Designing an attractive and engaging website can be challenging. There are billions of websites running on the internet but only a few websites update their design depending on the latest web design trends and from the user’s perspective. Just running a simple business website will never offer you the desired result until your website design is able to encourage the user to perform the desired action. That is the reason why businesses look to hire an experienced WordPress web design company so that they are able to create an attractive and engaging web design for their business.
Today businesses look to use conversion booting tips and techniques in their marketing strategies, but if your web design is failing to engage users then it will become difficult to convert them into paying customers. That is the reason why every business that is planning or already running the website should be aware of some of the best principles of website design that can help them to enhance website functioning as well as design.
In the coming paragraphs, we are going to highlight some of the best principles of a website design that can be used to make a website more engaging. If you have already created your website then you can consider these tips in the next project or while redesigning your existing website.
Table Of Content:
- An overview of website design principles
- Why is having appealing Web Design important for business?
- How do users interact with your website?
- Principals Of Website Design
- Conclusion
An overview of website design principles
If you are researching web design principles then you must be familiar with the importance of website design usability and accessibility. Most of the business and website focus on crafting and embedding attractive visuals in their website, which is actually a good step. But visual designs are not only the factor that determines the success and failure of the website. The usability and utility of the website design also play a crucial role in making a website responsive and conversion-centric.
Since the users are the ones visiting your website and taking action on your web page, user-centric design becomes one of the most crucial approaches for creating a successful and conversion-oriented design. An effective website design should engage the site visitors and encourage them to take action on it. Color, consistency, imagery, typography, simplicity, and more are among some essential factors that contribute to a good website design.
Not to mention but web design has become so easy these days, even a new beginner with less to no experience in creating a website design is able to create a fully functioning website for their small business. With the help of light-speed internet, website builder platform, and sophisticated browser users are able to produce the design without facing many difficulties.
But in today’s competitive marketplace where hundreds and thousands of websites running in the same niche are trying to acquire new customers, it has become important for businesses to create an attractive and user-friendly web design. Because users are scrolling the internet exploring various shopping websites, ordering food online, taking up services, and more. You don’t want to spoil a user’s day by offering them a monotonous and crappy website. That is the reason why businesses that are looking to create a strong online presence prefer to hire an experienced website design company for their website.
As mentioned above when designing a website, the designer needs to consider multiple key factors that can contribute toward how the website and its designs are perceived. You may find various design implementation guides and articles like where the CTAs, search bar, and more should be placed. But more than that it’s essential to understand the principles and approach for creating an effective and conversion-centric website.
A well-design website can help you to build credibility and encourage site visitors to take action on your website. If your website is able to offer an optimized user experience then it can help you to create a strong online presence and also rank higher on the search engine result page. Offering a great user experience includes creating a design that is optimized for usability and functionality.
Keeping that in mind below we are going to highlight some of the important web design principles that every business can consider for the next website or while redesigning the existing website. But before that, we would like to discuss why web design is important.
Why is having appealing Web Design important for business?
Before we start listing some of the important principles of website design we would like to highlight the importance of website design. How it can help you to grab more customers’ attention and encourage them to take action. So let’s take a look at some of the reason why web design is important:
1. Offers the first impression of your business
As mentioned earlier your website acts as the front door of your business. Whenever an audience lands on your website it offers them a glimpse of your business functioning and professionalism. As they start scrolling your web pages they start to discover whether they can trust your product and services or not.
But before a user moves to another page or starts scrolling the homepage, what if the first farmer of your web pages fails to grab their attention. It will make your business and product look unprofessional and drive them away from your website.
Remember today’s users are smart and are able to make their decision within a few seconds mainly when it comes to design. Depending on the website you offer they will judge your business within a few seconds. So you need to ensure that within a few seconds you are able to create a positive impact.
On the other hand, if your website is outdated or monotone then it will automatically create a negative impression about your website as well as your business. Once users start to feel negativity from your website then they will never hesitate to abandon your website and this way you will end up losing one of your important and potential leads.
Web design is crucial and having an updated website is a must factor because it impacts how your audience perceives your business. Depending on the experience and impression you offer, your site visitor will decide whether they will stay on your page and learn about your business or jump to your competitor’s website. That is the reason why the first frame of your web page plays a crucial role and every website needs to pay special attention to it.
