Designing an effective website is very important to attract more customers. The visuals of the website should appeal visitors. For instance include more images, maintain proper font size, concentrate on page layouts, colours etc. You need to focus on loading speed of the website. Because a website even though well designed, is of no use if it has poor loading time. Users will not visit website which has poor speed. Include graphics and multimedia which drags user attention. Here are a few tips for designing an effective website:
White spaces:
Whitespace are empty spaces on the website. Make an effective use of whitespaces which improves readability. Give proper space between elements which will add look to the website. Apart from spacing, cell padding should be done between text and elements present on the webpage.
Positioning of Elements:
Placing the elements at correct position is the thumb rule for designing a good website. For example, website includes various elements like menu, login box, search field, enquiry form, text body, newsletters etc. All these elements should be fixed in the appropriate position. For instance search filed should be placed in the top right corner of the webpage; content should start from left end etc.
Visual Design:
Have a visual representation of actual site before starting the web design process. For instance designs suitable for software firm many not match for textile industry. Understand the purpose of your website and design accordingly. Use Photoshop tool to view your website before designing it. Because you can easily make changes and fix errors at this stage.
Fonts:
Select appropriate font size which enhances the look and feel of website. You need to concentrate on various issues like font size, font colour, line spacing etc. Colours of links, size of headings, subheadings and structure matters a lot. Highlight the important information, use bullets and special symbols in structuring your content.
Consistency:
One of the important principles of effective web design is to maintain consistency between pages. For example, home page should be designed with different layouts. There should be a consistency between different pages on the website. For instance, you should maintain same font size on all web pages. Use content management system, which helps in maintaining consistency.
Navigation:
Without proper navigation you may lose potential customers. You should provide navigation across various pages on website so that user can understand the information. Position your main menu at right location. If your website contains numerous web pages then distinguish menus based on categories.
Usability:
Identify different ways to increase usability on website. For instance, every page should be displayed within a single click. Think from the customer’s perspective. Understand their requirements and provide a solution to customers. Target the market and implement best tools and technologies.
