Web Design Best Practices for the Ultimate Website

Needs Assessment

First and foremost, understand why you need the website and what purpose is the website going to solve. Is it for a business that needs to generate leads through it or is it a website that acts as a support to a particular project being undertaken by a company.

Once you zero in on what needs to be highlighted in the website, you can brainstorm designs for your project.

Keep It Simple

Remember to keep the design simplistic. Users land on your website because they are searching for information, products or services and are not particularly keen on judging how aesthetic your website is. Not that users would not appreciate an appealing design, but they are more interested in finding what they are looking for.

A complicated design will overwhelm the user and make it difficult for him to complete the task. It is best if you can limit the use of colors, use legible typefaces and include graphics judiciously. You must keep the design elements to a minimum by following web design best practices.

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First Things First

Always highlight the important information in your website – it should be the most visible to your visitors. For instance, if you are offering a limited time offer or discount on your membership charges, make sure that these together with a compelling CTA are the first thing that visitors to your site can see before all else.

You can use a number of different elements to enhance the information and make it more prominent on your website.

Responsive Design

Your website needs to display properly on laptops, tablets and smartphones – essentially all devices regardless of the screen size. Therefore, flexibility has to be the focus of your website. When you have a flexible website structure, it can adjust to the different displays on its own.

Your website does not necessarily have to fit in the same way across devices. You can find creative ways to display your website on various screens according to the screen dimensions.

Accessibility

Did you know that 90% of the world’s top websites are not accessible? However, people with disabilities use the internet to shop online and firms lose out on the business when websites are not accessible. The WCAG or Web Content Accessibility Group has a set of guidelines that websites must comply with in order to become accessible. As a web designer, you must create websites that are compliant to accessibility standards. You can use accessibility plug-ins in your website for a positive user experience for all as well.

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Iconic Icons

Over the years, people have grown accustomed to the icons that are generally used to symbolize well-known items such as a shopping cart, search, home etc. These icons direct people to accomplish their tasks and bring familiarity to a user as he or she peruses a new website. It is therefore advisable that you do not create a set of icons to replace the older ones as that might create confusion.

Content

The content of your website is as important as the design. How much content should you put in your website? Generally, there should be minimum content in a website – just enough to convey the essential aspects of the business. Catchy headlines are a good way to interest the user. It is however advisable to keep the content clear, concise and relevant to your business website.  Again, content is a great way to showcase your skills and capabilities and you might want to make the best use of it.

Load Time

Do not expect users to show patience. If your website takes a long time to load, the user would not wait. He or she will quickly move on to the next website. Many factors are responsible for the time a website takes to load. From the servers that it resides in to the graphics the website has, all play a role in the load time. As a web design best practice, you must always optimize images to improve the load time.

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CTA

There is a reason that you have a website – it is to provide the information about products and services and also to prompt the user to complete an action – such as buy a product, subscribe and more. As mentioned before, you need to place CTAs that are visible. In addition, CTA buttons need to be consistent across web pages. For instance, if you have used “Buy Now” as a CTA in your homepage for a particular section, ensure that it remains the same across all pages. This helps to reinforce what you want the user to do.

Consistency

A website is a representation of your brand. Thus, to create a brand identity, there is a need to be consistent with color schemes, graphics and content across the website. If you use one set of colors in the home page and a completely different set of colors in the next page, it will break the pattern and consistency while leaving the users confused. You have to use colors in a way that will register with the users and they will begin to associate certain colors and patterns with your brand.

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Conclusion

Web design best practices are important to create effective websites that take your business to the next level. Remember that the website is not a one-time development work. You will need to upgrade and improve on the website on a regular basis. You have to make the best use of the latest technology to keep your website appealing and smart. You can hire the services of web design professionals who can create and deliver the best website designs for your business.