Website design creates a great impact on the user experience. Did you know that it takes merely 0.05 seconds for a user to form an opinion about your website? This means that if your website layout does not immediately attract the attention of your target audience, then you can guarantee an increased bounce rate. So, what does it mean to have an effective website design?
It’s the elements of a good website design put together cohesively that make one functional and visually appealing website. Know that website design is not just about aesthetics, but its utility also matters.
When creating a website design, you should always have your users in mind. What does your target audience need from your website? How will they use it? These are the questions you need to answer when thinking about your website’s overall design.
What Kind of Website Do You Want for Your Business?
Going through the Internet, you might have seen how websites are customized and made to fit the brand of the company and its utility to potential customers or clients. Elements of good website design may vary, depending on the kind of website you want to present to your audience.
Is it an e-commerce website where they can easily buy your products? Is it a brochure website where they can know more about your service? Is it a portfolio website where they can see your works? Is it a blog where you share all your thoughts, ideas, and insights?
Whether it could be any of the kinds of websites stated above, visual appeal and good content go hand-in-hand in ensuring more people visit your website and improve your SEO ranking.
How Do You Create a Website Design That Offers a Good User Experience?
When coming up with effective website design, visually, you need to consider these to ensure you get the audience’s attention, and they immediately appreciate your brand’s credibility:
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Stick to Your Brand Colors
Going into this, you’ve probably established your brand colors. Your website is just like any collateral for your business. Hence, you should incorporate your colors into your website design. That way, not only will people immediately recognize it’s your business, but it makes your business collaterals cohesive as well.
You also need to consider its viewability on screen. When a user visits your brand’s website, it should not be glaring to their eyes on their first visit. It will only compel them to click the return button right away. Instead, you need to go back to your color harmonies.
What colors match and what doesn’t? Don’t use glaring colors like bright red, green, orange, or yellow as it may be too distracting for your consumer’s eyes, especially since they’re seeing it on a bright screen.
As much as possible, use colors that stick to your branding. Don’t use too many colors that contrast your initial color scheme as it might get distracting and glaring to a user. Keep it simple and pleasing to the eyes.
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Use Effective Imagery
Imagery is important alongside strong layouts and design elements that will engage the users. As a frontend designer, you need to craft a UI that will keep your users on the page, and it helps when you have the right content to keep them engaged. So how do you use effective imagery in your website design?
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Find the perfect hero image for your landing page or home page.
Whether you use a stock photo or your own photos or illustrations, the image you present on your landing or home page is one that captures the attention of your viewers. Hence, you should make the image clear and relevant to your business. As much as possible, don’t fall into the usual cliché. At the same time, your hero image still has to associate your brand’s message. Be unique among your competitors with your website images.
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Think about the cropping and ratios of your images.
Nowadays, websites are expected to be responsive, which means they cater to desktop and mobile users. That’s why when you design for both the desktop and mobile versions, you need to consider the ratios and crop sizes of your images. Find images that are not pixelated when they get on the desktop screen and adjust your image for the mobile screen, so it will not compromise the overall look of the website.
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Use appropriate vector images for your website’s icons.
You can either use stock images for icons and brush it up on Adobe Illustrator, or you can create your own but still with symbols that are familiar to the user. If you’re creating your own symbol and it may not be familiar to the average user, don’t forget to label it, so it will be easier for the users to navigate through the website.
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Curate the assets of your e-commerce or portfolio website.
When creating an online shop, you need to make it as appealing as possible. If you showcase your products, it must focus on the picture rather than other elements. You can use a background remover to eliminate distractions. As much as possible, make the background of your products simple and supplementary to make your product pop out.
At the same time, if you’re planning to showcase your portfolio on your website, you need to curate the images you’re going to use to make it more cohesive. If you want to present your diverse style, just make sure to categorize it into groups, so it’s more pleasing for the user to go through.
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Don’t add or overcrowd your webpage with imagery.
Too much of something can be a bad thing. Make sure to choose your images wisely and only use those needed on your website. When you add a little too much, it could distract the user from the written content you’ve provided and wanted them to read. Design is not only aesthetics, but it is also a function. Therefore, you should place images or illustrations to provide the user with additional information.
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Use the Right Font
Choosing the right font is crucial in your website design. Think of it this way, when the user can’t read your content or find your texts an eyesore, they’re going to get their information elsewhere. That’s why you need to be intentional when identifying which font to use for your website design. Here are the things you should consider when choosing the font:
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Think of your branding.
Are you running a serious type of business, or are you the fun-loving business? Your font type allows users to know what tone your brand wants to present to them. Imagine this, what would you think if a bank used this font for their ad:
Typically, when you think of round fonts, you think of fun brands or businesses, rather than a bank. But if you use this…
It’s not too intimidating but still provides a more serious tone to the message. More or less, it’s an approachable style that you can see in bank advertisements informing their clients that they have launched their mobile banking app.
