1. Have a professional logo--and link it to your home page. "Your logo is an important part of your brand, so make sure it's located prominently on your site. "Use a high-resolution image and feature it in the upper left corner of each of your pages, Also, it's a good rule of thumb to link your logo back to your home page so that visitors can easily navigate to it.

2.Use intuitive navigation. "Primary navigation options are typically deployed in a horizontal [menu] bar along the top of the site. Provide "secondary navigation options underneath the primary navigation bar, or in the [left-hand] margin of the site, known as the sidebar." Why is intuitive navigation so important? "Confusing navigation layouts will result in people quitting a page rather than trying to figure it out," at the top of your home or landing pages, put "less important links or pieces of information at the bottom of a page in the footer."

3. Get rid of clutter. "It's very easy these days to be visually overloaded with images, to the point where our brains stop processing information when confronted with too many options," To keep visitors on your site, "make sure pages do not have competing calls to action or visual clutter [e.g., lots of graphics, photographs or animated gifs] that would draw the visitor's eyes away from the most important part of the page." To further keep clutter down on landing pages, "consider limiting the links and options in the header and footer to narrow the focus even further," Another tip to streamlining pages: "Keep paragraphs short. " On most Web sites, a single paragraph should be no more than five to six lines.

4. Give visitors breathing room. "Create enough space between your paragraphs and images so the viewer has space to breathe and is more able to absorb all of the features your site and business have to offer." "Controlling white space through layout will keep users focused on the content and control user flow." With a lot of visual competition taking place on the Web and on mobile, less is more. Controlling white space will improve user experience, increasing returns from the website."

5 Use color strategically. Using "a mostly neutral color palette can help your site project an elegant, clean and modern appearance. It is also important to use a color palette that complements your logo and is consistent with your other marketing materials.

6. Invest in good, professional photography. "Website visitors can sniff out generic photos in a second--and they'll be left with a generic impression of your company "We strongly recommend that our clients invest in professional photography or purchase professional stock photos,"