You can also hire an experienced WordPress web design company for your business who can help you to create a research-based and conversion-centric website design for your business.
2. Helps you to build Trust
With the increase in online frauds and other malicious activity users, always have trust issues that discourage them to perform the desired action. Mainly the design plays a crucial role because a poorly designed website will never encourage the site visitor to trust your brand and business. If the information and design on your website look outdated then the site visitor may hesitate to trust your brand and some of them may often look at your website as seedy and shady.
As we have mentioned above your website acts as the front door of your business. If a person landing on your website looks to place the bulk order then before investing a huge amount by placing the order they will look at your web pages. If your product or service page is not able to convince them to trust your business then they will never think of placing the order instead they will find another business.
Making your potential customer believe your brand is tough, but the web design you offer can convince your potential customers to trust you and take action. Not only that but creating and offering a professional web design encourages your customer to explore more about your product and revisit your website for future purchase.
No matter how effective your product and services are for the user, if you are failing to build trust then sooner or later your competitor may outperform your business and website. If your audience starts trusting you then they will remain on your site and it will automatically increase the opportunity to capture those leads.
To create an attractive and converting website design it’s always recommended to take help from an experienced website design company for building, updating, and maintaining your website.
3. Helps you to make your SEO strategy more effective
Not to mention but SEO and website design go hand in hand. If your search engine optimization strategy is not effective then the design you are offering will fail to grab the user’s attention. In the same way, if your design is updated but your SEO strategy is not effective then your website may never show up in the search results. Today with the help of SEO experts businesses are able to build an effective SEO strategy but the web design fails to align with the SEO practices.
For example, the elements and practices of web design affect how webmasters publish the content and how search engine bots crawl and index your website. If the complicated design is disturbing your content then the search engine bot will fail to analyze the purpose of the page which will directly affect your website ranking.
Apart from content, there are other aspects of web design that can directly affect your SEO. Yes with the help of various website builders people are able to create multiple websites but creating an effective web design that ranks on the top by outperforming another website is quite difficult. For that, you need to create a website design plan keeping SEO in mind. That is what most of the experienced and reputed website design companies do.
The code you are writing should be SEO friendly and the design you are offering should be user friendly. When it comes to creating use and SEO-friendly design it’s always recommended to partner with an experienced and professional WordPress web design company that can help you to create an attractive highly responsive and most importantly SEO-friendly website design for your business.
4. Help the audience realize your service toward them
By looking at the website design your site visitor can easily analyze how you treat your existing customer and how you will treat them after they take up your service. Whenever a savvy user visits your website they look at every small piece of information and design to analyze whether your website and business are right for them or not. If you are filing to put efforts in creating and offering optimized design then your site visitor might assume effortless service toward your customer as well.
Not to mention but your website design showcases your professionalism and the service you offer to your customers. These types of service include how you respond to your customer problems, the support offered by your business, return & refund policies, post-purchase service, and more.
If your existing website offers a modern, simple, and inviting feel to your audience then your site visitor may feel more welcomed. The design will convince your site visitor that you are open to welcoming new customers and devoted to offering the best service to them.
However, if your website design is failing to grab site visitor attention then your outdated and unappealing design can drive users away from the website. Because a buyer prefers to select a reliable and professional business over an old, outdated one. The design you offer can make your suite visitor analyze your business customer service.
That is the reason why it’s said your website acts as the digital face of your business. Whenever a person walks into a physical store, you always look to offer the best experience that starts from greeting them, helping them with their problem, communicating in polite ways, and more.
The services you provide inside your store will not only convince your customer to purchase the product but also offers an idea about how they will be treated after becoming the paying customer. Having and running an updated modern website has the potential to showcase your business’s authenticity and professionalism.
5. Your competitors are offering it
If you are looking to know the reason why you need to have an appealing web design for your business then the simple answer is your competitors are doing it. Yes, your competitors who are already in the business are already making use of the web design to drive traffic and conversion with a goal to increase their revenue. If you wish to be in competition then it is essential for you to create and offer attractive web design to your audience.
Make sure you create and offer a website design that makes you stand out from the crowd. If you are running an outdated and unappealing website design then your customer will never hesitate to shift to your competitor’s website and this way your competitor will outperform your website and business. Once you start losing leads and paying customers to your audience then they will put their hundred percent effort into converting them into loyal customers.