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It has to be readable.
As mentioned previously, if your font is not legible, then your potential client or customer may leave your website and shop elsewhere. Avoid using curly type fonts or other stylized fonts for your website design.
It might not be legible for some users, which will make your content hard for them to read. Instead, use serif or sans serif fonts.
Generally, serif typefaces are easier to read for a lengthy copy as it helps the eye travel across the line, especially if the lines are long. But overall, you have to consider your target audience. Sans serif fonts are good for children and anyone who is learning to read.
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Limit the total number of fonts.
You don’t have to flaunt the number of beautiful fonts you have stored on your computer. Like using too many images in your website design, using too many fonts will distract the user from the actual message you’re trying to convey. Having 2-3 fonts on your website design is good enough.
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Have a decisive contrast to multiple typefaces.
If you’re planning to use multiple fonts in your website design, they have to be diverse. Don’t use two fonts that look identical. At the same time, don’t use fonts that do not look good together. Choose your fonts wisely and make them harmonize with the rest of the elements of your website design. The typical route of diversifying your font is combining serif and sans serif fonts. You can use serif for the paragraphs and sans serif for the headings or titles.
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Layout the Right Way
Your website’s layout greatly contributes to your user experience. If your layout is too clunky, cluttered, or empty, then it won’t appeal to your target audience. You need to find the right balance and arrange your website’s elements in a way that makes it appealing to their eyes. So how do you do this? Here are the general rules for creating your layout design:-
Rule of Thirds
Even other artists will tell you to follow the basic rule of thirds when creating a visually appealing piece. What is the rule of thirds? It is using grid lines made up of three rows and columns. Place your subject or point of focus on the areas where the lines meet.
If you’re having a hard time creating your website’s layout, you can do this instead. It’s easy and effective for any website design.
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Visual Hierarchy
For this type of layout, the rule is that the most important image should be the one that gets the most space so that it can grab the user’s attention immediately. Should you have multiple subjects for that, then you’ll have to divide the space equally for each, then make the CTA buttons stand out so that they will be easier to spot and click.
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Balance
Balance is one aspect of visual design that makes an impact on the overall look. Having harmony on the layout makes it more well-presented and clean. As much as possible, don’t fill one area of your website too much and leave one way too empty. Find a balance in putting your elements together, and don’t simply make it monotonous. Add some visual hierarchy to it, too.
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Flow
Unlike visual hierarchy, wherein you arrange elements by its importance in your design or flow, you arrange elements based on how the user is going to scan the page. The transition from one element to the other has to be a smooth and logical flow, so you can direct the user’s eye to where you want it to go on your website.
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White Space
You might be hesitant to use white space for your website design because it will look empty. However, that’s not the case. What’s great about white space is that, when well thought out, it gives your users a moment to breathe in your website.
With websites filled with tons of information, it would be a cognitive burden on the user. That’s why it’s good to balance it out with negative space.
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Grid
Grids are one of the easiest yet most effective ways to layout your design. It can be great for online shops or even website portfolios to showcase your products or works. Using a grid layout balances out space on your website, making it look clean and orderly.
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Animate with Intent
Are you planning to animate your website?
Nowadays, you’ll see a lot of web designers trying to incorporate animation into their website, whether using transitions or emphasizing a certain element. However, make sure that your website’s animation serves a purpose rather than simply an afterthought. Otherwise, it will affect the user’s overall experience of the website.
Also, it shouldn’t take too long for it to appear or form on the user’s screen, or else, the users won’t be able to get the message you’re trying to portray and find somewhere else to get their information.
These are the things you need to keep in mind when coming up with your website design.
There’s a difference between design and art. Art is more self-serving and caters to the preferences of the artist itself. In design, you need to cater to the preferences of your target audience. When creating your website design, you might have all these concepts you want to add to your website as a personal preference. Although you can in some way, you always need to keep your target audience in mind when creating your website design. They should have a great experience, so you can get the traffic and conversions you need to boost your online presence.
Don’t have the time to create your very own website design?
Proweaver Can Create a Website Design That Ensures a Good User Experience
Proweaver has a talented team of web designers who can create custom-made websites that will fit your brand and boost your online presence. A representative will contact you to know more about your business and your target audience, so our designers can come up with an appropriate design that will reflect your business’s branding.
We’ve worked with various businesses in the United States and all over the world, creating platforms for them to serve their clients better and expand their businesses to new horizons.
If you want to know more about how we can help you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today. Call us today at +1 (949) 242-9506.
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