When it comes to DIYing your website, it can be tough.

Make it easier on yourself by following these 10 tips for DIY web design:

1. Studies have shown that consumers eye-tracking follows a Z pattern when navigating a website; from top left to top right, diagonally down the center to lower left, back over to lower right, so ensure your key content is located in these sections!
   
   If you have a key piece of content to display, make sure it’s in the forefront of your site visitors eyeline!
   
2. Imagery is SO important! You can use images as an extension of your brand to further your message and evoke emotion in your reader. If you don’t have any beautiful imagery of yourself yet, there are loads of amazing stock photo websites where you can download aspirational brand imagery. These are some of my faves:
   
   Unsplash.com – KateMaxStock.com – WellnessStockShop.com – HauteStock.co
   
3. An average website ‘bounce rate’ is 15 seconds, that means the average visitor will spend 15 seconds looking for what they need before clicking off, so be wise to that when prioritising your content and always put the most need-to-know first!
   
4. When building out your website, your goal is to get your viewer from landing on your page to taking action in as few clicks as possible – whether that is checking out on your shop, downloading your free opt-in offer or enquiring to work with you.
   
   Don’t distract them with unnecessary content if you have their journey in mind. You can guide them exactly where you want them to go just by laying out your pillar content front and centre.
   
   Have a package you really want to push? Add a ‘most popular!’ next to it. People hate FOMO.
   
5. Keep CTAs (Call to Action) regular throughout your site. If the user is distracted reading something else, they may forget why they even came here in the first place!
   
   Adding in regular CTAs to book a session, enquire, shop now, opt-in, enroll etc. keep them on task.
   
6. A user’s habits show that they RARELY read every word on your website and often just scan to see if they can spot the keywords they want to see to take action before clicking off. Be mindful of that when preparing your content.
   
   Make strategic use of headers to make certain areas ‘pop’ and grab their attention, so they know they’re in the right place.
   
7. Think of a website page like you’re furnishing a room. You want it to feel welcoming and spacious, not like they’ve walked in to a hoarder house! Be simple, yet effective.
   
   Let’s say you have two reception rooms in your house; one is a family room and the other is a more formal living room. Your family room houses everything from kids toys, to family memorabilia, all of your blu-rays/games consoles/media, probably not your best furniture for fear of sticky hands and pet scratches! It is lived in and it is loved and it serves a purpose.
   
   But when you have friends over for dinner, you probably want to retire to a more grown-up space where there is less clutter and more beauty, so you head to the formal living room. It’s still you, it’s still got family photos and nice sofas and maybe a dog bed or two, but it’s your best-self space. You feel refined and in control. This should be the difference between stage one of getting all your ideas together and the final stage of a well-presented, beautifully considered and intentionally converting website!
   
   The takeaway? Write, edit, edit again, post.
   
8. If you’ve edited and edited and still find yourself with heaps of copy, that’s ok. Some business types just need that.
   
   Consider using coloured or image backgrounds to break up the sections of a long page to give the feeling that it is more bite sized than it actually is.
   
9. Utilise ‘white space’ where possible to add to the spaciousness of your website. Whether that’s a generous line height between your body copy (not too massive though 😉) or using spacers either side of your text blocks to give room to either side, this can trick the eye into believing what its seeing is curated and important.
   
10. Keep your main menu items to a minimum to avoid distraction and, again, keep your user on task.
    
    If you offer 10 different services, don’t put them ALL in your main menu. Utilise drop down bars or ‘parent pages’ so there is a single link for all things service in your navigation. You can use a ‘parent page’ to showcase all of your services and direct them to the one you want them to choose.

I hope this guide helped you a little when it comes to DIYing your website!