Four key web design elements that every website should have.
Web design is a bit like creating a gourmet dish. It involves creating an experience that is pleasing to the senses, with every element maintaining a precise balance without overpowering the other. And just as with cooking, good design has nothing to do with luck or randomness; it requires precision, skill, and an eye for detail.
This is especially true for business websites. It makes no difference whether your company consists of just yourself, or a staff of 200 – Every business, big or small, has a lot to gain from a website that has been designed to best meet the needs of its users. This is why most British companies prefer collaborating with a web design company in the UK.
Websites greatly impact a company’s digital presence, as well as its identity. Today, websites are designed to be more than just visually appealing – they have to also be functional and high performance. Internet users today are extremely sophisticated and have become accustomed to using high-quality technology. A professional web design company will be able to audit your website and make amendments when necessary, to ensure the best end-user experience.
Here are 4 web design elements that every website should have:
Seamless navigation
Navigation plays a crucial role in the success of a website, and it’s not something that should be experimented with. Now and again, you may come across over-ambitious designers that want to recreate the way users navigate on a website. However, do not be persuaded by them. The digital masses are accustomed to using navigation in a specific way, you shouldn’t be trying to reinvent the wheel here, just go with the flow.
The one thing to remember is to keep things simple. Web users love simple navigation because it doesn’t require a lot of processing power. Try and avoid overly complex animations and effects as they may be a turn-off for many too. The purpose of a navigation bar is simply to direct visitors to the information they want to find. Unnecessarily complication can lead to an increase in your bounce rates.
Visual appeal
Web design in the UK has continually evolved but it’s never shifted its focus from high visual appeal. The way your website looks, paired with the way it is perceived, plays a very important role in your online success. I can’t put enough emphasis on how important first impressions are with regards to your business website. It takes users only about 50 milliseconds to build an opinion about your website and decide if they want to continue using it, or leave.
What do you think the mind registers in half a second? Well, to keep things simple, it looks for visual appeal. Does a website appear attractive enough for your brain to want to stay? Users look for pleasing colours, sufficient white space, inspiring imagery or graphic illustrations, as well as well placed, informative content. Your website should wow first-time users the moment they log on to it.
To achieve this, your website will have to abide by a handful of principles: As mentioned earlier, simplicity is key. Additionally, your website should be accessible, intuitive, and clean in appearance. Some conventional designers might not fully appreciate the value whitespaces bring to a website. However, maintaining margins and keeping plenty of room between text boxes can increase readability as well as make the content look more digestible. Nobody likes a website that looks like a 1200 page novel!
Font family
A major contributing factor to the visual appeal of a website is with typography. Writing is a form of communication; however, the fonts used play an important role in defining the overall tone of the content.
The primary goal is to select a font that is easily readable, but that adds a hint of flavour, will one make your website look distinct and attractive. Contrast is key. Using the same font family throughout the page may become monotonous and unattractive. Moreover, typography tends to set the tone of a page, so ensure you use relevant styles with respect to what your website represents. For example – using Comic Sans across the website of a law firm will not deliver an accurate message.
One can never be too careful when selecting the right typography for a business website. It’s a prudent practice to study what’s popular, and incorporate it into your branding. 2021 saw many fabulous font trends, which included:
- Distorted fonts – Jagatraya & Plastic Sans
- Retro serifs – Fogie & Rottely
- Elegant serifs – Kanaya & Wensley
- Alpine display fonts – Bahn & Stampbor
Responsiveness
If you operate in highly competitive markets, or are just starting up, you cannot afford to have an unresponsive website. Responsiveness is the ability to adapt to the varied screen sizes of devices used today – which include tablets, desktops, laptops and mobile devices.
Studies show us that nearly 95% of all data users in the United Kingdom access the internet through mobile devices. As a consequence, most banking, shopping, and gathering of information is conducted via mobile devices. Having a website that cannot adapt to the screen of a mobile device will mean that customers have to look for an alternative one that does.
Another term for responsiveness is mobile-friendliness, which is a metric search engines use to define SERP (search engine result page) rankings. An unresponsive website is likely to have a high bounce rate, and rank extremely low. Consequently, such websites will see little to no traffic and become a liability rather than an asset.
Creating the right balance between aesthetics and functionality is a matter that requires expertise, experience, skill, and awareness. This is why it’s become increasingly important for British companies to partner with a Web design company in the UK.
My recommendation would be Web Choice. Web Choice is one of the best web design companies in the UK. They have supported businesses of all sizes to scale profitability and improve conversions through optimised design. Web Choice provides high-quality digital services that deliver real results.
If you have not yet met your full potential, reach out to WebChoice today to change your future.
About the author:
Sam Dunning is the Sales Director and Co-Owner at WEB CHOICE, UK.
He hosts the weekly podcast “Business Growth Show” with business leaders, experts and entrepreneurs from across the globe.
You’ll learn actionable tips across marketing, sales and growth to help you skyrocket your business!
Visit:
https://www.webdesignchoice.
https://www.businessgrowth.
