Website designing is an art. To build a useful, strong, and user-friendly website, you need to select the right palette, ensure seamless navigation, and pay attention to every little detail. The task can get overwhelming for anyone who is designing a website for the first time, especially when you look at competitors thriving in the market with distinct designs and ideas.
If you want to make your website unique and one that stands out, you must hire expert web designers. Litmus Branding has a team of specialists who are adept at UI and UX designing. They help you create an impact on your target audience, increase sales, and boost conversions.
To simplify the process and understand how you can build a customer-centric and productive online presence, it is vital to know the dos and don’ts of website design. These guidelines will allow you to keep an eye on meaningful details, get rid of the unwanted clutter, and focus on design sense.
Dos
- Focus on the Interface
The first thing that determines the success of a website is the user interface (UI). It takes the user 5 seconds to form a judgment. A good interface draws the attention of the visitors and converts passive into active visitors.
For a good UI, one of the top principles is to maintain consistency throughout the entire product. Across all of your website’s pages, the overall look and feel should be consistent. Maintaining consistency of color schemes, style, navigation, and typefaces helps to build a positive impact on user experience and usability.
- Navigation is Key
In the absence of navigation features, a website is not usable. Navigation is the most essential interaction technique on the Internet. It allows visitors to easily find what they are looking for. Navigation is like a means of communication between your user and the website.
Here are some interesting website design dos and don’ts to help you excel at navigation:
- Use clear labels: Clearly mention the function of every menu option to help visitors know what their purpose is.
- Prioritize your navigation: Use the top-level navigation for the essential navigation options. Restrict this to a maximum of seven choices and then build sub-navigation with specific categorization.
- Keep the navigation simple: Design your navigation in a way that the user does not have to spend a lot of time to get to the destination. Visitors should have to go with the least number of clicks possible.
- Use Different Colors for Visited Links
Links support the navigation process. Make sure you change the colors of visited links, or else users can get confused and visit the same pages over and over again. Differentiating between the past and present searches guides the user on where they need to go next. However, remember to use colors that are subtle to the eyes and also different from the ones used in other navigation options.
- Allow for Easy Scanning of Pages
Most users quickly scan the page instead of reading the entire text on it. They want to find the relevant information through a cursory glance and then move ahead. So, ensure that users can easily find what they are looking for.
Don’ts
After you have learned what you need to do for good website design, let us take a look at the things you must avoid.
- Don’t Open Internal Links in New Tabs
Some websites open new tabs when a user clicks on internal links. This action can lead to the opening of multiple tabs for the same website, thereby confusing the user. Moreover, if internal links open in separate tabs, users cannot use the ‘back’ button. You can choose to open external links in a new window. However, you must provide an advanced intimation before automatically opening a new tab or window.
- Don’t Make Users Wait for Too Long
One of the most essential dos and don’ts of website design is to manage the loading time. Users tend to get irritated when a website takes too long to load. According to statistics, 47 percent of users expect a web page to take two seconds or less as the loading time. Therefore, if you don’t want users to get frustrated and leave your website, you must focus on the speed. Moreover, a website with higher speed ranks higher in Google search results.
- Don’t Use Many Colors
While this may conflict with the idea to differentiate the colors of visited links, it is better to restrict the use of many colors. The colors used on your website create a perception in the minds of the consumer. They reflect your brand and its values. Besides, they create a balance. If you use multiple colors, visitors tend to have mixed feelings, leading to confusion.
A good website designer can help develop a color theme and design your website around it. Highlight the important sections with borders and different colors but remember to keep it simple for the users.
Experts recommend that you use colors based on emotions you want the visitors to evoke when they arrive on your website. You can choose the color scheme depending on the feelings you want to convey.
- Don’t Use Different Typefaces
Just like colors, avoid the use of different writing styles. Many website developers get tempted to play with fonts to build a unique website. But when you overdo the use of different typefaces, it begins to look messy. Keep it simple and stick to conventional fonts.
The text should be easy to read. Users get distracted if they see different fonts on your website. Moreover, if the text is well-formatted with the right use of typefaces, users can easily find what they need in a quick scan.
Expert website design dos and don’ts suggest that you use only three fonts in a maximum of three sizes. The sizes can vary for headings, sub-headings, navigation options, footer menu, and more.
Final Thoughts
Are you planning to design your website? Do you have worries about the different website elements? Experts at Litmus Branding can help you with professional website designing services. We understand the requirements of the client and the objective of developing a website and together focus on achieving the goal.