Having an unappealing website design not only drives users away from your website but they will never show interest in coming back on your website to make a purchase. The website design you offer acts as an opportunity to gain new customers and convert them into paying customers. If you end up losing them then it can cost you the amount your business can never predict.
The website design you offer acts as the opportunity to help you set your business apart from your competitor’s website. Because when you are competing with other businesses then you must be offering the same services and to tell your potential audience that your business and services are better than others you need to offer an appealing and engaging website design for your business.
A well-designed website can help you in many ways right from making your product and service reach a wide range of audiences to encouraging site visitors to perform the desired action.
How do users interact with your website?
Now that you are aware of the importance of web design let’s take a look at how users interact with your website. Businesses that are running a website should be aware of the fact that the user’s behavior on the web is very much similar to how users interact and engage in the physical store. Whenever a visitor accesses a new page within your website they go through every element like the text, images, CTA’s, and more within their website, and click on the link that grabs their attention.
Sometimes they click on random links and most of the time on links for which they landed on your website. In short, if the link you are indulging on your website is able to grab the user’s attention then they will never hesitate to click on it. Every user today mainly after the pandemic looks for something useful, as soon as they find something promising and useful they click to check the whole website. If the page diner meets user’s expectations then instead of spending their time and banging their head they prefer to look for another website. That is the reason why it’s important for every website to understand how users interact with your website?
Users scan your website instead of reading everything:
If you are running your website for long then you must be aware of the fact that users prefer to consume video content and infographics over text content. But today it’s impossible for web pages to rank on the top without adding text content in the web pages. When a user lands on your website they will read and engage with the header but when it comes to paragraphs, users prefer to scan the text instead of reading them all.
User appreciate the quality offered by the web pages
You must have heard that this website should offer attractive and high-quality design trousers. But have you ever wondered why? Well offering high-quality images, text, videos, and design help you to showcase your professionalism and gain users’ trust. Not only that but users appreciate the quality offered by your website by performing the desired action. That is the reason why it’s said when you offer a design make sure it helps you to gain credibility and create a strong online presence. A well-designed website that offers high-quality content and design gains a lot of traffic over monotonous designs.
User are impatient and need instant gratification
Every user today wishes to access the website content and other elements of the web page within a second. Whether they are landing on the web page for making a purchase, reading the information, or knowing about your services every user wants to have the best user experience. If your web design is failing to offer optimized user experience then you must know today the different option has made us impatient and they never hesitate to switch to your competitor’s website. So make sure your website is optimized for speed and offering streamlined navigation because these two factors can make and break your business.
User look to have full control
Not to mention but today the internet allows users to access so many web pages and designs anywhere from any device. That is the reason why users want to have full control over the website tray scrolling or the browsers they are accessing. Your website should be able to offer a personalized experience. If your website keeps on offering new pop up at each frame then the user will never hesitate to hit the back button and bounce to your competitor’s website. In the same way, if all the content inside your website is gated then there are high chances that users will bounce back and sometimes it can result in getting negative feedback and review from them.
Principals Of Website Design:
1. Start With Website purpose
The purpose of the website plays a crucial role in showcasing what action you want your visitor to perform. Having and highlighting clear intentions in your web page design will help users to interact with your website more smartly and perform the desired action. But for that, you need to be clear with the purpose of the web pages. You must have an answer for What is the purpose of the website and pages inside the website?
Not to mention but the CTA’s placed inside your website are the key that will help you to accomplish your goal. Most of the websites may look to promote purchases, highlighting their story, offer information & education content, and more. So you should be able to highlight your site intent within a few sentences like one or two.
Designing a website without knowing its purpose might help you to create a website design but when it comes to delivering the message, most of your visitors may feel confused. Each page inside your website must have a purpose and should be able to deliver the same. Having a pre-defined purpose helps you to move in a more organized way. You will be able to create a clear plan for design and content creation.
But before you start defining the purpose it’s important to learn about your target audience like what information they seek? What type of content can engage them in? And how will your site provide that information? Understanding your audience demographics and pain points will help you to make more effective plans for your website. That is the reason why businesses prefer to get their website designed by an experienced wordpress web design company.
