10 Surprisingly Easy Rules of Website Design

First impressions last a lifetime and this is no exception when it comes to web design. The success of a website entirely depends on its design; utility and usability being the primary determinants. 

A poorly designed website tends to perform badly, with undesirable metrics like low time on site, high bounce rates, and low conversions.  Since your website is the face of your company and what most potential clients will see before doing business with you, it becomes necessary to get it designed cautiously. 

10 Web Design Rules that help Build Converting Websites. 

Know Your Real Audience

First and foremost, you need to know who you’re aiming at. Only a portion of your visitors will actually convert and so, you’ll want to design your website with them in mind.  Show them what they want to see and speak their language. 

Be Clear on What You are Offering

Make sure that any visitor knows exactly what you are selling or the services you provide. It should not take more than a few seconds for people to learn the core of your business. If they do not get it fast and easily,  they will simply leave, which contributes to a high bounce rate. This is the most basic web design rule, but usually the most overlooked. Many sites talk about their mission and what makes them stand out and forget to explain who they are and what they have to offer in simple words. 

Keep it Simple

People on the internet are usually in a hurry and will fly through your site. If you want visitors to order something, ensure their journey is smooth and easy. Have your site designed in a way that feels simple and well-organized. 

A design that’s clean and fresh not only makes the site appealing but ideally helps users navigate from page to page in a seamless manner. 

Style it Right

Your site needs to support the products you sell or services that you offer. It is your virtual storefront and so, you need to style it in a manner that reflects your business and allows visitors to engage with you. 

So, if you sell technology products, you should pick layouts and fonts that have a techie look. If you deal with luxury products, your website reflects the class of the items. 

Easy Navigation

People are bound to spend more time on a site that’s easy to navigate. For ideal navigation, your web design is likely to use a logical page hierarchy, designing clickable buttons and utilizing bread scrums. 

A good web designer follows the ‘3-click rule’ so that people can get the required information within three clicks. 

Color Palette & Imagery

An ideal color combination attracts visitors while a poor one only results in distraction. This calls for choosing a color palette for your site that can create an appealing atmosphere, leaving a good impact on users. 

You should also boost the user’s experience by picking a complementary color palette in order to give your website a balanced look. Ensure you use white spaces as they help remove visual clutter and mess. At the same time, you’ll want to avoid using too many colors. 

Three to four tones for the entire site are adequate for a clear and appealing design. The same rule applies to imagery. Avoid using too many vibrant images. 

Consistency

This is a vital aspect when it comes to web design. It’s important to ensure that all design elements match throughout the website. Your fonts, headings, subheadings, button styles, as well as sizes, should be the same throughout the site. Plan everything in advance and stick to them throughout the website development. 

Reputable designers use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) as they are really helpful in keeping complete information regarding the design elements and styles. 

Fast and Light

Long loading times are perhaps the most frustrating thing for visitors. If your website takes too long to load, the visitors will get fed up and leave, and you can kiss them and their money goodbye. 

As such, it is important to ensure that your text, images, and videos are properly optimized for the web. You can use templates to structure your site, as most of them, particularly WordPress ones, are already optimized. 

You can also hire reputable New Orleans web designers to optimize your files and increase site speed. 

Mobile Friendly

There has been an exponential growth of smartphone, tablet, and phablets usage in the past several years and this has necessitated web design that is effective for all devices. If your web design is not mobile-friendly, then you will only be losing business to your competitors as Google tends to favor sites that are usable in all devices. 

To ensure you are visible to your local audience, hire a professional web design company that can help convert your desktop design into an adaptive and responsive one for all screen sizes. 

Communication

The primary reason people come to your site is to get information and if it’s able to communicate to them efficiently, they are more likely to spend more time, sign up for a newsletter and even purchase a product. 

Tactics that help establish seamless communication with visitors are organizing information by properly using headings and subheadings, using bullet points, and cutting the waffle. 

Testing 

Nobody likes testing a site’s functionality. It’s a boring, time-consuming task that takes a lot of effort to get it right. However, if your website does not work as expected, it will not matter how good it looks or the content it contains. Visitors will just be discouraged and go elsewhere to look for the information they need. 

Conclusion

So there you have it, 10 important rules to follow if you want an effective web design. Also, bear in mind that web design is a task that calls for varying expertise and a wide array of professionals. That’s why it is advisable to hire a reputable web design firm, rather than doing it on your own.