The “golden rules” of web design are to keep your site fast, clear, mobile-first, accessible, and built around one simple next step for your customer.
For most Orlando and Central Florida service businesses, your website is not a portfolio piece, it is a sales tool that has to work on a phone, load quickly on cellular, and answer trust questions in seconds. That means the best designs usually look “simple” because they remove friction: fewer choices, clearer pages, and stronger calls that match what people came to do (call, book, request a quote, or visit).
Golden rules we use on high-performing small business sites
| Rule | What it means in practice | Fast self-check |
|---|---|---|
| Start with one primary action | Every page should push one main action: call, book, or request a quote, with a secondary option only if needed. | Can a first-time visitor tell what to do next in 5 seconds? |
| Mobile-first layout | Design for thumbs, short attention, and stacked content, then expand for desktop. | Does the header stay clean on a phone without covering content? |
| Speed is part of design | Light pages, compressed images, fewer heavy scripts, and clean fonts help both user experience and SEO. | Do your main pages feel “instant” on mobile data? |
| Clear visual hierarchy | Headlines say what you do, subheads explain details, and buttons stand out without being noisy. | Can you skim and still understand the offer? |
| Readable typography | Comfortable font size, strong contrast, short line length, and enough spacing for scanning. | Can you read the page at arm’s length on a phone? |
| Trust comes before polish | Show licensing, awards, reviews, photos of real work, service area, and clear contact info. | Do you look like a safe choice without digging? |
| Accessibility is non-negotiable | Keyboard-friendly navigation, alt text, labels, contrast, and predictable forms help everyone. | Can someone complete your form without a mouse? |
| Simple navigation | Keep menus short, group services logically, and reduce dead ends with clear internal links. | Is your top menu under 7 items? |
| Forms should be short | Ask only what you need to start the conversation, then qualify later. | Is your form under 6 fields for most pages? |
| Design for local intent | Spell out your city and service area, show a map or landmarks if helpful, and match what people search. | Does your homepage say who you help and where? |
If you want help applying these rules to your current site (without rebuilding everything), our web design service focuses on getting the structure, messaging, and conversion path right first, then styling around it.
Two rules that get missed most often are speed and accessibility. Speed is usually an image and script problem, not a “hosting is bad” problem, and accessibility is often small fixes that remove big roadblocks. If you’re on WordPress, our WordPress hosting setup is built to keep performance steady with backups, security, and a clean server stack.
Finally, treat design and SEO like teammates. A page can look great and still lose business if it hides the phone number, buries pricing signals, or splits attention with too many options. If you’re auditing your site, scan our common web design mistakes checklist, then double-check your layouts with our responsive web design guide so every device gets a clean experience.
If you want a quick reality check, pick your top money page (your main service) and test it on your phone: scroll once, try the call button, try the form, and see if anything feels slow or confusing. That simple test usually reveals exactly what to fix first.
