‘Good design keeps the user happy, the manufacturer in the black, and the aesthete unoffended. ’
– Raymond Loewy
Introduction to Website Design Layout
Internet browsing and surfing have become inseparable parts of our lives today. Every day we would browse ‘n’ number of websites to shop, search, explore, and buy services or just Google. We stop only on a few websites or want to visit those repeatedly.
Others don’t seem to be too appealing. Its design layout is a significant reason for visiting a particular website more than once. Although it’s a tricky balance to achieve, a well-designed and streamlined functional web page is well worth the effort to improve customer experience.
It has been a proven fact now that the item that affects the presumed trustworthiness of a website is its design and not the content inputted. A perfectly designed web page does not have to put much effort into other aspects to hold a visitor on your page. UX and UI design, in tandem, form a web page’s entire layout and functionality.
The master of putting up a perfect website design layout is McDonald’s. They have put down everything in the proper place, even how to place pickles. So, you would also want to develop something as good as or even better than McDonald’s.
Top 10 Steps of Website Design Layout
Today will know more about the top 10 steps of website design Layout are given below:
- Have a professionally designed logo adequately linked to the Home Page
- Use intuitive navigation
- Avoid Clutter and provide breathing space for visitors
- Use Colors and Images strategically for responsive web
- Choose web-responsive fonts that are easy to read across devices and browsers.
- Each page should be designed as a landing page
- Always create responsive design, adaptive to all the devices
- Use HTML5 instead of Flash
- Submit or Send buttons should be appealing
- Don’t forget to test your design
‘Life is conversational. Website design layout should be the same way. On the web, you’re talking to someone you’ve probably never met so it’s important to be clear and precise. Thus, well-structured of website design navigation and content organization goes hand in hand with having a good conversation.’
— CHIKEZIE EJIASI
(A tweet from Twitter)
1. Have a professionally designed logo adequately linked to the Home Page
The logo is the first thing that identifies a website design layout company. A web page with a professionally designed logo appeals to its customers more than a flashy logo. A logo forms the brand identity of a firm or a website.
It would be best if you always made it a point to use high-resolution website design images for the logo. website design images should always be featured at the upper left corner of each website page. Also, remember the good old thumb rule of linking all the logos on the website to your Home Page for an easy way to visit on website design navigation for your customers.
2. Website Design Navigation
Have you ever wondered why you bounce from so many web pages and hold on to only one or two? Customers do not take the pain of figuring out a complex website. Instead, they quit the page and move on to the next.
This is the primary reason why intuitive navigation is so important. You should typically deploy the direct navigation options for your website design in the horizontal menu bar at the top of the page, with secondary navigation bars either below it or in the left margin.
Also, focus on putting links only at necessary places that do not distract customers from your call to action or most important information.
3. Avoid Clutter and give Breathing Space to Customers
Too much use of graphics or an overload of images on a page tends to create Clutter. Website design images are an essential medium of understanding, but visual overloading of images stops processing information in the brain.
Customers become confused when we present too many website design layouts. To minimize Clutter on the landing pages, limit the number of links and options in the header and footer. Another way to streamline pages is by keeping the paragraphs short.
Short means not more than five to six lines, as customers tend to lose interest in looking at a lengthy text. There is another thumb rule of good website design layout i.e, to give some breathing space for customers.
This space can be created by leaving enough space between paragraphs and website design images so the viewer can breathe and absorb more features and offerings of your site. With the responsive web becoming more competitive daily, less is considered more now.
Controlled white space throughout the layout will keep users’ focus on the content and increase the user experience. Controlled user flow will increase returns from the website.
4. Use Colors and Images Strategically for Responsive Web
Use mostly a neutral color palette to present a modern, clutter-free, elegant web page. With fierce competition, employing small dashes of color for headlines and key graphics will help your visitors hold on to your web page and pay attention to the essential details. Always use a color palette that complements your logo and should be consistent with other marketing collaterals.
Try to invest in photography or purchasing professional stock images because visitors on the web page sniff out generic images in a blink of an eye. The website design images will leave a generic impression of your company.
