Top 12 Website Design Best Practices That Stand Out

Gain your competitive edge with the latest tools and techniques.

When it comes to website design, the tools and technology used today are constantly evolving. In a hyper-competitive landscape, it is vital to design a website that’s equipped with the latest bells and whistles. A good website will not only boost conversions, it will help you in strengthening your brand and business strategy.

People still judge a book by its cover and that applies to websites too. When it comes to your website design, first impressions still matter. Once someone visits your site, before they read any content, he or she is already making an impression of your brand.

That’s why it’s essential to follow website design best practices that directly impact engagement and conversions. Beyond an elegant design, you also need your website to function as a lead generation and conversion site too.

Here are the Top 12 Website Design Best Practices to Generate Leads and Build Customers.

1) Responsive designs.

Even as website designs continue to evolve, responsive web designs continue to lead the way as the preferred choice for content marketers. With responsive web designs, one can write content and publish it effortlessly. What’s more, the design strategy also allows the layout to adapt to the capabilities and size of the device used.

2) Consistent branding on each page.

Promote your brand on your website. Strong website branding can influence decisions and drive people to the right action.

For instance, if you study the website of Apple, you’ll see how they master branding. From a logo that’s visible but not overwhelming, to always a brief headline and subhead that convey goals with clarity and sleek product pictures, you can notice several key branding decisions on the homepage alone.

 3) The importance of white space.

White space give your website elements the space to live and breathe visually. If you club many elements too close together, you could confuse visitors and force them to go away.

On the internet, you could come across many examples of cluttered web design that makes you go away. So make sure, when you’re designing your website, you use margins and padding sensibly to create space between content, images and other elements.

 4) Stay focused – limit the choices you offer visitors.

Remember, if you don’t lift the options you offer your visitors, they may get confused and may take more time taking decisions. Instead of presenting your visitors with multiple options, suggest just one.

It’s always a smart idea it to stay focused and lead your visitors to a suggested course of action. Insert your Call To Action (CTA) links at strategic points. And this can lead to Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).

5) Make the rule of thirds to your advantage.

Always associated with the fine arts and photography, the rule of thirds can now also be used to make your website sparkle. This means, overlay your site design with two vertical lines and two horizontal lines – and evenly space them out.

Put your CTAs and other important elements at vantage points and just make sure the rest of your web design flows naturally around those elements. This proven approach to composition works for any kind of website.

6) Compress big images so that your website loads faster.

A visitor’s attention span doesn’t last more than 5 seconds, so your site needs to load within that time ideally. To eliminate load times, try to compress the bigger images. It’s recommended to not upload images that are bigger than the screen size and also compress them after uploading.

It’s also recommended to minimise the use of overused stock images or eliminate them altogether and go for authentically shot images that are fresh and relevant to your website’s purpose.

7) Smooth navigation – the secret to a great website.

A solid and smooth navigation system on your website is the best way to engage visitors to your site, supporting their entire search preferences. The most vital factor in web design is the ease with which one can find information.

If visitors are not able to find the information they are looking for, they would lose interest and leave. The navigation system should be intuitive and self-explanatory.

Your primary navigation structure should be simple. Always integrate navigation controls into the footer of your site.

8) Ensure site consistency and contrast sensibly.

To ensure that your site has a smooth flow across all pages, it is a good idea to keep elements such as colour, layout or font fairly consistent in your site.

When it comes to the colour, fonts and layout, maintain consistency on all the pages.

At the same, make sure that certain website elements stand out from the rest. If you want your users to take action on an offer, use greater contrast on areas like:

• The benefit of working with us. (Why Us)
• Look what clients are saying about us. (Testimonials)
• Your special promotion or offer.
• The Call To Action (CTA)

Also ensure that you minimize the use of JavaScript and Flash as many mobile devices and tablets do not support Flash. On top of it, it would also inhibit your website`s navigability.

9) Content is king.

Just like the print media, on the web media too, you would need to write as per the visitor’s browsing preferences. Use objective language. Always ensure that the focus is on lead generation rather than just be an encyclopedia of information. Browsers normally avoid long text blocks that are not infused with images.

An ideal content strategy would include:

> Search Engine Optimized website content, on brand, on strategy.

> Compelling headers and subheads on the home page, about page and other pages

> Keywords researched and placed strategically into the text.

> Text organized for easy navigation.

> Strong relevant call to action.

The right content can also help you create distinct landing pages for SEO. Website design best practices vary depending on how you’re using a specific page. If you want to rank well, you need long-form content. Also figure out where people interact on long-form content, and then insert your CTAs accordingly.

10) Use breadcrumbs wisely.

Breadcrumbs on your website act as signs and marks on a map that say where you are and how you can head to the next destination. They aid in the website’s navigation.

Especially on e-commerce websites, breadcrumbs play an important role in guiding visitors. Because if visitors can’t find something fast, they may go elsewhere.

11) Group similar elements – Use familiarity to your advantage.

People are used to visiting many websites every day, so they automatically expect certain sections on a site to be clubbed together. For example, when shopping online, consumers expect an Add To Cart and Buy Now buttons that drive action to be clubbed together.

Not only can you achieve the above similarity, you can also achieve similarity with colours, shapes and with other elements.

12) Add the human element.

Human pictures and human faces engage visitors emotionally. As humans, we are all programmed to respond to human faces, so you can add pictures that include human faces rather than inanimate objects.

An ideal website design is one that meets your specific business need. Whether you are looking for a communication platform or sales-focused website, an efficient design team will use the right tools to design a website that builds your online presence in the right manner.