Basic web design principles

Are you preparing to create a new website or update an existing one? Would you like your new website to be created according to best practices and proper web design principles?

Then you have come to the right place!

Thanks to this article, you will be better prepared when commissioning a website and it will be easier for you to review the project you receive. Take a look: The success of a website is primarily determined by its usability. Often entrepreneurs forget this and focus all their attention on graphics, photos and animations. Don’t fool yourself. A user who visits your website wants to get information or perform a certain task immediately (buy, register, download a file, fill out a form). If this task is difficult or impossible to complete, he will give up and go to the competitor’s site. If your website is not very intuitive and poorly designed, the most beautiful graphics will not help you attract a customer.

How do users use the pages?

Basically, the habits of users on the internet are not very different from the habits of customers in a retail shop. Website visitors look at each new page, “scan” the text and click on the first link that promises to get them what they are looking for. Most internet users are looking for something interesting or useful and will keep clicking until something catches their attention. If the page does not meet their expectations or they do not find the information they are looking for, they click on the “Back” button and continue their search. For this reason, it is extremely important that we put ourselves in our customer’s shoes and create a website that is primarily focused on them. A very simple rule: If your website is not able to meet the users’ expectations, then the designer has done a bad job and your company is losing money. So what influences a good website design? Below we present 6 good design principles that will make your website aesthetic, appealing, user-friendly and effective.

1. Intuitive structure

Don’t force your users to think. According to Krug’s first law of usability, a website should be intuitive and logically structured. When designing a website, we should eliminate all question marks – decisions that the user has to make considering the pros and cons or alternatives. If the navigation and architecture of the website are not intuitive, the number of question marks increases. This distracts the visitor and prevents them from achieving the purpose for which the website was created. A simple design is an effective design. A complicated structure is not what visitors want to see on your website. Tips and techniques you should consider: Grid-based layout If you place content haphazardly on the page, it can result in a messy and cluttered appearance. The solution is to use a grid-based layout that divides the content into sections, columns and fields, making the design aesthetic and intuitive.

2 Navigation (menu)

The navigation on your website serves as a guide. It determines whether the website is easy and intuitive to navigate. It also shows the user what is important on the website and where to find the information they need. Practical rules: Only the essential, most important pages should be included in the top menu. The user will not be interested in the privacy policy and copyright information at first contact. Links to these sub-pages should be included in the footer at the bottom of the page, Create groups of related links and arrange them in order of importance from left to right, Keep page titles short and descriptive, Place the menu bar in an easy-to-find location. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and ask yourself: How many steps (clicks) do I have to take to reach the goal on the website (registration, login, form submission, purchase)?

3. Typography

Make sure that the fonts used in the design are legible and reflect the essence of your business. It makes sense to limit yourself to two fonts (main and secondary) to maintain consistency and reduce page load time. In general, sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana improve the readability of the text. The font size should also be large enough (at least 16 px) so that the user has no problems reading the content of the page. Tips: Pay attention to readability. Choose a font that does not distract from the text Match the font to the nature of your website. Remember that a font evokes certain emotions and feelings. The font used on a restaurant’s website does not necessarily suit a law firm’s website. Make sure that the fonts used in the design match. Use headings, subheadings, boldface and bulleted lists. Use clever line spacing, text alignment (usually left justified) and spacing between paragraphs. All this will improve the readability of the text and encourage users to read.