What Makes a Great Website Design?

Everybody knows the age-old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to put this wisdom into practice. A company’s website is a major component of its overall image, and plenty of people make decisions about which companies they will work with based on image. People usually prefer working with companies that express themselves well and are easy to access, and a good website design accomplishes this. Visitors often use a website to get a feel for how a company operates, and a poorly designed or outdated website can throw people off when they want to enlist that company’s services.

When it comes to design, different people like different things, so many of the choices that a website designer makes are subjective; however, there are a few standards that need to be met in order to design an effective website. At FirstPage Marketing, our team of talented website designers and strategists are always ready to come up with a new great website design to suit any business.

4 signs that it is time to redesign your website.

5 Components of Great Web Design

Website design goes beyond selecting colours and backgrounds. It involves intricate strategy and industry knowledge. It is possible to simply slap some new colours on a website template and throw in some images and content, just like it is possible to purchase a tin shed from Home Depot, move a hide-a-bed inside, and call it a home; either option would work in a pinch, but there are better options available. Some important components that factor into a great website design include:

1. Easy Navigation

When a visitor comes to your website, how easy is it for them to move through pages and find important information? Is the navigation cluttered and illegible, or is it organized into tidy categories? Minimalism isn’t a rule of thumb for website design, but it can help when planning out website navigation to keep things simple.

How to improve your website’s navigation.

2. Responsive Web Design

If your website does not flex and resize itself to fit various screen sizes (especially mobile devices), then you are breaking one of the cardinal rules of modern web design. The majority of users now navigate the web using mobile devices over computers, meaning that a website that is not mobile responsive disqualifies the majority of visitors from its audience.

How responsive mobile design can increase conversions.

3. Easy Readability

Using a funky font might make a website stand out, but your website’s visitors won’t thank you for it. Font should be easy to read for both human and bot readers. Using large typeface that stands out on the background with proper spacing between lines is important for a well-designed website.

4. Attention to Audience

A website needs to be designed for the audience it is trying to attract. In many cases, this means using design elements that might not appeal to a wider crowd; however, in these cases, this is okay because the target audience is properly intrigued. Do industry research before beginning with the design of your website and see what works for the competition. It’s important to be true to the brand, but the brand should already be suitable to the industry and audience.

5. SEO Optimization

If you want to get new traffic to your website through Google searches, it is important to design a website with SEO in mind. Some design tactics are friendlier to search engine crawlers than others, so it is important to have a plan in place before finalizing your design. It is also worth optimizing the loading speed of each page, as slow websites can struggle with SEO and search engine rankings.

If you feel like your website’s design is a hindrance to your business, or if you want to work on a better strategy for your digital presence, get in touch with the team at FirstPage Marketing. We’re always ready to talk about how to make the most out of your website design.

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