Learn more about the pillars of great website design
There are several billion websites on the Internet because getting your brand, personal page, or organisation onto the web is easier than ever. How can you make sure that your site stands out amongst so many competitors? There are few important things to consider. First and foremost, why are you creating your website in the first place? What is its purpose? Secondly, who is your target audience? Why would they care about you and your content? More importantly, how are you going to convince them to visit, and just as importantly, stay on your website, as opposed to giving their precious time to one of the many competitors in the market?
Like with many creative processes, designing great user experience starts by asking a lot of questions. This is the best way to gather information and encourage thinking. Keep reading in order to learn more about what makes a good website design and how it can be implemented to your website to achieve exceptional results.
Have a great, user-friendly front end
For those who may not know, the front end of a website is essentially the part of the website that deals with “visible” user interactions. In other words, that is the part that you see when you stumble upon a new website, and you get to navigate through the pages, use the interface, and so on. By contrast, the technical elements and processes that happen in the background are known as “back end” – although they certainly have a profound effect on the user interface.
It is very important for a website to be user-friendly. If pages are too hard to understand or navigate, people are turned away. Internet visitors do not have a very long attention span. In fact, they will likely leave in a few seconds if they find it difficult to understand how to use the website or even if the pages are too slow when it comes to loading times. The ideal front should be simple to use, fast, and clean, without too much clutter.
The experience of the user should be one of the most important things to consider when building your website. In addition to that, you should also put some effort into trying to present your brand under the most flattering light.
A website as an extension of your brand
A website should not be only a place where you direct people looking for information about your products or services, but also an amazing opportunity to promote your brand further. Think of it as a virtual business card. You only have one chance to make an impression, and if your website does not look good, it will reflect very poorly on your brand’s image – and in turn, on your reputation. Always treat your website as a true extension of your brand. It is a good idea to align the graphic themes of your design with your offline branding materials, such as your logo, or any particular colour scheme that you are already using for other marketing content or social media pages.
If you are using social media platforms, you should also make sure that you keep them consistent with your website in terms of brand optimisation. Your website, as well as your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your YouTube channel, your Instagram, or essentially any other social media platform that you might be using, should also be really well-connected, not only in practical terms but also visually speaking. This is an important thing to consider when it comes to web design because the website is a vital part of your online presence and, therefore, of your marketing efforts in the digital world.
Make sure the website serves a given purpose
A website should serve a purpose, or even better, multiple purposes. Make sure that your pages are functional enough so that they can seamlessly serve those purposes in a quick, effective, and timely manner. Your website should definitely look as stunning as possible; but never sacrifice functionality for appearance. Ideally, you should aim for a website that works exceptionally well and looks just as amazing.
What kind of purpose can your website serve? There are many different options and strategies at your disposal. In some cases, companies use their websites as a way to drive more sales and promote their products or services. On other occasions, websites are a tool to direct awareness to a specific topic. Again, websites could also be merely archival, or a combination of all of the above. Whether you have a single specific purpose for your website, or you’re hoping that it would be a great platform for a wide variety of tasks and applications, it is very important that you sit down to consider what exactly you need to do and how you can achieve the results that you are hoping for from your website. The best websites that you will find on the Internet are attractive, but more importantly very functional and useful and serving their purpose. Some people and some professional designers will even go as far as saying that a beautiful site is a site that works well. Or conversely, a site that doesn’t work well is just as unattractive to visitors. In other words, don’t get too caught up with complex visuals or layouts if your target audience won’t be able to interact with your website.
Keep it simple
“Less is more” is still highly regarded in any design industry. In fact, minimalism is highly sought after for several reasons. Simple websites are easy for people to understand, and provide a much faster and user-friendly experience than complex ones.
That is not to say a good minimalist site is easy to design. Ironically, simplicity often translates into sophistication, in the sense that a great deal of design effort goes into analysing the design and finding the most optimal web layout. Moreover, a site has multiple pages! This adds another layer of complexity, but allows for good designers to create a streamlined user experience. Non-professional designers often fail to streamline the users navigation, and are usually incapable of designing an easy to use and effective website.
Make sure that your design is not outdated.
Not everyone is aware of the latest design trends, and although you may feel an emotional connection with that old graphic design on your website, it is important to understand that an out of date website is repulsive to visitors. A website that looks dated or works slowly makes your brand look like you’re not in touch with the pace and dynamics of the modern market, and as a result, it might hurt the reputation of your business or brand. Thankfully, you can still find many ways to modernise your website, while still cherishing those distinctive brand elements that you carried along for many years. Best yet, a professional website designer is able to find these ways for you.
Value quality content
Last but definitely not least, you should also be mindful of the quality of the content that you are uploading on your website. In fact, it is not just about how your site looks but is it also about the content that you feature in it. A great looking page might be an incentive for people to stick around and check out your site at first glance, however, it is great content that will prompt the people to stay and become loyal supporters and followers of your brand. Thankfully, creating high-quality content does not have to be expensive. In fact, there are many types of great content that can do wonders for your website. For example, blogging is a fantastic way to add some quality content to your site, which is also great for search engine optimisation, branding, and marketing. In addition to that, you can also consider other forms of content, including unique videos as well as images that are not the usual photos taken from a stock library. Always remember unique, high-quality original content can be the defining factor to the success and appeal of your website. Often the quality of the content is tied to the quality of the user experience itself. Regardless of what your favourite approach to creating content might be, it is undeniable that user experience and quality content need to work hand-in-hand in order for the website to be successful and to attract the audience.
The competition in the digital environment is fierce. There are many people out there trying to reach out to the audience with their websites, and it’s very important to be able to keep up with the best out there if you want to impress the crowd and start building your market. You cannot expect that people will visit and enjoy your website just because it is there. Give people a reason to visit – and return. If you need assistance, be sure to contact a web design agency as soon as possible.
