Whether you work in marketing or you are getting ready to launch a new website for your business, you may need a nudge in the right direction when it comes to design. Websites rarely succeed solely through captivating design and provocative content. Although there are so many factors that go into website design, it’s important to find a style that’s not only functional but also fuels the user experience. We compiled some of the most effective website design tips that we use ourselves, so you can get an edge over the competition and reap the rewards.

Hassle-Free Homepage

It might seem tempting to make your company website as unique as possible, but weird and unusual aren’t always appealing. Most users and potential clients prefer clean, modern designs with a lot of whitespace and low visual complexity. When designing your business’s homepage, you should pay close attention to and work toward understanding the aesthetic judgments of the audience you wish to reach. Single-column layouts and tall pages seem to be most effective because they do away with clutter that can detract from your mission, products, or services.

Visual Hierarchy

In this digital age, users respond to visual cues. Website designers use visual hierarchy – the arrangement, size, color, and contrast of visual elements – to determine the appropriate relative prominence of each in the order they are typically seen by the human eye. Position, size, visuals, and contrast all play an important role in how users will interact with your website. If you prioritize scrolling over clicking, there’s a great chance that you’ll see an increase in conversions. The visual fold, or the depth at which a typical visitor can view without interacting, is another element to consider. By prioritizing your company’s mission statement and other forms of important content above the fold, you can hook users.

Ease of Navigation

One of the least-contested topics among website designers is the importance of site speed. How fast a page loads can ultimately influence everything from bounce rate to visitor satisfaction and conversions to revenue. Another critical aspect of navigation is how you place your website features. One of the top causes of user failure is findability, but you can address these problems by sticking with a simple structure. Your business logo should be featured in the top left corner. Both the main navigation and search bar should be featured in a horizontal header. Social icons should be featured at the bottom of the page. Avoid using carousels, sliders, tabs, and accordions if at all possible. Google recently rolled out mobile-first indexing, which crawls, indexes, and ranks the mobile version of a website to better help mobile users. Crafting a mobile-responsive design is just as, if not more, important than the desktop version of your website.

Hopefully, these website design tips help you to improve upon your own website before it’s ready to launch. Please feel free to contact MSP Design Group with any questions. If you have any other modern website design tips, studies, or information to share, we would also love to hear from you!