A website is a reflection of its owner or the organization it represents. Whether it’s for a personal blog, nonprofit organization, or a huge corporation, highly effective web design will help them achieve their goals.
As with internet algorithms, designing a website is an esoteric system especially for beginners. It’s not just about the aesthetics. More often than not, placement, layout, visuals, colors, typography, and negative space will make or break whatever it is you want your visitors to do on your site.
If you’re a beginner looking to create an efficient web design for yourself or a company, don’t fret. This could be your first big break – if you do everything correctly. Let me share the top 10 of the most effective web design tips that will make your website a cut above the rest.
1. Less is More
Always remember this famous adage in design, in general: Less is more. Do you know that the Paradox of Choice says that people get feelings of anxiety if there are too many choices? Keep everything simple and straightforward. This includes the words that you use in your site. You don’t have to include the deepest vocabulary to sound and look professional. Provide lesser choices for users but make sure every page covers everything you want them to know.
2. Avoid Clutter
Users leave your site when they find it hard to see the information they’re looking for. Another reason they leave is when there’s too much information that it becomes overwhelming. Never try to group texts, images, videos, animations together in large chunks. This makes it difficult for users to focus on one thing. Always declutter and prioritize user experience.
3. Use High-Quality Images
If you’re crafting a professional web design for a business, remember that the website should emanate the company’s branding. Branding not only entails the products and services but it also has everything to do with the company’s story, history, and overall quality. And if you use subpar graphic design, your website is bound to fail. Also, you can do better than stock photos!
4. Optimize for SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the leading digital marketing tactics in this day and age. It’s effective and affordable. Hence, a lot of people are hiring SEO firms because it gives them higher returns at lesser costs. It’s essential that you don’t play dirty with SEO. Optimize your website for SEO and stick to white hat rules. Your seo delray beach specialists will know how to rank your website on search engines.
5. Put Evident Call-to-Action Buttons
Call-to-action buttons will draw the line between visitors and conversions. Being strategic with how and where you place them can double those sales or increase that email list. Keep away from the mundane “Sign Up,” or “Purchase” buttons. Break the mold. Make it fun and engaging so users will want to click through it.
6. Make it Mobile-Friendly
More than 50 percent of internet traffic is from mobile phones and portable gadgets. If your website is not optimized for mobile viewing, users will abandon your site before they even get to explore it. Make sure to optimize images, videos, plug-ins, and more so it loads fast. In spite of that, always test your website for mobile. There are many mobile testing tools available at no cost online.
7. Focus on User Experience (UX)
Okay, we really can’t stress this enough. If Google’s ultimate goal in SEO is to give users a seamless experience, there’s no reason not to follow suit. Focus on UX. Make it easy for users to navigate from one page to the other flawlessly.
8. Incorporate Negative Space
Negative space or white space is crucial in web design. It relaxes the eyes when there are too many visuals going on. Plus, it gives you a chance to let users scrutinize the information you want to feed subliminally.
9. Avoid 404 Errors
One of my internet pet peeves is when I get the HTTP error response “404.” It could be due to several reasons, and one of them is when there are too many broken links in your content or site. Although this can be applied if you’ve had the site for a while, this should be something you should watch out for if you’re a beginner.
10. Keep Up with Web Design Trends
Let’s take Google as an example once again. Do you know that Google updates its algorithms 500 to 600 times per year? You should update the site from time to time. Keep an eye out for recent web design trends or SEO trends for that matter.
Final Thoughts
Creating a website from scratch is not an easy feat. Heck, with an oversaturated competition, it can even be a daunting task. More so if you’re a beginner. But don’t worry, at the rate of how technology is changing, everything you can learn about the most highly effective web design tips and tricks can be found online.
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