindle the spark that’s needed to kick off a strong relationship. A compelling hero design—the banner that is displayed above the fold—can lead to love at first sight. If you’re in the early stages of learning how to design a website and are still familiarizing yourself, you can read more about website header design or how to design a website with AI.
"A good hero design just makes [a website] much more beautiful," says Wix Marketing Designer Johnny Orel.
Take the hero design of Wix user Generation She, a career resource for Gen Z women in tech, as an example. The split-screen website layout is giving us the feels thanks to its sleek, informative design.
At the top of the page, your gaze is drawn to the eye-catching lime green bar advertising GenShe’s podcast. Below that, the brand’s logo sits next to descriptive categories. The main section of the hero design is the pièce de résistance. It’s home to the brand’s catchphrase, a CTA to sign up for the newsletter and a photo that resembles the website’s target audience. The neutral website background ensures all the hero design’s elements pop.
Thanks to this strategic, informative hero design, visitors to Generation She’s website can immediately see what it’s about and who it’s for. Apply techniques from this example on your website to reel in your crush.
02. Smother your content with the right SEO attention
Looking for a recipe that will get your crush to notice your website and make it Google’s favorite? Cast a love spell with some search engine optimization (SEO) magic.
"Make your website absolutely irresistible with blog posts smothered in intent, sprinkled with on-page optimizations and backlinks,” says Wix Blog’s SEO Expert Rebecca Tomasis.
Use SEO features like researching keywords relevant and adding them strategically into your website content. By appearing higher on search engine results pages, you can grow the visibility of your website.
Tip: Go one step further and start a blog to showcase your expertise and authority to bring more visitors to your site.
03. Bring it to life with animation
Chances are, your boo has a lot of options. Ensure you’re the apple of their eye by incorporating one of the top web design trends on your homepage: web animation and interactivity. While doing this, it’s important to strike the right balance between too little and too much interactivity to avoid seeming uninterested or too desperate.
Wix web designer Ella Joel recommends leveraging “strong interactions that aren’t annoying” on your website. In other words, go for interactivity that keeps your Valentine engaged, but isn’t too flashy.
We’re obsessed with how Wix user Lennnie, an animated character that discusses mental health in an approachable way, masters this balance. The interactivity on Lennnie’s website piques your interest, and makes you want to keep exploring to uncover all of its secrets. Click the poster to buy Lennnie’s book. Click on the closet to shop Lennnie’s online merch shop. Or, click on the laptop to sign up for the loveable blob’s newsletter.
Tip: To add animations to your site, you can add and customize an animation or use a tool like Lottie Files. Read more about importing Lottie animations to your site.
04. Spread the love by making your website accessible
Put yourself in your lover’s shoes and guarantee your Valentine reaches them by implementing website accessibility best practices.
“Over 17% of people in the world have a disability, so, if you want them to be able to enjoy and interact with your website, you want to make sure that you have great content that's easy for everyone to understand,” says Wix’s Accessible Content Specialist Tammy Salomon.
The best websites are informative, look great and are accessible. So, how can you spread the love? Tammy recommends using clear, descriptive headings, as opposed to vague language. For example, if your website is an eCommerce store, name your best sellers category “Bestsellers” rather than something clever like “Top Picks” or “Your Faves.”
Tammy also suggests using high-contrast colors to increase visibility. Not only is contrast one of the most important principles of design, it’s also one of the top factors in web accessibility. Not sure if your website has enough contrast? Use this contrast checker tool.
Another way to ensure everyone can enjoy your website is to add alt text to your images. Alt text is text that describes images to website visitors who use screen readers, a standard practice of good website accessibility.
“Consider the people who aren't necessarily like you when you're building your website to make sure everyone can use the web on an equal basis," Tammy says.
05. Choose typography that speaks to the heart
Ben Riback from Wix’s motion design team says you should use “really good typography, a big title and lots of colors” to capture your lover’s attention.
See typography in action on social media agency Pink Chili’s website, which uses a bold red serif font contrasted against a cool purple-pink background to capture your attention and keep you staring. Everything from the scale of the text to the weight of the font and the colors are designed to captivate you.
Play around with the hundreds of fonts preloaded onto Wix and various website color schemes until you find the combination that speaks to your Valentine.
06. Unconditional love with reliability
Nothing says love quite like reliability and dependability. Knowing that your site is up and running and offering visitors the best possible experience is a win-win for both parties.
With Wix’s site reliability, you can have limitless scalability—all fully-managed for you.
By following web design best practices, you can design with your visitors in mind.
With 99.99% uptime, what can be more dependable and romantic?
07. Take the next step with a CTA
Are you waiting for your Valentine to finally commit to your brand or make a grand gesture? Don’t expect them to read your mind. Instead, tell them what you want them to do with a call to action (CTA). Including CTAs is an important part of learning how to make a website that’s action-oriented.
"You should have a super clear call to action visible on your site,” says Gal Admon, a product designer for Wix Code.
Perhaps you want the object of your affection to add a product to their cart or subscribe to your love notes (i.e., your newsletter). Experiment with different CTA copy and button designs until you find combinations that resonate most with your sweetheart.
However, when it comes to matters of the heart and web design, Gal says it’s important to know your own intent before you expect action or commitment from others.
“You should also understand what you want your users to do on your site,” he advises. “What's the goal?"
Follow design business coach Abi Connick’s lead. We love how every part of her homepage drives visitors towards the next step, from the wiggling blue arrow above the fold that encourages you to keep scrolling, to the action words highlighted with cursive typography to the circle animation around the “Learn More” button at the bottom of the page.
