It always feels great when you are done with your first web designing project successfully. However, you get a good laugh when you look at your first website design after a few years and find many flaws and poorly finished aspects in it. With time you gain experience and your techniques become better but better is never the target of most professionals; they want to target the best instead. Keeping in mind the basics of web designing techniques, keeping the aspect of creativity and experimentation alive and taking these side by side with modern web designing requirements is what results in the best website design.
If you have just stepped in the world of web designing and want to start building an impressive portfolio right from the beginning, it is best that you start with proper guidance. Since you have internet you don’t need to go looking for any other resources to get guidance on the best techniques and manners of web designing. Here are the top web designing 10 tips that will help you in designing a winner website regardless of whether you are a new or an experienced website designer:
Simplicity Is The Key
You might have developed some great designing skills with your experience in the field but if you have learned things the right way, you probably know the value of simplicity. Website visitors are common people with little or no knowledge of website designing on most occasions. You can’t impress them with a technically difficult to design website but you can definitely win their hearts with a website that is easy to understand and navigate. Flash images, animations and audios playing automatically on the website are best avoided. Even if a few visitors like an automatically playing video or audio, most will be annoyed since it becomes a hindrance in their website navigation.
Don’t Bury The Brand And Objective
It is easy to get carried away with an objective to be creative and unique when you are designing a website, and it is equally hard to remember your objective and stick to it. While designing you should put in your best efforts to make it look unique and attractive but your motivation should not bury the identity of the brand and website under it. Remember what industry the website belongs to and what colors denote the brand. Think of a website of an entertainment company designed like a university website with more focus on text rather than presenting its portfolio, works and achievements.
Don’t Forget Call To Action
Almost every website needs call to action buttons on it. Whether it’s a social networking website or an e-commerce website, a call to action button is most important. Even more important for a designer is where to put the call to action button. “Sign up now”, “register”, “buy now”, “order now” and “get a quote” are some examples of commonly found call to action buttons on the website. How they are designed, how attractive they look and how easily they are visible to visitors are some important questions to ask yourself when placing and designing these buttons. Call to action buttons should have striking colors and their placement should be readily accessible. Top is the best position but if your website page is long, put another button at the bottom.
Line Spacing, Padding And Space
If you think that a website must be filled with images, texts and colors, you are probably new to website designing. A perfect website design is one that finds a perfect balance between white space and colors. There should always be enough white space on the website that makes the visitor feel that he’s on a website, not going through a telephone directory. The line spacing of the text should be just enough to keep the reader reading without losing the contact with the text when moving from one line to another. The text and images and other elements should be separated with spaces. Use the white space and color it if it enhances the look of your website.
Easy Navigation
Navigation must be made easy for visitors. Navigation isn’t only about putting a bunch of buttons on the website and expecting the visitors to find them. You have to make these buttons easily visible. The text on the buttons should “explain” to the visitor where he/she will be taken after clicking on the button. Larger websites require submenus as soon as the visitor takes his/her mouse pointer on the button. The submenu should not be annoying i.e. disappears as soon as visitor tries to click an entry on the submenu and moves away from the button. Larger websites with lots of subpages should include breadcrumbs so the visitor knows at any given moment where he is on the website.
Intelligent Typography
Typography plays an essential role in how long the visitors will stay on your website. Text needs to be read, not looked at. Small or too much text on the website will only push visitors away from the website. The size of your text is only one thing; the script you choose is another important thing. Your script on the website should be legible and attractive. Don’t use dull font on dull background.
The Search Box
If you have a content rich and big website and there is no search box included on the website, be sure that you have made the biggest website designing mistake. You must also know that placing the search box on the website where it is hard to locate it is nearly the same mistake as not putting it in the first place. The biggest tool for a visitor when everything else fails is the search box. Include it on your website!
Design For Future
Designing for present is a mistake. Designing for future is the best way to make a website competitive in the internet world. Today, one thing that any designer must know is how to design a responsive website. Responsive website designs are the future of websites due to the greatly produced portable devices with varying screen sizes.
Use Headings
This is one of the easiest tasks but also one of the most effective aspects of any website. Whatever content you have on your web page, make it readable and easily comprehensible for the readers. You might be surprised but readers prefer to read the headings of an article before they read the content underneath the headings. Some people would only read the headings to get the gist of the article and content.
Use Images Wisely
A picture is worth a thousand words! If taken in the context of online websites we could say, “a picture is worth a thousand words if only used properly”. People love images and proper use of images can make your website, content and idea stay in the minds of your visitors and readers forever. Use images only when necessary. Place them at the right locations on the website. Use high quality images but small sized ones. Low quality images are one of the most annoying things for website visitors, especially when you have an e-commerce website with product pictures. Sometimes your text might not explain an idea as clearly as one perfectly image can.
These are the tips that are meant to keep you informed of what the best practices are when you are designing a website. You must always keep yourself alive in your designs and find the unique way of designing that only belongs to you and makes you different from others.
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