There are a lot of factors that affect the success of a website. However, you can’t expect a website to succeed unless you’ve got the basics down to a T.
To build a great website, you must understand the core elements and fully master them first.
1. Aesthetics
Graphic designers play a huge role in the success of a website. The saying first impressions last apply to websites as well.
The first thing that you should know is that people hate cluttered websites. Simplicity is the key when it comes to web design. Provide as much white space as possible.
Colors are subjective to the brand you’re trying to create a website for. However, web visitors generally love cool and light colors. These include light shades of blue, red, yellow, and orange.
As for the page layout, you can try to get inspiration from Web-Design Inspiration. You can curate website samples from a wide variety of industries that align with the website you’re trying to create.
2. Cross-Browser And Device Compatibility
As a web developer, one of the first things you should worry about is whether your website works well on various platforms.
You must understand that people will access it from a wide array of devices.
First off, the website should load fast. Did you know that 53% of mobile users leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load? Optimizing for speed means keeping the assets on your website to a minimum.
Additionally, you should also dedicate some time to creating a mobile version of the website.
Aside from performance, the menus and every other content should also load adequately.
Before launching the website, ensure it’s tested on all browsers and mobile and desktop browsers first.
3. Hamburger Menus
Back in the old days, websites had loads of menus to navigate. This made going from one section to another easier. It does come at the expense of white space, however.
Now, you should use hamburger menus instead. This comprises of buttons that, when clicked, reveal a drop-down menu.
Aside from being easy to navigate, hamburger menus are also more minimalist and take up less space. The only real challenge when creating hamburger menus is making the correct categories for your website.
4. Clean And Simple Typography
Straightforward typography is the core foundation of an effective website. It makes everything look clean, professional, and a lot simpler.
Can you imagine browsing a website that uses Comic Sans for the text?
Here are a few qualifications to consider for the text:
- Size is not larger than 16px
- Font is web-standard
- Enough space between lines for readability
Some of the best fonts to use are Montserrat, Roboto, Helvetica, and Open Sans.
5. Intuitiveness
No one wants to browse a website that’s very hard to navigate.
Can you imagine lasting long on a website that requires you to go through numerous menus?
As a general rule of thumb, your web visitor must know where they are on your website at all times. Keep the layout as simple as possible. This applies to all types of websites.
6. Branding
This applies to business websites mostly.
The website you’re building should look and feel similar to the brand that it represents. Can you imagine how confusing it will be to browse a blue-themed website from KFC? We’re all used to the red and white motif of the fast-food chain.
A website isn’t just a website. For the most part, it’s a brand’s image online. If you want more customers to recognize who you are, then the website’s overall theme should fit the brand you’ve established or are trying to create.
7. CTAs
CTAs or call-to-action is a must for all websites. These are used to generate new sales, get more subscriptions, or get people to visit more pages on the website.
The CTA should be noticeable, but it should not be too large that it becomes annoying to look at. Make sure that the button is placed in areas that people can easily see. Avoid putting them alongside other menus.
Color selection matters too. Ideally, you’d want to pick a bright and solid color for your CTA so that it stands out.
Now, remember that these are just the core elements of a good web design. Considering all of these when creating your website won’t guarantee success.
What it does let you do is create a website that’s very easy to love. Once you get the momentum going, you can continue adding or revising elements on your website to fit your customers’ wants better.