11 Website Design Tips For A Better Website

In today’s digital era, good website design is a cornerstone of any successful business. It’s often the first impression potential customers have of your brand. Fail with your site, and you can drive visitors away before they even explore what you have to offer.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled 11 actionable website design tips. These will all help you create an outstanding website that encourages site visitors to take the actions you want.

Let’s get started!

11 Website Design Tips

1) Prioritize Mobile Responsiveness

These days, the majority of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Because of this, our first web design tip is all about having a mobile-friendly website. Be sure to use responsive design techniques. This makes your site look great and ensures it functions well on all screen sizes. Also, never forget to test your web pages on different devices. This creates a seamless experience for your web visitors regardless of where they are.

2) Optimize Loading Speed

A slow-loading website can frustrate users. It will also often lead to high bounce rates. Thankfully, there are a number of actions you can take for a fast website. Here are just a few: 

• Optimize the images that you use across your site
• Minimize CSS and JavaScript files 
• Leverage browser caching

These will all improve your site’s loading speed. You might also consider using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. This is a handy tool that can help you quickly identify areas for improvement.

3) Keep the Design Clean And Simple

Cluttered and overly complex designs can overwhelm visitors. Think about your own experience online. How often have you landed on a website, felt like there was “too much going on”, and thought that was a good thing? Likely, hardly ever. Instead, you should aim for a clean, minimalist design. Highlight your key content and provide a clear path for navigation. You can also utilize white space to make your website more readable and engaging.

4) Use High-Quality Images And Graphics

Visual content is a powerful tool for engaging visitors. They bring site visitors in, can explain things quickly and effectively, and make your web pages more enjoyable to look at. Unfortunately, poor images are usually one of the reasons web design fails. Be sure to use high-quality pictures and graphics. They should reflect your brand’s identity and resonate with your audience. Avoid stock photos that look generic or overused.

5) Ensure Easy Navigation

Web design is all about convenience and ease. This is where navigation comes in. A well-structured navigation system helps users find the information they need quickly and easily. Here are some options:

• Clear labels for menu items
• A search bar at the top of your home page
• Breadcrumb trails for enhanced navigation

These types of elements not only make your website easy to use, but avoid any frustration on the part of your visitor. This is absolutely essential

6) Implement Clear Call-To-Actions (CTAs)

Your website should guide visitors towards desired actions. This can be anything from making a purchase, to signing up for a newsletter, to simply contacting you. To make this process easier, though, you need to use clear, compelling CTAs. They should stand out on the page and encourage user engagement. Give our article on high-converting landing pages a read for more tips.

7) Optimize For SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for driving organic traffic to your site. And if your web design is going to pay off, it’s an area you need to take seriously. Try to use relevant keywords in your content. You should also optimize meta tags, and ensure your website can be easily crawled and indexed by search engines. These are just a few actions you can take, but there are plenty more.

8) Use Consistent Branding

These website design tips can also contribute to consistent branding. The reason this is important is that it helps you build trust and recognition among your audience. As for the specific actions you can take? Consider developing a cohesive color scheme, typography, and imagery. These should all be relatively consistent if you want to establish a brand identity that people recognize.

9) Enhance Readability

Web design is also about the simple things. One of these things is making your site as readable as possible. You can have the most beautiful design in the world – if people can’t read it, it’s not going to perform. With this in mind, here are a few tips for enhancing readability with your web design:

• Always use legible fonts
• Limit the amount of different fonts that you use
• Break up text with headings and subheadings
• Use bullet points to break up sections

These are all worth consideration, and can have a huge impact on how clean your site looks.

10) Incorporate Social Proof

Social proof is essential no matter what industry you work in. It’s so important that we’ve even created a series on it:

• The Importance Of Social Proof: Part 1
• The Importance Of Social Proof: Part 2

Here’s the most important thing to know: things like customer testimonials, reviews, and case studies win your audience’s trust. They can also reinforce the value of whatever it is that you offer. They should be used any chance you get.  

11) Test And Iterate

Like most of our blog articles, we end this one with a reminder to test everything. The fact is, web design is an ongoing process. None of these website design tips mean much if you aren’t making sure they actually work. Regularly test your site’s performance and user experience using tools like heatmaps, A/B testing, and user feedback. These actions allow you to consistently make improvements over time.

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Are you an enterprise, nonprofit or small business looking for help on your website? Give us a shout! We provide a free consultation. Email us at info@lughstudio.com or call us at (718) 855-1919!