From being simple text and images on the internet, website design has significantly evolved over last 2 decades. Its evolution is marked with numerous milestones such as use of animation, interactivity, SEO and mobile friendliness. Today we are going to talk about five important elements of website design that are crucial to its purpose of existence.
Clear Messaging
Be it an informational website or a purely functional one, every website is designed to convey some message to its users.
A business website may want its visitors to know about its products, services and establish credibility. This could be achieved by setting up a clear navigation, descriptive banners to mark its areas of expertise. Similarly, displaying various certifications and client logos leads to establishing credibility.
A functional website like a social network or a Saas platform may want its visitors to know about its features, popularity etc. Such websites usually require the user to sign up to enter and use the system. However, the visitors may not have the time or patience to sign up just to know the features. Use of infographics and quick video demos on the homepage can help the user understand the features and flow and may lead to increase in number of sign ups.
Ease of Use
However flashy or nicely designed a website might be, if its not easy to use, chances are most visitors will drift away without taking the efforts to go through it. Some important points to ensure website usability are:
A. Clear Navigation
B. Mobile friendliness
C. Information Flow
D. Readability
E. Signposting and help messages.
SEO Focused
This aspect does not need any introduction as every website owner knows the importance of SEO today. However, very few know that SEO is a result of content + website architecture. Do not get swayed by numerous SEO tools available on the net, They will mostly look at technical aspects such as meta tags, H! tags etc. These things can always be added on at a later stage, Whereas, SEO friendliness needs to be built into the website while designing and conceptualizing the content flow. If you forget to consider this in the initial stages, it will become very hard for your SEO agency to bring your website up on search results. If your content flow is not right, most good SEO agencies will recommend formidable changes leading to a lot of rework at that stage.
Interactivity
Another very important aspect is to think how to make your website interact with its users. A website can interact with users by means of surveys, chatbots and sometimes even simple forms. Many websites use a wizard type interface to help its users narrow down to a specific topic, solution or a product. Interactivity brings instant gratification of some level. Research says that interactive websites are frequented by visitors as compared to usual websites. Interactivity also leads to your visitors and prospects spending more time on your website, eventually leading to more conversions.
Branding
Branding is all about the use of colours, fonts and pictures in way that it relates to your image. In other words, people remember by your looks as much as with your deeds. It is vital to look consistent and professional. Your choice of logo, colours and pictures will decide whether your website visitors will stay or move on to other sites. For those who stay on, branding plays an important part in bringing your visitor back to the website.
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