Perhaps you’ve decided very early on that you want to design webpages, or perhaps you’re seeing a lull in the industry and you believe you can bring something new to the table. Well, whether you’re designing websites for internet service companies or your next door neighbour, there are a few things you should pay attention to.
It’s all about the aesthetic
Everything is about looks – if you can package it right, you will have won half the battle. People want easy and intuitive navigation, friendly interfaces, they don’t want to spend even more than a minute figuring out where they should go to find the information they need. Before you start planning out your design, you need to figure out what the website is all about. Who is going to use your website most frequently? What are their behavioral patterns? When you have a profile of your target audience, you’ll be able to better design and construct a website that suits your niche.
A gamer might be able to navigate a console-like website, but the same cannot be said for the average mobile-gamer. That’s why it’s important to figure out your base, because you want to make the aesthetic appealing to your specific target.
Keep everything snappy
Loading times matter too. If your website takes too long to load, users will hit the back button because they think your website can’t load. Nobody is going to spend time on a glitchy or slow webpage. Keep your visuals and programs light and don’t go overboard on too many flashy designs. The key element of any website is to deliver information in a coherent and balanced way. The consumer should be able to find any information they need from your website.
However, this doesn’t mean you should fill up every blank space within an inch of its life, trying to shove needless information at your consumers. White space is very important because it makes reading much easier. Keep your paragraphs not more than three or four lines long and make sure you use subheadings and stylized font (such as bold, underline, italics) in order to emphasize your content.
Mobile optimization is everything these days
Unless your demographic doesn’t use a mobile phone and only uses PCs, every website you design should be catered to all screen sizes and gadgets. It should look seamless on the laptop, on the tv, on a tablet and on the small screen of the mobile device. A mobile version doesn’t need to include all the bells and whistles that your full site has – if they want the full experience, you should give them the option to visit the full site – however, think about why any consumer might need to visit your website on a mobile phone. Are they searching for your contact details? Perhaps your opening hours? Do you have an easily accessible FAQ? These are all things to consider when you’re designing a mobile version of your webpage and it should go hand in hand with your full site design, which means you should include the charges in your quotation.
These are the three top tips that can help your website stand out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to deviate, but make sure the design still looks coherent.
