We all know that every modern business needs a website– even small businesses. And if we’re being honest, we have to admit that not all small business websites are created equally. In fact, now more than ever, people are expecting your company’s website to be more professional, fast, and functional than ever.
It’s no secret that the first thing most people do when researching a company is check out its website. And if your site isn’t great, you might not even have a chance at earning the business (no matter how great your product or services are).
That gave us an idea. We wanted to spread a little positivity and give some attention to a handful of the West Michigan companies that have gone the extra mile with their website. Sites that delight customers and represent their companies well.
In this article, we’re going to spotlight some Grand Rapids companies– and also give you some tips and pointers that you can apply to your own website in the process.
For the sake of this article, we looked at various aspects of each site, including (but not limited to):
- How is the graphic design?
- How is the content managed on the site?
- What is the overall look and “feel” of the site?
- Is the user experience helpful, and inviting, and is the site easy to use?
Before we get formally started, a couple of things worth noting:
- The sites will be categorized into similar industries, with the companies within each listed alphabetically. This isn’t a numbered list where the order implies any companies are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ due to their positioning.
- While we think that each of these sites has an overall design that’s strong, each one will have a link to a page we think stands out especially– and it won’t always be the homepage.
We hope this article spreads a little love, gives some local businesses some exposure, and teaches anyone reading this a thing or two about strong website design. Let’s get started.
Landscaping, Labor, and Construction
Here are some standout examples when it comes to landscaping, labor, and construction companies in the Grand Rapids area.
Eastbrook Homes
Check out the Eastbrook Homes Site
Why it’s Great:
- Handles a lot of dense information, but still manages to make it beautiful, clear, and easy to digest
- The green and white color scheme is inviting and thematic, hinting toward growth and good prices
- Clear examples of the company’s excellent work are showcased well throughout the site
- Everything is essentially one click away, making the site easy to navigate quickly for customers
Rose Landscape Services
Check out the Rose Landscape Services Site
Why it’s great:
- Easy to navigate and clearly designed with the user in mind– find anything you need to about landscaping quickly and easily
- Beautiful choice of typography and fonts so that a lot of information is clear and easy on the eyes
- Excellent use of brightly colored, gorgeous images to showcase their products.
- Clear calls to action to give them a phone call or request a quote online
Snowden Builders
Check out the Snowden Builders Site
Why it’s great:
- Pulls off a tricky color scheme (red and gray) perfectly, creating a sharp, inviting, and modern-looking site
- Fast, fluid, responsive design that allows the user to navigate quickly and intuitively
- Clearly divided services that various customers can find easily
- A beautiful gallery of recent projects so clients can visualize their future homes
Boutique, Lifestyle, Beauty
Here are some standout examples when it comes to boutique, lifestyle, and beauty companies in the Grand Rapids area.
Design 1
Why it’s great:
- The gorgeous use of white space and the perfect fonts make this site feel clean, relaxing, and welcoming– just like Design 1
- The use of fast videos that play throughout the site creates motion and visual appeal beyond the norm
- They have a wide variety of spa and salon services but do an excellent job of making all of their menu items easy to find and clear
- This site goes above and beyond to list very detailed descriptions of its services with prices clearly listed
Found Cottage
Check out the Found Cottage Site
Why it’s great:
- The delicate and elegant design of the site feels rustic yet sophisticated, inviting users in
- They showcase their products with excellent photographs that truly represent the beauty of their products
- Each product has its own devoted page that includes multiple photos and stirring descriptions
- The site uses unique categories that appeal to its customers such as “white & faded,” “vintage”, and “mercantile merch.”
Lee & Birch
Check out the Lee & Birch Site
Why it’s great:
- The site allows users to shop specific categories easily, such as “tops”, “dresses”, “bottoms”, “accessories”, and more.
- Each category has gorgeous photographs of products, allowing people to visualize themselves in the clothing and accessories before they purchase
- Each specific item for sale has its own well-designed product page that’s minimalist but effective
- The site makes it simple, inviting, and clear to add items to your cart
Food and Breweries
Here are some standout examples when it comes to food and breweries in the Grand Rapids area.
Broad Leaf Brewery & Spirits
Why it’s great:
- The site mimics the exact tone and feel of this brewery and eatery, giving customers an online experience that is powerfully “on-brand”
- The eatery’s drink and food menus use excellent layout and fonts to make choosing a brew or bite simple
- The site is responsive and quick, with an easy to navigate menu
- Broad Leaf has the ability for users to order beer, food, or merchandise curbside directly from their site
Chubby’s Bar & Grill
Why it’s great:
- People eat with their eyes first, and Chubby’s site has some incredible photos of mouthwatering food
- The site divides the eatery’s massive menu into easy-to-understand pages for simple navigation
- Chubby’s wastes no space on its homepage– it’s loaded with easy access to happy hours, and specials, and directly links to the rest of the menu
- The site’s testimonial section is a great showcase of why customers love the eatery, and customers can post new testimonials directly to the website
Osgood Brewing
Why it’s great:
- Osgood focuses on their brews in a big way– the homepage an extensive list of what they’re currently brewing with mouthwatering descriptions
- This site includes some stunning and noteworthy photos of food and beer– its enough to ignite cravings in anyone
- Their online menu is clean, well designed, and inviting, with the ability to click any menu item to order it online
- The site seeks to tell a story, going beyond the normal “info” page, connecting the restaurant to the storied history of Grandville
This is By No Means and Exhaustive List
Is there a Grand Rapids (or other West Michigan) business with an amazing website that we totally missed when making our list? Almost definitely. These are simply the ones that caught our eye at the time we did our research for this article.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of every West Michigan business with a terrific website– in fact, we’re calling on you to help give some attention to any websites we missed. Is there a website (your own or someone else’s) that you think deserves to be given a shout-out? Shoot an email and let us know, and we’ll happily consider them for our next list.
Vizey Can Build You The Website Your Business Deserves
Did you find yourself looking at any of the sites on this list and wishing that your site could look at good? We totally understand, and we can absolutely help.
Here at Vizey, we’re a part of the big family here in Grand Rapids, Michigan area, and we love helping companies just like yours. You might be used to some more agency-focused larger marketing companies, but simply put– that’s just not us.
We’re not some faceless, national web design agency, we’re a local company that understands the Grand Rapids market. And even though we work locally, we can still help your small businesses reach customers all over the country– and even the world.
We primarily focus on helping small businesses build an online presence that represents them well to their target audience. There are so many small businesses that could be reaching more customers, making more sales, and getting more exposure if they had a better website (or in some cases, any website at all).
When it comes to Grand Rapids web design, we handle every aspect of building you a site so you can focus on running your business. But we don’t just design and develop websites. We’re experts of various platforms, so whether you need a Shopify store, a WordPress website design, or anything else, we can build you the perfect website.
Website design, development, and launch is a challenging task, and you don’t have to try to do it yourself. In fact, many small business owners spend a lot of effort and time trying to do their own social media, web design, and digital marketing, only to realize that they hate it. Why not save yourself the headache? Vizey is here to help.
We can help your small business with any of your other digital marketing needs– from social media and video production to email marketing and custom software development and more.
The first step toward a website you love is a quick conversation with us. Let’s talk today about the website of your dreams.