When you think about the different demands involved when it comes to Chicago web design, listing everything down could leave you feeling a little overwhelmed. The truth is, the audiences available in Chicago, especially when you’re thinking about boosting local SEO, are just so dynamic.

This does not mean that coming up with the perfect design that shows the most effective Chicago UX approach – while still making room for any adjustments that need to be done for the sake of localized search engine optimization in Chicago – is impossible.

Here are a few tips that would help you boost your web design, especially if you’re targeting the Chicago market:

• Start with gray, then move on to color.

A lot of designers (even the most experienced ones) often fall into the trap of overdesigning. They want to add so much, that their final output appears overboard.

When you start out with a wireframe, make sure all designs are in grayscale. After this, start adding photography in. From here, you can start adding color to the other design elements. This way, you can easily quit when you have enough color, which is always easier than having to decide what to remove when you already have too much.

• Put those social media icons somewhere less glaring.

Yup, you heard that right. Although marketers are always telling people to focus on social media, you would always have to go back to the basics – what is the goal of your social media profiles? More often than not, you engage in social media so that you can get people to visit your website. When you place your social media icons in a prominent place on your website, you do not only ruin the overall look of the design, you also do the opposite of your goal – you’re trying to get them to leave your website. This, without a doubt, will ruin your efforts to excel in local SEO in Chicago as well.

• Forget the carousel.

The slideshow (otherwise known as the carousel) was such a big hit because it allowed marketers to pack so much stuff on a single page. Imagine having the ability to promote your main product, market a short-term promo, and ask people for their emails all in one page! All this, without making the page seem filled to the brim.

Here’s the problem with the carousel, however – it requires time for people to go through all  slides, and most people have little time (and attention span). Choose a main point and use that on your homepage. Remember that clean and focused will always be better.

• Don’t forget to do a squint test.

Before deciding that a project is finished, always do the squint test first. Move away from your computer screen. Once there’s enough distance there, squint. By doing so, you will see everything else dissolve into a blur except for the exact design element that you want to highlight. Don’t see anything standing out? Then you have a big problem on your hands.

So are you ready to start taking your web design to the next level? Start out with these tips and find your projects improving significantly.