When it comes to designing a website it is easy to get lost in the design as there are so many different styles one is able to use. It can range from minimal to fun and playful to sleek and modern. The possibilities seem endless.
With all these possibilities we can end up doing too much.
- The first thing one should keep in mind when designing a website is the user experience. A website needs to be easy to navigate. If a user has to spend time figuring out where things are on your site then they likely won’t come back and you will lose out on potential business.
- Keep your homepage minimal. Your home page should communicate your core message instantly to your user. The less they have to read and click through the more likely they are to look through the rest of your site and this can lead to conversions on the site. Keep important information above the fold, use some high res imagery that represents your brand to separate some elements and use the space wisely. Lastly include a call to action to drive up conversions.
- Create easy to read content. Readability is crucial to a good user experience. The user doesn’t want to spend hours trying to read through content. They want to get straight to the point. Think about when you visit a website, you want to find what you are looking for and be done, the same goes for your site’s visitors. Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to readability is having good contrast between the text and background. A font-weight of 16 is usually good for your body text, make your headings big and bold. Don’t use too many different fonts as this will start to look untidy and inconsistent.
- Lastly, keep it mobile-friendly. This is one of the most important aspects of web design, most users will access your site on mobile as it is easy and convenient. You may find a lot of elements tend to break when testing the responsiveness of the website, so remember to design a mobile version to see how it will look and what aspects of your design will work for mobile.
The last tip for anyone designing a website is to go out there and look for inspiration. There are tons of places you can find interesting website designs. Get your creativity flowing and have some fun designing your website.
