Web design in Exmouth
Exmouth has a large retired population, and that turns something usually treated as a design preference into a straightforward commercial question: can your customer read the page and complete the form?
A surprising number of local sites lose business to type that is too small, contrast that is too low, and forms that punish a mistake.
- Tourism and watersports
- Care and healthcare
- Trades and property
- Retail
- Marine
Selling to Exmouth
Worth knowing hereAn older resident population makes clear typography and simple forms a commercial matter rather than a design preference.
Legibility is not a style choice here
Body text below about 16 pixels, grey text on a paler grey, and thin decorative typefaces all cost you enquiries in this town specifically. So does a phone number rendered as an image, because it cannot be enlarged or tapped.
None of that requires an accessible-looking website. It requires ordinary sizes, real contrast and text that scales when somebody pinches to zoom. Sites that get this right do not look like compromises; they look calm.
Forms are the other common failure. Asking for a postcode in a specific format, timing out, or clearing every field after one error will lose a customer who was entirely willing to buy.
The marina and the watersports trade is a different customer
Sailing, paddleboarding and the marina bring a younger and more seasonal audience, booking on a phone, often the same day, often deciding on the weather.
For that trade the priorities invert: speed, an obvious price, and a booking route that works in three taps. Conditions and whether today is on are the content people actually come for.
A resort with a real off-season population
Unlike some of the Devon coast, Exmouth does not empty. The commuter link into Exeter and the resident population keep trade going through the winter.
That means the site should not read as a summer brochure. A business that talks only about the season tells its year-round customers that they are an afterthought, and those are the customers who carry February.
Questions people here ask
- Does making a site readable make it look old-fashioned?
- No. Generous type, real contrast and clear buttons are simply good design; the association with dullness comes from sites that did nothing else. It is one of the cheapest ways to win business in this town.
- What is the most common form mistake?
- Clearing the whole form when one field is wrong, and demanding a specific format without saying so. Both lose customers who were ready to contact you.
- Should I build around the summer?
- Not here. Exmouth trades all year, and a site aimed only at visitors ignores the residents who keep it alive out of season.
Sites we have built
Live, working businesses. Visit them and judge the standard yourself.
Also across the South West
Tell me about your business.
One message is enough to start. I’ll read it and reply myself, usually with a couple of questions and a clear price.
Liam Tapp, Website Builds