Professional stock images or good photography will immediately draw attention to the content and create an emotional connection. To cite an example – if you want to draw your visitor’s attention to a particular piece of information or call to action, use a human face looking in that direction or a finger pointing there.
It’s just because a human tends to look in the same direction as the other person is looking. Both colors and website design images should be selected to fit in all the responsive web – mobile, tablets, laptops, etc.
5. Choose Web Responsive Fonts
With the web going responsive, you should make it a point to choose fonts suitable for all browsers, be it a laptop, tablet, or mobile handset.
If you choose a large-scale font, chances are they might read well on a laptop but won’t render well on a mobile losing its feel and look. Always pick a typeface that can be easily read with a size of 11pt.
If you choose web fonts, don’t use more than 2 font families to ensure fast load times. For a fixed-width design, use a font allowing a maximum of 15 to 20 words in a line, and in a fluid layout, use a font that will enable 15 -20 words at 1000 pixels width.
6. Each Page should be Designed as a Landing Page
Web designers design. Generally, they design their websites assuming a visitor enters through the home page and then moves on to the landing pages. But, the fact is a little different. Most visitors land on a page other than the Home Page for most sites.
So, the key idea is to keep all the major information on all the landing pages and website design layout so that the visitor does not have to search around for important information.
7. Always Create Responsive Design, Adaptive to all Devices
Why must you design a different site for each device when you don’t have time to eat properly in this busy world? Save time and energy by creating a responsive site that adapts to the browser size according to the device used.
A responsive site generally holds a visitor’s attention for a long time, increasing the probability of conversion rates.
Whether you are using a website builder or hiring a designer, you must ensure that your business website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Implementing features such as alt text for images and keyboard navigation can make your website more
user-friendly for individuals who rely on screen readers or have limited mobility. Providing options for font size adjustment and color contrast customization allows users to personalize their browsing experience based on their specific needs.
8. Use HTML5 instead of Flash
The ongoing dispute between Apple and Adobe is causing Flash to become outdated and come to a close. So, designers! Come off the bandwagon and try out more web and user-friendly options.
HTML5 is gaining popularity with its search-engine-friendly text and its easy functionality on mobile operating systems without requiring a plug-in, unlike Flash.
9. Submit or Send Buttons should be Appealing
The ‘Submit’ or ‘Send’ button at the bottom of a Web form is the most important call to action item on a web page. But it can be the ugliest part, too, so designers need to make form submission buttons “so likable visitors can’t help themselves from clicking those.
They have to click it. These call-to-action buttons can be attractive in many ways like when a visitor moves the mouse over the button, it should change color, gradient, opacity, or font treatment to catch your attention in a fraction of a second.
But, also take care of the fact that overdoing anything is terrible. It should be tapered until it looks appealing. Otherwise, it can have a reverse impact.
10. Don’t Forget to Test Your Design
A design decision is just a hypothesis. You are the best person to decide what looks good on your web page. Optimizing a web page by trying different placements for the call-to-action buttons or using different shades of color can greatly impact your web page. User testing. A/B testing and analytics can help you improvise your web page.
And the real improvisation comes from people. Take their feedback and implement it until it looks good. To cite an example of how important testing your design is – Microsoft earned an additional $80 million in revenue just by testing and implementing a specific shade of blue. So you never know when your design can make you generate huge profits.
The live version of the web page often encounters minor issues that may seem insignificant and obvious. By then, the business has already lost a minor percentage of potential income from its prospects.
With several platforms available today, generating “WOW” moments from a website’s UX and UI designs is no big deal. It only takes little-committed efforts and a pinch of creativity to make all the visitors say WOW after landing on your web page.
So, the perfect way to design a web page is to Think. ReThink. Learn. Learn again. Never use the same concept. Know your customer needs, and then….start your design.
Changing your design practice can significantly affect your engagement and conversion rates by forming an intuitive user experience that will reveal your professionalism while delivering what people want and need in a visually striking manner.
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We hope that this EDUCBA information on “Website Design Layout” was beneficial to you. You can view EDUCBA’s recommended articles for more information.
