Nearly every company and business has an online presence, to the point where it is almost required to have a website or other social media page to attract and maintain a customer base. With so many web pages out there, a business must ensure that its website sticks out from the competition and is fun and easy for anyone to use. Here are four essential elements of web design.
1. Easy To Navigate
A website should be well-organized and contain a drop-down menu that can be accessed from anywhere on the website. If customers have a difficult time finding what they need on the webpage they will get frustrated and leave, which is the opposite of what you want to have happened when you are looking to attract and keep customers. It is a good idea to have some people outside of your company test the website and give suggestions on how to make it easier to navigate.
2. Mobile Friendly
Most people do not only access web pages from their personal computers but their mobile devices as well. You must have a web design that works well on both a computer and a mobile phone. Make sure that text blocks are readable on the smaller mobile screen and that any videos on the site can play on all popular mobile devices. It is usually better to leave an image or video out than to include one that is broken to some viewers.
3. Engaging
Especially important on mobile devices where the attention spans of users are short, websites should be designed to be engaging and hold the interest of viewers. This can be accomplished by including short surveys, having a section where the customer can receive live assistance, and listing other pages of interest on the site after a viewer sees one section of the site. There is a balance to being engaging, however, so be cautious of coming across as overly eager and annoying.
4. Visually Pleasing
A good webpage should include fonts and colors that work well together, images that fit the content but are not distracting, and whitespace placed appropriately throughout the website. The purpose of whitespace is to make the page more readable and to create a natural flow throughout the page. Make use of monochromatic, complementary, analogous, or triad color schemes when incorporating color in your design.
Use these four essential elements when designing an online presence for your business.