Web Design – What is good web design?

I am often asked the question in a design brief meeting, “What constitutes good web design?”

Well, this has changed over the years.  When I first started developing websites, graphic designers often designed the look of the site. These websites would look great, but functionality and loading speed was terrible.   We built many websites in Adobe Flash back in the day. Graphically beautiful sites that had to pre-load and were complex to build.

It’s come to the stage now where less is more with web design. A great website caters to the user, not the business owner. Your users need to see what you do quickly and easily. Most of them use a mobile device, so they need to be able to call you directly from your website or inquire about your services easily.

Pages need to load fast, images need to load quickly, and text needs to be easy to read. Font selection is also important.

From a personal perspective, I find the following six principles the most important in good web design.

Purpose

What is the requirement of the site? What are you trying to achieve? Do you want to sell online or are you trying to get brand recognition? Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Webcom Solutions can help you plan your website before a line of code is even written.

Communication

Communicate your message, clearly and concisely. Write content with easy to read words, short sentences and concise paragraphs. Googles new algorithms rate quality content as critical in good web design. It is important for you to write fresh content for your website for your end user.

Images

The old saying that a picture speaks a thousand words is never apter than on your website. It’s imperative that you have great, original images on your website. Spending a few dollars on some quality images can set you apart from the rest of your competition.

Navigation

Your website has to be easy to navigate. Moreover, it also has to be easy for your user to take action on the site. There is nothing more frustrating as an end user than being unable to find something quickly and easily. Your contact details and call to action buttons should be prominent and easy to find. If you want to get, people to subscribe to your mailing list, make it easy to do so, but not obtrusive or annoying. Factor these thoughts into your web design.

Load time

Pages must load quickly. Users won’t wait for more than two or three seconds for your website to load and will leave if this doesn’t happen.  Again, Google places great importance on fast loading websites; their aim is to provide quality content.  A slow loading website does not help you achieve optimal google rankings. Webcom Solutions put significant effort into ensuring your pages load quickly on all devices.

Mobile support

Your website needs to look great on all platforms. Desktop, tablet and mobile. It must be easy to navigate and load quickly. Most people on mobile will want to call you directly from their phone, so a link to your contact number in imperative.

Webcom Solutions will make your Website look beautiful on all platforms.

In conclusion, great web design is not just about the design. There are many factors in having a website that works. Not only for yourself, but your clients. Even more importantly your potential clients.