11 Website Design Tips From The Pros You Need To Know About

Since people nowadays have access to the internet and are using gadgets, traditional ways of communicating your brand to your audience through flyers, newspapers ads, posters, etc., are considered obsolete. Today, advertising and marketing can all be done online through websites.

A website is said to be a dedicated site that consists of information and is found on the world wide web or the internet. What’s great about using a website for growing your brand is that it can reach a bigger audience and you can integrate different creative methods in introducing what it is as well. A website can have text, videos, photographs and others all together if you want. This is one of the reasons why websites entice people to learn more about brands. It’s worth it to invest on expert web designers such as https://www.smartlydonewebsites.com/ because it’ll help build your brand in the long run.

However, not all websites can be successful in communicating and educating its target audience with their brands. Success relies heavily on how well-designed the website is—and we’re not only talking about how pretty it looks. There has to be an organized presentation of data as well.

If you’re someone who’s planning on launching a website for your brand growth, here are 11 tips to help you out:

11 Website Design Tips From The Pros

1. Know What Your Website Is For

Before you even start creating a website, the very first thing you need to clear out is what it’s for and what you’re going to put a spotlight on. Is it your brand? Is it your skills?

Once you know what your website’s purpose is and what your main content will be about, you won’t lose track of what you should showcase on your site. Doing so helps you paint a clear picture of what you want your website to look like as well. Moreover, you can easily plan out the other elements that will be mentioned below.

2. Choose A Theme

A website theme is said to be the whole mood or impression your website gives off to people who visit it. It should be a reflection of your brand. Moreover, a website theme is the wholeness of the design elements like color, text, space, images, etc. Thus, choosing a theme is an essential starting point before designing your website since other design elements need to be in line with it.

For a better picture on what a theme is, think of this scenario: Someone’s planning on creating a website for their nursery school. Their target audience are parents with infants. Thus, their nursery school website must leave an impression that’s kid-friendly and welcoming. A wise way of doing so is using playful colors, using fun yet readable fonts, and adding cute images that are appealing to children.

3. Pick Your Color Scheme

Colors are very important because people can associate things and even feel emotions with it. For example, the color green usually reminds people of nature and, thus, peace. Another example is how bright colors are said to generate a happy vibe, whereas dark colors give out a negative or a more serious feel.

Colors are also helpful in guiding the eyes where to look. When used properly, it can make the things you want to put a spotlight on stand out. Bright colors are usually great in doing that.

Considering all these, colors play a big role in your brand’s website design. An important tip is to mostly use only a minimum of one to three complementing colors. These will be your brand’s main colors and will contribute to your brand’s identity as a whole. Take Mcdonald’s as an example: they famously use red, yellow, and white.

4. Employ Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is the way design elements (colors, size, alignment, columns, spaces, etc.) are placed together strategically as a whole in order to show the viewers which is the most important to the least important in the material. In designing a website, visual hierarchy should definitely be taken seriously as it can guide your audience to fully understand the information you present. You wouldn’t want to present the least important data in the topmost part of your webpage now, would you? When visual hierarchy is executed correctly, your website’s viewers’ eyes are guided to the most essential data in your website.

5. Use Readable Fonts

Always opt for simple and readable fonts in your website. Using fancy fonts may look pretty but would it really communicate your message well? Sometimes, complex fonts that are in cursive are hard to read and decode. You should also take into account that not everyone can understand cursive, so it’s best to refrain from similar-looking fonts if you plan to reach a wide audience.

Remember, your website should be able to easily communicate your ideas and not have the opposite effect. Moreover, if you use hard to read fonts, your website viewer may have a difficult time and will likely not get hooked on your website. That’s one potential client lost!

6. Don’t Be Too Text Heavy

Always be concise when writing content for your website. Being too text heavy can be stressful and not pleasing to the eyes. A lot of text in your website can easily scare off a possible reader due to the overwhelming amount of information. Moreover, bite-sized information is more ideal than long explanations because shorter words are easier to retain in one’s memory.

If long texts are inevitable in a certain page, break them off with images in between or consider infographics for a more digestible presentation.

7. Entice With Images

You can improve your website design if you add images so that the viewers can visualize what you’re talking about in words. Your website shouldn’t solely rely on words. Keep in mind that some people are visual learners, and they can easily grasp what you’re trying to imply with the help of images. Moreover, images add a sense of beauty in your website design. Just be sure to use nice photos that match your brand and website’s theme. 

8. Keep Things Simple And Balanced

Keeping your website design simple and balanced is important because if it’s too overly designed or lacking in design, it won’t successfully retain your audience. It’s either too much or too little. Remember to always consider presenting the most important information you want your website to have in regard to your brand. You may want to have a balance between texts and images, too, but don’t add unnecessary details. Go straight to the point.

9. Make Your Site User-Friendly

When designing your website, keep in mind that it has to be easy to interact with. Don’t complicate the experience of your website visitors or else they wouldn’t even last a minute in your site. Some websites contain a lot of directions or ‘click this and that,’ and it can get confusing. Try to put yourself in the shoes of a website visitor. Would you really spend time on a website that asks you to do steps 1-4 just so you can access a certain page on the site? Of course, not. So, design your website in a way that even a child or a senior would easily understand how to navigate through it.

10. Take Note Of Website Speed And Loading Times

Good graphics, texts, colors, and overall design may affect your website’s appeal, but that’s not the only thing that’ll be affected. These factors can also have an impact on your website’s loading time. High-quality graphics that can give off that chic and sophisticated vibe may also take a long time to load. Remember that while a website visitor may be interested in your brand, they wouldn’t bother to spend too much time on a website that takes forever to load. So, it’s best not to focus heavily on designs that can do this. Instead, try to include graphics that suit your brand without having to compromise the speed and loading time of your website.

11. Consider Device Accessibility

Lastly, when designing your website, it’s best if it can be accessible in both computer monitors and phone screens. Why? Because, sometimes, websites are designed to fit a bigger screen than a smaller screen, or vice versa. The problem with this is, the design gets shrunk and may look awkward when not viewed in the proper screen it was made for. Always consider the fact that people have different gadgets nowadays where they can access your website. So, design it well enough that it can adapt to different screen sizes.

Conclusion

Creating a website is very effective in introducing your brand to potential customers in a modern way that makes use of the internet. Websites are very reliable since it can help you engage with more people, considering how almost everyone is online nowadays. However, not all websites can be effective. It all relies on a good website design that’s informative, creative, interactive, and easy to use. If all these are put together, then your website will surely be successful.