A website can have multiple core purposes like describing expertise, building a reputation, generating leads, sales, and more. The design you create along with the marketing strategy will help you to outperform your competitors. For that, you need to know how the visuals and content in your web design can make you stand out from the crowd. Building a website design that meets your potential audience’s expectations is crucial to get online success.
2. Website Content
When it comes to highlighting principles of website design then the website content always comes on the top of the list. The design you offer can make your website and business look attractive but the content inside you your website really matters. The content you embed in your website is as important as the design because it helps you to deliver a strong message, highlight your business & product information, and many more.
If your potential audience fails to find the right information that they are looking for, then he/she might not feel connected with your website which will lead to an increase in bounce rate. Offering quality, clear and useful content helps you to guide your audience toward the action they need to perform on your website.
Apart from that content, embedding in your website will not only help users but also helps the search engine bot to analyze the purpose of the website. That is why it’s said the website needs to pay special attention while creating the structure of the content. By including the keyword and related phrases you can make the web page more effective and informative.
Most of the time content fails to deliver some of the important information that is searched by the users. These types of web pages not only drive users away from the web pages but also reduces the chances of getting them ranked at the top in SERP. If you have followed the table defining the website purpose then you must be aware of what type of content you need to insert on the web page. Once you are aware of the web page’s purpose then you can make search engines and users realize its purpose through the content.
Apart from that, you can adopt a content-first approach that means using real-time content from the beginning of the design process to make the website more effective and revenue-generating. Working with the content-first approach makes it easy for you to spot the changes which can be implemented during the designing process.
So design and content both are crucial aspects of the website to drive more traffic and results. It’s recommended to delight your audience by offering helpful, informative, and clear content. You can also hire an experienced website design company to help you create effective content and attractive website design for your business.
3. Color scheme (Consistency)
When it comes to defining knowledge hierarchy then color plays an important role in helping users to interact with the website more easily and clearly. The color of your website has the power to deliver a strong message and also can evoke an emotional response. Using the right color scheme that matches your brand will help you to make a strong impact and also influence site visitors to perform the design action.
While creating a website design every business should aim to offer a design that makes it easy for the user to skim through the pages to understand its purpose and functioning. The consistency in the color of your website can help you to achieve that. Keeping color consistent and engaging is not everyone’s cup of tea, you need the help of an experienced website design company that is not only experienced in creating and offering design but also have a good understanding of color physiology.
Because the color you like may not be liked by your potential audience. In the same way, the color that you are offering may not encourage site visitors to perform the design action. Thet is the reason why it’s essential for a website to select a color scheme that reflects your brand and is also liked by others. Some of the colors may look good on the text and few may not. That is the reason why it is essential to maintain consistency.
Most of the time websites prefer to go with surveys and tests to find the right set of colors. But if you don’t have time to conduct a test and survey then it is recommended to take the help of an experienced website design company that can help you with the right set of colors.
4. Visuals In Website
When it comes to website design principles then visuals have some important role to play as it helps websites to communicate brand and business identity. Photos, illustrations, infographics, and other graphic elements engage site visitors and offer them rest from reading. That is the reason why visuals are considered more engaging than text content. The hero image or the banner of the website helps the website to make a good impression on a site visitor’s mind.
Adding animated transition and scroll-triggered effects engages site visitors making it an interactive experience. The visuals you use in your website should be able to boost your design and also add energy to it. No matter which industry you belong to, visuals can make your website look creative and grab many visitors’ eyes while staying on brand goals.
But for that, it’s important for the website to use high-quality and good-looking visuals along with using graphics if appropriate size and resolution. Most of the time websites tend to use high contrast visuals, instead, you can make use of color-balanced photos and graphics because bad visuals can ruin your website design. You can also take the help of an experienced WordPress web design company to create a highly attractive and responsive website design for your business.
5. Typography
Not to mention but typography plays an important role in website design. The words you use inside your website design helps you to deliver your message and the shape and style of the letter have also got an important role to play in website design. The Typography you use in your website helps in grabbing the site visitor’s attention and also delivers brand voice.
The fonts you use should be compatible with the placement and the tone of the design. For example one of the popular cursive typefaces works well with the heading and for other decorative purposes but using the same in the large block of text can make your website design unappealing. That is the reason why it said font placement is important as it contributes towards making your website design more appealing and effective.
