Have you ever walked into a store and felt overwhelmed by the large selection of products on display? This is how many web users feel about web design. It can be difficult to know what web design elements work best for your website, which is why we have put together this list of some of the most important web design tips to keep in mind when designing your site.
1) Create a goal – When creating your website, it is important to have a goal in mind. What are you trying to achieve with your web presence? Whether you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your site, or sell products online, having a clear goal will help you focus on the design elements that are most important for achieving your objectives.
2) Make navigation easy – The easier it is for visitors to find what they are looking for on your site, the more likely they are going to convert. Keep navigation simple so that web visitors don’t get frustrated with their search and leave without purchasing or taking the next step.
3) Clear call to action – A call to action (CTA) is an element on your website that encourages web visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. It is important to make your CTA clear and easy to find, so that web users don’t miss out on your offer.
4) Make it easy for web users to contact you – Don’t forget to include ways for your visitors to contact your business on every page of your website. This will help web users who are interested in your products or services reach out and give you a call, email or make an appointment at your office.
5) Easy to use – Your web design should be easy to use. Avoid using pop-ups, which can be intrusive and annoying for web users. Also make sure that your website is compatible with mobile devices so that web visitors are not prevented from accessing content or converting due to their device of choice.
6) Mobile responsive web design – With an increasing number of web users accessing websites from their mobile devices, it is important to have a website that responds to the device on which it is being viewed. This means that the layout of your website will change depending on whether someone is viewing it on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
7) Add blog posts or articles – Articles provide an excellent way to increase traffic because web users are more likely to return if they find web content that interests them. Not only will adding articles help to keep web visitors on your site longer, but it also helps improve your site’s search engine ranking.
8) Use high-quality images – Images can help to break up the text on your web pages and add visual interest. When selecting images for your website, make sure to choose ones that are high quality and relevant to your content.
9) Don’t use stock photos – Most web users are savvy enough to realize when you’re using a stock photo. If your website doesn’t have images or if the images don’t relate, visitors may be less likely to trust your site.
10) Clear contrast – Avoid using web design elements that may blend in with the background of your web pages. This will help web users to easily read and navigate your web content, increasing their engagement with your site. For example, your call to action items/button should be a different color than the background to make it stand out.
11) Be creative, but follow best practices – While it is important to be creative with web design, you should also follow industry best practices. This means that visitors will have a better experience when they visit your site and web users are more likely to convert because the web design elements make sense for their browsing habits.
12) Approach web design from user’s perspective – Always try to think about how web users will interact with your website. Make web design elements intuitive and easy to use so that web visitors can easily access the content they need and convert on your site.
13) Use web analytics – Web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, allow you to track web traffic data about visits coming from organic search results for keywords related to your business. This data can help you identify web design elements that are working well for your site and those that may need to be changed.
14) Test – You should test all web design changes before launching them live on your website. Testing web pages with real web users will provide you with important insight into what works best to increase conversions, which in turn will help improve web design and your bottom line.
15) Periodically review web design – Your web design should keep up with current trends, but you shouldn’t make major changes too often as this can confuse web users and hurt traffic to your site. Instead of making constant updates, plan for a web redesign every few years so that it doesn’t become overwhelming for web users and they can easily identify your website’s branding.
16) Use web design trends to your advantage – While it is important to follow best practices, you should also consider using current web design trends to help improve the look and feel of your website. This will keep web visitors engaged and interested in what you have to say, which may lead to more conversions.
17) Use web design to build trust – When web users visit a new website, they will first seek out the web elements that help them identify if it is safe and secure for online transactions. One of these web design tools is called an ‘HTTPS’ label which appears as a lock icon next to your site’s URL address in their browser window.
18) Keep it simple – One of the best web design tips is to keep it simple. This means web users should easily be able to identify web design elements and achieve their goals on your site with a minimal amount of effort.
19) Use web design to tell your story – Your website is a reflection of your business and the story you want to tell. Use web design elements, such as fonts, colors, and images, to create a cohesive look and feel that represents who you are as a company.
20) Use web design to show personality – Just like you would with other marketing materials, use web design to show off your company’s personality. Fun and unique web designs can help web users remember your site and may lead to more conversions.
21) Use web design to help your visitors take action – While web users should be able to easily navigate and access content on your site, they also want web elements designed in a way that encourages them to convert. For example, if you are selling products online, make sure the ‘add to cart’ buttons or shopping cart icons stand out so web visitors can quickly purchase the items they are interested in.
22) Create an emotional connection – Web users often make decisions based on emotions, so it is important to use web design elements that evoke positive feelings. This may include using happy or cheerful fonts, bright colors, and images that reflect your company’s values.
23) Control the user’s experience – One of the most powerful web design tips is to use web design to control the user’s experience. This means you can guide web users through your site in a way that benefits your business, whether it be by leading them to specific pages or encouraging them to make a purchase.
24) Use web design to create a unique web presence – In order to be successful online, it is important for your website to have its own unique web presence. This means web users should easily be able to identify your site when they are searching the web and that it stands out from the competition.
25) Make a good first impression – The web design tips shared by web designers should help you create an effective web presence. However, web users will first visit your site to see if it follows best practices and appears reputable at a glance. Make sure web visitors can easily identify your branding from the second they land on your website so that their initial impressions are positive ones.
26) Use a quality website hosting company – If your web host is slow or unreliable, web visitors are going to have a poor experience. Make sure you choose a web host that has fast servers and excellent customer service so web users can quickly load pages without any difficulties.
27) Secure your website – In order to protect your website from hackers and cyber attacks, it is important to use a secure web host and miscelenous security measures such as a firewall, malware scanning, DDos protection, etc. This will help ensure that your website remains safe and protected from unauthorized access.
Follow these web design tips to create a website that is both visually appealing and easy to navigate. By keeping these tips in mind, you can create a website that will help you achieve your business objectives.
We hope this list of web design tips has been helpful. If you are still uncertain about how to make your site stand out, contact us at (360) 450-3711 for a free consultation or more information on our design services.
