There are a ton of factors that affects a website’s success, such as thought-provoking original content, compelling website design, functionality, and also being easily understandable. You will need a design style or theme for your website which would put it all together. If you are in serious need of some website design tips, then we’re here to help you. We will be covering some of the basic ground rules you should follow when designing your website.
01. Keep your homepage minimalistic and free of clutter
People don’t usually read every single word on a website, and just quickly scan the page, picking out interesting sentences and important keywords. With this in mind, when designing a website, it is better to go for a minimalist approach, and avoid being too text heavy. Try breaking up large walls of texts into smaller paragraphs using larger subheadings. It is also a good idea to use images and other types of content such as videos and/or GIFs as an alternative way to get the message out to your target audience.
02. Design with visual hierarchy in mind
You should arrange your content into a clear and easily understandable format. It only takes a few seconds for a person to decide if he wants to keep on viewing a website, this is why you should be able to grab their attention as soon as possible and let them know what your website is all about. You need to establish a clear hierarchy to the information you have laid out for them, then you should focus on applying things such as color, font size, contrast, and spacing in order to further accentuate each element. You should organize your website into strips of clear and easily digestible pieces of information that will have a strong visual impact.
03. Create easy to read website content
You should make intriguing original content that is easily understandable by your audience, by using easily recognizable words, sentences and phrases which will help your users to easily scan your text without using a lot of effort to digest the information.
Here are some tips to increase your website’s readability:
- Contrast is key
Picking out the right contrast between your text and the background is crucial for people to easily read the text. If you choose colors that don’t match, your text might be very difficult to read, and this can lose you some of your highly valued audience. Surely you have a color or colors that represent your brand, and they should be used to represent the website, but you should not focus entirely on creativity and artistic design over readability.
- You should take note of font size
You should keep into consideration the size of your text, since if they are too small people will have a hard time reading and if they’re too large then it will take up more space. A font size of at least 16pt is ideal, but it depends on the type of font that you will be using.
- Serif vs. Sans Serif
Serifs are the fonts with the fancy projecting points or lines at the end of each letter, while San Serifs which literally translates to “without serif” are those that don’t have the fancy lines. San Serifs are the usual choice for online text, since they are easily read and understandable.
- Don’t use too much fonts
A maximum of 3 different type faces on a single website is the norm, in order to have a harmonious effect. Using too many different fonts can make it seem cluttered.
04. Ensure your site is easy to navigate
It is important to break the mold and set yourself apart from the competition and that includes in website design, but designing an extremely complicated website may be unique, but it will give your user’s a hard time.
Here are some tips in order to make your website more user friendly:
- Logos are usually at the top corner of a website, so it is a good idea to link the logo to your homepage.
- Creating a menu on the top of your website is a must. It should be listed according to the importance of each section.
- Make a navigation menu; if your website is has long-scrolling pages, then it is a good idea to create a navigation menu, so the user will be able to quickly navigate to either the top of the page, to the bottom, or directly to a specific section of the page and/or website.
- The footer is the last thing that the user will see on your site, so you should place important links here such as another menu, and/or other links terms of use/FAQ/contact/blog etc., that the user may require.
05. Make your site mobile-friendly
The mobile revolution is here, and that is why having a mobile-friendly website is crucial to your success. Almost everyone carries their mobile phone wherever they go, that is why it is a good idea to have a mobile-friendly version of your site so your audience will have a better experience visiting your website. In designing your mobile-friendly version, you should always put yourself in the user’s shoes, and test out every inch of your website, from every page and button.
Now after reading this whole guide and still don’t have an idea on how to get started or how to make your website better, then we at the Fields Agency are here to help! We are an online marketing agency that can help you transform your site into the best it can be, and give you that marketing edge that you need to stay on top of the competition. We also provide other online marketing services. Our job is to help you and your company become the best it can be!