Sometimes using the wrong fonts can take away the importance of the content and the site visitor may scroll through without even looking at what the content is about. That is the reason why it’s essential for the website to put special efforts while selecting the fonts. Apart from visuals, the fonts inside your web design can help in engaging customers, offering information, and encouraging them to take the desired action.
If you are trying to highlight an important point or other important information then it’s always recommended to use straightforward fonts for better readability and understanding. On the other hand, the stylish font can be treated like a strong piece and can be used in web pages to make it look more attractive (avoid using it frequently.
For a better understanding of typography, it’s always recommended to consult with an experienced website design company that can help you to select the best fonts and place it in the right place.
6. Optimized & Comfortable UI
Next in the list of website design principles, we have another crucial point that every website should consider to acquire more customers and create a strong online presence. The UI or user interface of a website is as crucial as other aspects of a website because it defines how users interact with your website. Or we can say the UI of the website has the potential to make and break any business.
If your website is offering an optimized UI then users will like to spend time on your website and explore more about your business and product/services. On the other hand, a bad user experience can drive users away from your website and there are high chances that your potential audience may abandon your website and never return back. That’s why it’s essential for websites to focus on the UI and make the interface as simple as possible. There are few more things that a web designer can consider
- Keeping the color and font consultant
- Utilizing the page layout effectively
- Eliminating irrelevant information or visual from the page
- Using less text and highlighting the main message
- Avoiding infinite scrolling
- Making the interface accessible to a new user
- And more
To make this process more effective we recommend starting by seeing your website from your potential customer view. Before you start designing your website we recommend asking three important questions: who is your potential audience? What activities are carried out on your website? Where the interaction is taking place.
Once you are able to find the answer to the above questions then it will help you to craft an interactive and engaging design that matches users’ expectations. Remember UI is one of the crucial aspects of website design that is the reason why we recommend consulting with an experienced WordPress web design company that can help you to create an attractive and research-based website design for your business.
7. Website Navigation
Navigation is considered another important website design principle that every website and business should consider while creating or updating a new website. Website navigation is something that holds the power to make and break your business in the competitive marketplace. Website navigation helps users to find things they are looking for in your website. It helps site visitors to interact with your website and explore different aspects of your website.
Website navigation can help you to retain visitors and sometimes if the navigation is difficult then it can drive site visitors away from your website. Today the navigation of your website should be made simple so that even new users accessing the internet for the first time should be able to find things that they are looking for. Or else you will end up losing lots of your customers to your competitor’s website that is offering optimized website navigation.
The website navigation should allow the site visitors to take action and more around your website more easily and effectively. Offering confusing navigation not only drives users away but also creates a bad impression about your website and business. Easy navigating includes creating a simple menu layout with clear text and allows the user to quickly move through your website. So let’s take a look at some of the tips on how you can offer easy website navigation:
- Reduce the number of option in the menu bar and keep it as simple as possible
- Make use of easy text which can be recognized by anyone
- Reduce the number of option in the dropdown menu
- Avoid adding too many clicks
You can always find various guides and tips specifically created to help websites offer the best navigation to their users. But we always recommend consulting with an experienced website design company that can help you to create the most effective and conversion-centric website design that comes with easy, simple, and best navigation.
8. Visual Hierarchy
The next website design principle that every website should consider is creating the best “Visual Hierarchy” as it can help you to make your web design more effective and result-driven. Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of elements depending on their importance. It is either done by size, typography, color, whitespace, and more. When it comes to offering a web design that allows site visitors to easily access the content then visual hierarchy has got some important role to play.
Some of your web pages are more important than others that are the reason why you look to highlight it with a goal to grab more eyes. For example, your website may contain multiple pages but you display the most important one in the navigation menu. In the same way, you may wish to make the user click on the particular link by highlighting with color or by using stylish typography, or using whitespace to make your link more prominent. The main function of the visual hierarchy is to set up focal points that help site visitors identify the important information in your website and web pages.
Conclusion
By now you must be aware of some of the website design principles that every website must consider either while creating their website or while redesigning an existing website. If you need any further assistance related to website design or redesign then you can always reach out to our highly experienced WordPress website design professional with more than 12 years of experience in creating highly attractive and converting website design for different industries. Even if you are looking to get the free audit then make sure to contact our professionals who can offer you a detailed report about why your website is not able to drive the desired results.