Design and More: 6 Ways to Take Your Website Design to the Next Level

Have you been putting off updating the old design of your website? It would be smart for you to reconsider that choice.

Studies show that 75% of people form their opinions of websites based on aesthetics. If you have an old, outdated design, people might think less of your website.

If your site is due for a new website design, this post will help you get the most from your efforts. Follow the six tips below to create the best website design for your visitors.

1. Prioritize Above-the-Fold Elements

You can’t count on your visitors scrolling down your website pages to figure out if your site can offer what they’re looking for. They’ll look at your headline and content they immediately see to figure this out. That’s why focusing on above-the-fold elements is essential for web design today.

Here are the elements to focus on in this area.

Headline

Your headline should tell your visitors exactly what your page contains. It should describe your users’ problem and tell them that they’ll find an answer by reading your content. You may need to test several different headline versions to decrease the bounce rate on your site.

Call-to-Action

Your call-to-action doesn’t only have to be at the bottom of your page after your visitors have read your content. You can also include it at the beginning. Telling people what you want them to do and giving them a solution straight away is a quick way to gather customer information.

Multimedia

While you don’t want images and video to detract from your main message, media is still useful in drawing attention to your headline and important content. Use visually appealing media to push focus to your critical website elements.

2. Keep Your Design Simple

You might believe that your site has a ton to offer your visitors. While this might be true, your visitors are going to your site for a singular purpose most of the time. If you give them too many options, it is harder for them to find what they need.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to make use of white space. Instead of adding cluttered sidebars and other content next to your web content, let your primary content breathe by allowing it to show on its own. Doing this will help your visitors focus on the information they’re trying to see.

The same is true for your website navigation. Instead of creating cluttered menus that make it difficult to find anything, keep navigation simple. Categorize your site with a few main categories, and allow those category pages to take your visitors to the information they’re trying to find.

3. Optimize Your Mobile Experience

More people than ever use their mobile devices to browse the internet. This means that you can’t count on primarily desktop users to browse your website. If you only design for people with large screens, you’re going to provide a poor experience for many of your visitors.

The first place to start your mobile experience is your design. You’ll need to make your design responsive to accommodate any screen size. A responsive design means that your site will detect your visitors’ screen sizes and automatically change design elements to match their size.

You’ll also need to work on your site speed. Mobile users don’t always have reliable internet connections on their devices. Optimize your images and use caching to keep your page response time quick for all your users.

4. Create Skimmable Content

Web design isn’t only about making your site attractive. The way you format your web content plays just as important a role as your visuals.

Most people won’t visit your site and immediately start reading your content from the top. If your visitors can’t find the information they’re looking for, all they’ll do is waste time. That’s why people regularly skim websites before they commit to reading them.

You can help this process by dividing your content into sections. Use headings to break up your content and tell people what they can expect to read in each area. This will help people understand what you’re writing about and make it more likely for them to stick around to read everything.

5. Keep Colors Simple

Your colors are there to set the mood for your visitors. The color palette you choose will prime your visitors for what you want them to do.

If you want someone to take urgent action, bright and vibrant colors are a great choice. If you want them to trust you, a neutral blue color will help set the mood.

Keep these color patterns as consistent as you can across your entire website. At most, you should use three colors for your design. One of those is your primary color, and the other ones will support that color.

6. Optimize Your Call-to-Actions

It doesn’t matter if you run a general information site or an eCommerce store. Your website’s goal should be to create a loyal following of fans that keep coming back to your website.

The problem is that most of these people will come to your site to find information and never return. You need to find a way to keep these people coming back.

A call-to-action is what you use to tell your visitors what to do. You can promote an email list, product, and anything else that connects you with your visitors. The problem is that a call-to-action isn’t always easy to make stand out.

You’ll need to learn how your users interact with your website if you want to see how well your call-to-action performs. One of the best ways to do this is to replay user sessions.

Make small changes to your site’s call-to-action and use heatmap software to track how users respond. You can use this data to see if your design changes work to convince your visitors to take action.

Now You Know How to Handle a Website Design

You can’t afford to show a poor website design in today’s competitive online world. It only takes a few seconds to lose someone’s attention, so you need to do everything you can to make your site appear worth visiting. Use the design tips above to make that possible.

If you want more useful design tips, browse through our blog. It covers the latest design trends that are worth using on your website.