Good web design brings a website to life, engages the user, and can be the catalyst your small business needs to attract more customers. A visually appealing website makes visitors want to stay and return. There is a lot to consider when building a website: brand, ease of use, appearance, color scheme, navigation, photography, and mobile compatibility just to name a few. There can also be other considerations like search engine optimization and e-commerce. All of this comes together in your website design. Here are some things all good web designs must have:
1. Attractive Design
Attractive web design catches the attention of visitors and keeps it. It’s what keeps visitors exploring further into the website. An influential website layout implements basic design principles such as consistent header, logo and navigation pieces. It also includes good contrast between text and background while displaying good balance between text, imagery and white space.
2. Balanced
A well-balanced web design uses three to four colors at most and has text colors that contrast well with the site’s background color. Graphics need to enhance content rather than distract from it.
Combining visual components including color, images, and slideshows in a clean, professional manner can be tricky to get right.
3. Well Organized Content
Content needs to be presented in a clean, sophisticated, streamlined way. Best practices for content in a web design include:
- Using one or two common, attractive fonts.
- Consistent use of fonts, colors, and sizes.
- Content that is accessible with minimal clicks.
Content presentation can also enhance your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
4. Easy Navigation
Navigation directs visitors through your website based on what they are looking for. Ensure all navigation hyperlinks work properly and are not broken. Clearly label main navigation links, provide text links in the footer section. A good website blends easy navigation with a stylish design.
5. Usability
A great website requires sound functionality. This means all hyperlinks work, there are no errors, and all forms and pages function as they should. It also applies to how the website works across all browsers, operating systems and mobile devices. It must work perfectly and look great on older and current versions of browsers and be mobile-friendly. All elements should work seamlessly and it should be easy to move around your site.