A mistake that a lot of companies make about website design and management services, is to focus more on user interface without taking other factors into account. Successful website design isn’t just about creating something that looks aesthetically pleasing, it’s a place where people come to not only find out about your brand but see what problems you can solve for them or opportunities you may create.
One of the key elements of modern website design is purpose. Web designers can’t do their job if they don’t know what they need to accomplish.
Before beginning, you should spell out your goals. Having the goals front and centre makes things a lot easier for the whole project. This helps in figuring out how the site should be managed, the types of content that should be on the site, your messaging, and many more.
If you don’t have a plan of action and goals to achieve, the direction of the website may be incorrect and won’t connect with your audience.
Consider this – who is your target audience? What do you want to achieve with the website?
While developing the website, these questions assist us a great deal.
One of the next key elements of a website is its usability. From the home page to every other page on the site, you must address the needs and pain points of your users. If they can’t navigate your site or are confused in any way, they will leave. For ecommerce products, If your site has multiple products, they should be able to search the catalogue and have a seamless checkout experience.
Your site should also be responsive and welcoming, no matter what type of device is being used, i.e. mobile responsiveness. Your wireframe should start mobile-first to ensure you don’t let the mobile users lose out on a robust experience. Try to avoid having too much information, keep your language simple, have a quick and easy layout, and don’t make your paragraphs too long.
The third piece of this initial puzzle is user-focus. Your users determine whether your site is good or bad. Your site should be accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and functional. This is also why you must have a plan in place that directly addresses the wants and needs of your user personas.
Is navigation really that important? Absolutely. Your website should be easy to navigate and easy to load. Your users should know where they are and what page they need to get to from the first interaction. Developing a site map and having clear directional navigation make sense.
If your site has too many clicks to get to what they need, they will leave. Some designers use breadcrumbs to make sure users can navigate and easily get back to where they started. The easier it is to navigate your website that has value, the likelihood of them returning increases.
Using responsive web design to achieve this will help you in the search engines because they check how mobile-friendly your website is for mobile devices. The screen size of the devices accessing your site matters. That’s why the design should have the right design element plan in place where your buttons are accessible and not too small, the type is legible and easy to read, and they can find the menu without problems.
Branding is a crucial part of your overall design. While many businesses may start with colours they like, it’s real science behind building a strong brand. Your brand personality and voice should resonate throughout your website using messaging and words your audience connects with.
The meat of your website comes from the content. This is what draws your audience in and keeps them engaged. It supports your purpose and directs them to take action. This can be displayed in a variety of ways. You may have a blog, videos, and other elements that take them through your brand story, show them what your products and services do, or make them think.
SEO is very important because it helps direct users to your site to get the information they are looking for. It helps you with building a strong online presence and adds value to your design. If your website isn’t friendly to search engines, it won’t be as accessible as you want it to be. The website should rank high and attract visitors.
You already know your website is there to provide information and direct users to do something. That “something” comes from the calls to action on the site. These calls to action are the next steps, which could be a download button, phone number, request a quote link, or something else. Calls to action work to create conversions. They are also a different colour from the other content to stand out.
This is a part of the overall branding but deserves more insight. Modern web design welcomes unique typography because it can lead your users from one section to the next. It also demonstrates what type of brand you are. If your brand is playful but the typography is corporate and very serious, that’s a disconnect that will resonate with your audience. You also want to make sure you’re using fonts that will show up on any computer and not just yours. Web-standard fonts are needed, and text that’s the right size. Typography is also an important element of brand guidelines.
A picture is worth a thousand words. The images you use on your site should be meaningful and align with your purpose. Having a great visual experience that engages your users as they go through the site will keep them on the site much longer than they anticipated. Using text and other content along with those images can help tell a story while providing the information they want or directing them to do what you want. These images help describe what your brand is about without saying much. The goal is to create a lasting impact.
What’s a hamburger menu? Remember we talked about mobile-first? You won’t have an entire menu across the header on a mobile-first site. That’s where a well-designed hamburger menu comes in. They help to increase conversion rates without taking up valuable screen space. All the user sees are three lines at the top of your site that they click to get more information. This helps the user focus on what’s important, removing the other distractions.
White space helps your design remain clutter-free by balancing all the design elements in a cohesive way. Users are drawn to sites that have good white space because they can see everything clearly. Having white space between every element of content is good practice to bolster user satisfaction. The last thing you want is for a user to have trouble finding what they are interested in because there’s too much going on. The white space of your site helps the user focus on the things that matter most – what can help solve their problems.
Speed is important. It’s so important that it can determine whether someone will continue through your site or disappear and go see what the competition offers. Your site won’t drive conversions if it loads slowly. Hence, best hosting service is very important.
Your website footer is important but often overlooked. Most people don’t take the time to scroll all the way to the bottom, but if they do, they will see additional information like the privacy policy, terms and conditions, and copyright.
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