5 Crucial Elements of Web Design
Web design in general is a very large topic that involves many different elements such as the colours to the fonts used on a website. Let’s face it, some websites are much better than others. They attract more visitors and convert more often. But just what makes these websites better? Is it the design, the content or something else?
Good websites have a lot of things in common and it’s not hard to take these elements and use them on your own website. By copying just a few of the elements from these good websites you can instantly increase your conversion and engagement rates dramatically. Here are the 5 crucial elements of web design you need to understand on what makes a good website.
Easy Navigation is the Foundation of a Good Website
Back in the good old days when you went on a website the chances are there were a few buttons and the navigation menu was fairly easy to understand. Nowadays there are so many different styles of navigation menus it can be really hard and confusing to find what you want!
The best rule of navigation is to keep it simple! Your website isn’t a where’s Wally book, your navigation should be simple and obvious. If you have a complicated navigation bar with lots of sub categories then stop right there. Navigation menus don’t have to be complicated.
Here’s the most important part:
The easier it is for visitors to navigate through your website, the longer they are likely to stay on your site! And the longer a visitor stays on your website the more likely they are to share content and convert.
No matter how big your website is, your pages can always be narrowed down to just a few main categories. This is a good way to organise your website. Simply make 5 to 10 navigation buttons and categorise your web pages into each one. If you’re having trouble doing that then you’ve probably picked the wrong categories and they need a rethink.
A Call to Action is the Key to More Interaction
If you’ve gone through all the effort and time of designing and making a website the chances are you want to see a return from it. Most website owners will be looking to make an online sale, gather a customer’s details or get visitors to share their content on social media. Whatever it may be, every website owner want’s their visitors to do something on their website.
To ensure visitors do this there must be a call to action on the website that is obvious. The best way to do it is usually using a button that stands out in terms of size and colour from the rest of your website.
To take it one step further it’s best to include text on the button to tell the visitor what clicking it will do. This makes the button so obvious, visitors will have no excuse not to click it.
If you’re planning on collecting visitor’s data then make sure your sign up forms are short and fast with only a few fields. Too many fields to fill out will instantly put off the visitor and the chances of them submitting their data will instantly decrease.
Web Fonts
A long time ago websites were only limited to a few styles of fonts which made them all boring and very similar. But alas, luckily we’ve progressed since then and now there are literally thousands of fonts to choose from. But which fonts are the best? Which should you use?
The font should work well with the design of the website itself so it might take a few different font before you find the perfect match. A great tool to help find the right font for your website is Google Fonts. The website allows you to browse hundreds of different fonts while categorising them into different styles. The best thing is Google takes care of all the licensing and compatibility issues so you can use any of them without any issues.
If we could give you a tip on any font NOT to use it would definitely be comic sans, stay clear of that one!
How Contact Information Can Get You More Leads
Contact information on a website can be displayed in a number of different ways depending on your websites design. The first option is to have a page dedicated to your contact information that includes everything a potential customer would ever want to know about you. This would be things such as your email address, phone number and physical office address.
The second way to do it is to not include a contact page on your website at all.
But here’s the twist:
You include your contact information on every page in the footer or header. This can work great for certain web designs and is actually becoming a more common thing to do. Of course you can always have both if you prefer. A simple telephone number and email address in the footer and then a separate contact page with more detailed information.
Clear contact information is the best way to increase your leads. Having your phone number or email address at eye level in the header can instantly increase customer interaction. Why hide your contact information on a hidden page when you can have it clearly displayed on every webpage?
Content is King!
Although this might not necessarily be an element of web design it’s still very important for your website! Content is what attracts visitors to your website and having original content is the best way to do it. By having original content, not only do you have less competition but it also makes your content more valuable. With original content other websites are more likely to link back to you and visitors are more likely to share your content on social media.
Now you might be wondering:
How do I make original content? Well it’s not as hard as you think. Original content is about predicting future trends and getting content out there before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. Original content also helps to answer common questions that users have. By answering these questions users feel the article provides them with even more value.
Here are Purplebox Digital we make amazing website every day for a range of different clients. Our team of in-house web designers and developers know the elements of web design what it takes to make a great website. If you’re looking for a beautiful website to help promote your business then we can help! Contact us for more information on how we can help make a beautifully crafted website for your business.
