No doubt web design and development is a complex task that requires patience and expertise in applying design principles to create a professional and beautiful web design. A deep and complex thought process goes into each and every aspect of website designing right from creating visual appeal to adding functionality. Web designers might unintentionally miss out on certain essential web design elements when they stress more on the basic and outstanding web design elements. These elements although might not directly play a role in website design but nevertheless are significant.
Appealing Visual Design
You do not need to have a website that is cluttered with content and colors to appeal to your audience; a simple website design can also create a visual impact. All you need to do is transform it to make it unique and apply the design principles so that it stands out from your competition and etches in the minds of your target market. You should focus on creating an eye-catching design because the first impression that a viewer has of a website will decide whether he/she will stay on the website. A visually pleasing website design would grab your visitors’ attention long enough to make them stay and look around.
User Friendly Design
A functional website design is one that stresses on a user interface. Web designers should consider their users when they design websites because they would be the ones using the website. If they can’t figure out their way around and don’t get what they require they would leave the website and search for a more accessible website. A website design that is easy to decode and doesn’t have a lot of loose ends in terms of navigation, site architecture and visual cues helps users find what they want without much hassle.
Navigation That Keeps the Users in Flow
The primary navigation such as the links to main sections of the website and the logo should be kept within the top 500-600 pixels of your site web design. This is because increasing resolutions and large monitors can show primary navigation buttons when they are at the top. Primary links such as Home, About US, Products, Contact Us and other such similar pages should be on top of the page for easy visibility and access. Other secondary links can be placed in the side bar or as sub links under main title page. The main navigation links are repeated in the footer along with additional information such as Terms of Service.
Search Options
A search field is useful for a large website or a blog allowing users to find out specific content they require from the huge pile of information. If visitors are unable to find what they require, they would move on to another website. You can incorporate a Google Search on your site for a functional search box onto your site. Sitemap is also important because it helps the users reach the desired location. Sitemaps are also used by search engine crawlers for figuring out the contents of a website and the can also help with Search Engine Optimization efforts.
