10 Principles of Great Web Design

10 Principles of Great Web Design

A website is often the first point of contact for customers seeking information. Nowadays, people gauge a company’s credibility based on its web design. When creating a website, many factors must be considered, including design, usability, and functionality, as these elements play a crucial role in converting first-time visitors into potential customers. A well-designed website with a great user experience also boosts your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). For businesses in Sydney, having a professional web design tailored to local audiences can further enhance credibility and engagement.

1. A KISS Always Works:

 A website with minimal design elements helps visitors to understand the company’s business—its products and services. Adding too many design elements to a website will give a cluttered look, and if it takes too much time to load, consumers may leave or stop visiting the site. KISS(Keep it Simple, Stupid), a principle that bloomed during 1960 in the U.S. Navy, implies that any idea or design that is simple works better than complicated ones. So a design with a simple layout, few colour schemes and negative spaces will create an everlasting impression in visitors minds and entice them to take the required action.

2. Design to Captivate Target Audience:  

The website should be designed in such a way that it fulfils the company’s purpose, which is to attract the target audience. Since everything has become digital today, it is essential to create a stunning website design that goes in line with the taste of the intended audience. So in order to design a good website design, the companies should study the buyer’s perception and other competitive sites to know about their likes and dislikes of a design.  

3. Usability and Functionality:

 Besides the stunning visuals, a website’s functionality and usability affect the buying decision of consumers and are considered the most dominant element of a design. As mentioned earlier, if the navigation system is simple, the users won’t have any confusion in finding the information and may end up buying the product or service. Each company should cover all the aspects while designing a website, from site load speed, navigation, advanced search options to CTA(call-to-action) button placement and minimalist design.

4. Highlight what is Needed:

   In this fast-paced world, people hardly have the patience to go through each and every content or page. Almost 95% of the visitors scan through content rapidly when looking for specific information, so it is critical to design a site that highlights the core content. A website with a neat presentation, such as clear headers; text font, colour and size; bullets or number list, etc., will create a good impression among visitors and persuade them to buy the product or service.

5. The Design Should Reflect the Company’s Image:

Though a company’s image purely depends on its history of service towards consumers, the first-time visitors or potential customers need some solid visual element to get a good picture of the company. There are many factors behind the construction of a website, such as colour psychology, whitespaces, background images, etc., so companies should keep in mind that the desired website design doesn’t affect the design aesthetics. If every aspect of the design element sits perfectly on a website, the vision of a company becomes clear, which will eventually lead to more conversions.

6. Use Less Number of Technical Words:

  The main motto of a website design is to make consumers understand what the company offers and what the company is about. Companies should be circumspective while choosing the words to describe their products or services because when a non-expert consumer visits your website, he will look confused by looking at the technical words. Though the usage of words differs based on whom it is targeted at, it is advisable to use commonly used terms for better understanding.

7. Conventional Way Always Helps:

 Today everyone can witness the inappropriate placements of pages on a website in the name of modern design. This so-called modern design creates chaos among visitors, and they end up leaving the page, resulting in lower conversion rates. So the traditional elements, such as ‘About’, ‘Contact’, ‘Services’ and ‘Blogs’, and their placements always works well because this helps potential customers to choose the desired information and take the required action.

8. Mobile-Friendliness:

Since most consumers use smartphones today, a website should be well-optimized to fit various kinds of digital devices and smartphones. That’s why most designers use responsive design or optimize the site, making it mobile-friendly. Google always strives its best to return the content that is closely related to the user’s query. So to enhance the user experience, Google is coming up with new ways to improve the voice search.

9. Importance of Site Load Speed:

 If a website takes too much time to load, the visitors may get frustrated and leave the site. The aesthetics of a website is crucial, but the site load speed also plays a major role in the consumers’ mind, which affects their purchase decision. The images and the content used should be well-optimized. The use of CSS, Javascript and HTML will also determine the speed of a website, so use it effectively.

10.  The Placements of Visual Elements Help with Conversion:

 

 The correct placements of visual elements will enable first-time visitors or potential customers to take the desired action without getting lost. The purpose of content is to make consumers understand the company’s mission, vision and product or services. So apart from other contents on the website, the call to action element should be well designed and highlighted to convert a first-time visitor into a potential customer.

The principles of design will always give a hand when designing a website. The art of web design requires more concentration and the ability to think from all angles. The goal is to provide a website that is user-friendly and informative. So knowing the basics of designing will always help create a unique web design that stands the test of time. 

Designpluz is a boutique creative web design agency in Sydney. We are specialised in Web Design, Branding, SEO Services, Logo Design, E-Commerce, Graphic Design, software development, app development and much more. We focus on client satisfaction on a strong relationship to deliver outstanding digital and creative solutions. Microknot Sydney Web Design agency will be your ideal partner to execute your Integrated Digital marketing strategy.