When you open a brick and mortar store, you plan it carefully, what kind of signage to use, where to put the display cases, how wide the aisles should be, what kind of lights to use.
You think about all this because you know that how you present your merchandise to the customers is crucial not only in getting them to buy, but persuading them to come back.
Your website design is just as important. All the elements that go into the site need to be appropriate, sharp, and harmonizing. It is important for the look and feel of the site to be consistent throughout.
If you are using a WordPress foundation, choosing a theme is the first step to making that happen. A good theme will keep your color palette and fonts consistent and your layout logical.
If you are designing from scratch or have hired someone else to do it for you, you need to think seriously about certain points before you start.
Color schemes
& Fonts
Too many different colors, especially if they clash, are distracting and may be irritating to your users. Pick two or three coordinating or contrasting shades and stick with them throughout the site.
Fancy fonts may look good on signage, but it can be very difficult to decipher in product descriptions. A clean easy to read font is vital. Like the colors, it needs to be consistent all the way through the site. You could pick something exotic that is eye catching for headlines, but stick to normal print in a size 12 font for most purposes.
Backgrounds & Graphics
Complicated patterns or photographic scenes behind your text make it hard to read. Graphics are important and can greatly enhance your site, but the words are what sell your products. Keeping backgrounds subtle makes your text stand out more.
Regardless of what platform you are using your site will need graphics to break up the text and fill the white space on the pages. The old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” is still true.
A page that is all text, especially lots of text, can be subconsciously intimidating to some people. Even those who aren’t bothered by solid walls of words will be more attracted to a page that has pictures breaking up black and white monotony.
At the same time, the graphics like the colors and the words need to have a consistent look and feel with the rest of the site. Even if your website won’t be selling products or services online, it is the face your company is presenting to the world at large.
If people see your site as pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate, and informative, they are more likely to come back and to recommend it to there friends.
I’ve had many people tell me, “I put my website address in Google and it came up at the top of the list.” Usually, they are saying this to indicate they don’t need to worry about SEO, but that’s a different topic. The reality is that coming up at the top of the list for your domain name doesn’t help much if your potential customers aren’t searching for it. That’s why it’s important to think about how people will look for you when choosing your web address. 
Your grandfather and father probably paid for a business listing in Ma Bell’s annual book. How much it cost them depended on the size of their ad, but having an ad was crucial because that’s where people went to find businesses when they didn’t know the exact location or wanted to get more information. It was the 20th century Contact page, delivered free to everyone who had phone service and available at every phone booth, until someone tore out the page with your ad on it. The biggest problem here is the absence of phone booths today and the growing numbers of people who elect not to have a land-line, therefore giving up their personal access to the old yellow pages. 