When designing a website, many people think only about the aesthetics, such as the logo placement and background colors.
However, web design is not only about the appearance but also usability, user experience (UX), and more. In fact, 88% of people are less likely to return to a website with a poor UX.
One more aspect you should consider when building a website is its hosting. Make sure you host your website on a reliable hosting provider like Hostinger because it will influence the site’s speed and storage.
This article compiles the top six web design tips you need to know, so even beginners can have a website with an aesthetically pleasing design and better UX that visitors will love and return to.
An intuitive navigation is crucial to help visitors discover what they’re looking for. It simplifies moving from one point to another on your website.
Here are several tips to optimize your website’s navigation:
- Limit the number of menus and make them descriptive.
- Include a sitemap in the footer to lead visitors to important pages.
- Put a search bar near the top of each page.
- Have a logo at the top left corner of the page and make sure clicking it leads to the homepage.
- Consider applying breadcrumbs on each page.
2. Have A Simple Design
A cluttered website design can distract customers, so it’s better to include only the necessary elements, like the menu, logo, tagline, and main calls to action (CTA).
Using ample white space is also an effective practice to achieve a simple yet effective design. White space refers to the area surrounding main elements so users focus on them. It can be a solid color or visual that doesn’t distract attention, like a picture of the sky.
3. Understand Visual Hierarchy
According to Elma Beganovich, the cofounder of the Top Influencer Marketing Agency, when you want to position your brand as an authority in your industry, it is important that you understand visual hierarchy when creating your website as this impacts the first impressions users see when they land on your site.
Visual hierarchy means using a different size, color, and positioning to determine the order in which users see page elements. It helps people locate the important information quickly as many scan web pages instead of reading every word.
For example, Nike‘s homepage prioritizes three elements: the orange logo, a big headline, and a visually-popping color for the CTA buttons. Everything else – the navigation menu and explanatory text – is less prominent.
4. Check the Site Responsivity
54.8% of global website traffic comes from mobile phones. Not surprisingly, users will leave a website that doesn’t render properly on their devices.
Therefore, a responsive design is essential to build a website that customers will love. It means that your website content and features should automatically resize to fit the screen dimensions of whatever device a visitor uses.
Take a look at WillowTree‘s website. The desktop version shows all of the menu items and places the CTA button next to the headline. Meanwhile, the brand uses a hamburger icon and puts the CTA button under the headline on smaller screens.
5. Make Compelling Content
Designing your website around visuals only may harm readability.
Therefore, use a legible font and size for text and separate it in digestible blocks so it doesn’t overwhelm visitors. Avoid showy fonts for the body because they’re difficult to read.
Moreover, the headline at the top of a page should be descriptive so the visitors know right away that they are in the right place. Such headlines also help you target certain keywords.
For your content itself, employ a voice that reflects the personality of your brand to evoke feelings and connect with readers.
And make sure you have interesting content that engages your audience. One thing you can do is find videos on Pinterest or YouTube that you can place on your site. You can use a Pinterest video downloader or YouTube shorts downloader to find good content.
6. Ensure Style Consistency
Going for a consistent style means your overall web design should look and feel similar across all pages. This includes backgrounds, typography, and the tone of your writing.
Consistency is important to help you improve UX. It will make visitors feel familiar with the overall layout across pages, resulting in an intuitive navigation.
Simply Chocolate’s website is an excellent example of style consistency. Its pages use capital letters and sans serif fonts for headings and a smaller serif font for the body. The brand also employs similar animations on each product page.
Conclusion
Creating a website that visitors will love is not only about good looking design elements. There are other principles you should comply with to ensure that users want to return to your website, such as:
- Easy navigation
- Simplicity
- Consistency
- Responsive design
- Visual hierarchy
- Content
We hope this article has taught you the basics of good website design. This is a broad topic, so don’t be discouraged if you feel like there’s a lot that you still don’t understand. Let’s learn more and create a fantastic website together!
