An effective design of the website determines the success of a business. These designs based on the basic fundamentals of emphasis, contrast, balancing, alignment, repetition and ease of perception. Achieving more success depends on adhering these web design principles. Therefore, when it comes to generating more sales and attracting more customers, you need to concentrate on the necessary aspects for creating a unique design.
A professional web designer needs to create a site that provides the necessary information to consumers and enable them to make buying decisions frequently. For this, they need to create all the conditions for a comfortable stay on the page. If the designer forgets about these basic fundamentals, then your business may fall down. That’s why following these fundamentals will adhere the experts to build a successful and attractive web design. However, here are the top web design fundamentals in detail for everyone:
Strive to Simplicity
This fundamental involves the use of a limited set of visual elements. As a professional designer, you should place all the most important details for communication and information in the first place. It will effectively attract the attention of visitors and they will come to your site for the information they need. Striving to simple design will not only admire your beautiful design and interesting visual effects of your site but they will also make fast buying decisions. The site should meet users with a simple and at the same time attractive design.
Use Negative Space
A fundamental of simplicity also implies that the site should have more free, white or negative space. Negative space refers to the space between header and content or space between sidebar and content. In addition, it also includes the space between paragraphs, lines of text, and even between letters. This not only helps reduce the load on visitors created by the site but also provides faster assimilation of the content provided. If the website is overloaded with various semantic and graphic elements, advertising and visual blocks, then visitors quickly lose interest in it and go to other sites.
Moderate Colour Palette
There is a rule not to add more than 3 colours per page. The site is the face of the company on the Internet, so it must fully comply with the style and mood of the company, which is most often conveyed through colour. If the company positions itself as a progressive, active and vibrant organization, then it makes sense to think through an unobtrusive colour scheme. If the company is engaged in serious activities (business, finance, etc.), then it is advisable to adhere to classic colours and compositions.
If you want to make a colour accent on a button, then select one main bright colour. The remaining colours should not interfere with it. For the background, it is best to use a light colour (white, light grey and light beige). In order for the text to be well-read, make it contrast with the background. If you use a light background, then type the text in dark colour.
Good Page Loading Speed
Website stuff with heavy images, coding and other visual elements can slow down the website speed. If the site loads slowly, half will simply leave your site without having time to really see anything. Both visual elements and site speed are necessary for attracting the attention of the customers. For this, you need to compress the images and minify the HTML, CSS and JavaScript coding.
Place Contrasting Elements
Placing contrasting elements nearby can easily interest a person and gives the site a certain variety. Each element on the page of the site should be clearly separated from the others in terms of colour, shape, size or even font type. If the principle of contrast is not observed in the design, then individual elements, objects and blocks begin to simply merge with each other, which provides a low attractiveness of the website’s appearance. Therefore, add effective elements in the website.
Well-Chosen Photographs & Images
Modern sites contain high-resolution photographs. It is scientifically proven that images convey information faster than text. Therefore, if you correctly selected the image for a specific section of the site, then the user will more easily understand the meaning of the section. Adding vibrant, real and high-quality images or photos on your site will build longer customer loyalty. The photo should not only be beautiful but it should also carry a certain meaning, which will be supported by a text block.
Good Typography
Text is the basic element on the site because users come to the site to read the information they need. If the text blocks are written in a well-chosen font, the user will not only read but also remember the text. For selecting fonts:
- Do not use a large number of fonts for one project (1-2 are enough).
- Fonts for the main text and headline should be unobtrusive and well readable. It depends on how quickly and simply the user will perceive information from the site.
It is better not to experiment with the colour of the text if you use a white background, then write in black text, and vice versa.
Adopt the Rule of 8 Seconds
One of the principles of psychology is to make a bright first impression on a person in order to gain his attention. This is fully applicable to web design. If in 8 seconds the user is not interested, he/she will leave the site and will not return. So, how to attract attention in 8 seconds?
- Use concise, catchy headlines;
- Explain the purpose of the project on the main screen;
- Add relevant videos and images;
- Animate call to action buttons;
- Avoid ads on the home page.
Choose F-Pattern Layout
A study has shown that people usually scan the computer from left to right like in F-pattern shape. Most people read the top content and element properly from left to right. But as they scroll down, they do not give much preference to the right-side content. Therefore, the most important elements and objects like call-to-action should be placed along the F-shape lines. Most often, the name of the service is located in the upper left of the screen, and the registration button is in the upper right. In addition, place the less important content in lower visibility areas.
Simplify User Decision Making
While creating a site, the designer must pay attention to the various solutions, so that customers instantly can make the decision of buying. For this, make the call-to-action bright and visible. In addition, this principle can be used to highlight an object from a number of similar elements. For example, if you have several buttons, make the desired button larger and highlight it with a different colour.
Mobile-Friendly Site
A new update said that having a mobile-optimized site will rank fast in the Google page results. More and more users are using mobile phones and smartphone devices for making a buying process convenient. Therefore, it is necessary to have a responsive website design for all devices like mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, etc. Accessing a website from multiple devices with multiple screen sizes will help your website be more engaging, useful, and memorable for visitors.
Bottom Line
Knowledge of basic web design fundamentals will help to create effective, visually attractive sites. It will convince users and influence their choices. But you need to check web design both at the first stages of creation and before launch. Only in this case, you can achieve maximum efficiency and create a high-quality project. The better you are familiar with best practices, the more competitive you are.
Author Bio
Stephen Forde is the CEO of Media Fortress, a digital marketing & web hosting firm. Due to his continual support and services in the digital marketing landscape, Media Fortress got the title of the “Best Web Design Company in Melbourne” providing company and it continues to evolve its web presence with the advancement in the technological era.
