Tips for Effective Website Design

With millions of websites vying for the attention of the web audience, it is critical that you make your website stand out. This is possible when you have an attractive, user-friendly website with quality content. Going through a few basic rules and common mistakes will give you an idea of how to go about your web site design.

• Make it attractive – The common factor that the most popular sites share is their appealing design. An attractive design makes your website instantly noticeable and engaging. Use colors that are relevant to the theme and content of your website. Use fonts that are easily readable and follow the basic rules of formatting – line spacing, alignment, headings, sub-headings etc to create the right impression on the visitor.

• Make it unique – Make your website different from the other websites with similar content. Try an unusual web site design with original color schemes. A website that stands apart speaks for itself and creates its own niche. But in an attempt to make it unique, don’t end up confusing the visitor or misrepresenting important information.

• User-friendly navigation – Your web site design must be user-friendly, allowing the visitor to explore your site without any hassles. Ensure that the site has simple and clear navigation that can comfortably take visitors through the site. If the visitor struggles to go to a particular web page or gets confused with the layout, then chances are that he/she will just exit your site.

Common mistakes you should avoid while creating website design

• Splash pages - A splash page is the first page you see on a website with messages like ‘click here to enter’ or ‘welcome’. These pages have no use in themselves and are mostly a waste of the visitor’s time. Leading visitors directly to your website will show visitors that you care for their time.

• Automatic music or sound – Music on a website should never play automatically. Give the user some control over whether or not the audio should be played.

• Using excessive banner advertisements – Most people are annoyed by banner advertisements, and placing too many of these on your site might be unwelcoming.

• Not optimizing for different browsers – With the variety of browsers available, people can choose any that they are comfortable with. Your website should work well in all browsers and not just one of them.

• Wrong use of colors – Using every color on the palette to design your website is a bad idea. Use colors that are relevant to the theme of the website and the corporate image you want to present. Use colors that are pleasing to the eye and enhance the overall aesthetics of the site.

• Automatic pop-ups – A pop-up is a nuisance and very unappealing. It is frustrating when a screen you don’t want to see blocks what you want to see.

Remember that creating good web site design is an iterative process. You will have go back to your website at least a few times to weed out glitches and to enhance functionality and appeal.

For more information on social media marketing and website design, contact an internet marketing specialist at Wolf21.com.