Three most important things in website design

Designing websites seem to be no big deal for some. You just need to cobble together a couple of pages with certain kinds of information, slap designation insignia in the corner, add web calculator, kiss it on the cheek, take it online and move on with an exquisite feeling of impeccable accomplishment.

Right? Hold on, boyo! It is not that simple.

In fact, it is the farthest thing from simple because you can’t just make a website on a whim — you need to make a website that will engage users and will make them want to come back and interact more. Otherwise, — why even bother?

Making effective website design is a hard thing to pull off. You never know what works and what not. It is always try and fail.

While the majority of rules are completely informal and absolutely optional — there is a reason why they exist. Most of those rules are simply tried and tested solutions based on experience — and there is no reason not to use them for your own benefit.

Here are three most important things to remember while designing a website.

Useful content

While that is probably the most obvious thing in the world — there are no two ways about it. Making useful content is your top priority. You need to deliver the goods to users. That takes an effort but it is totally worth a sweat and even a tear.

That works in your favor in a couple of ways.

First — you build a reputation as a valuable source of information. Through well-written content, you can show your expertise and competence in the area of interest. That will lead to a steady build-up of the audience.

Second — good content opens up business opportunities. If your company is providing services or making products — that can be a gateway for customers to come in and cooperate.

Cleanness of design

Let’s imagine a scenario. You enter a website. And there are hordes of things jumping out at you all at the same time. And also lots of splashes, flashes, slashes and eye floaters running wild. You have no idea what is going on and where you can go outside the page of entrance.

Chances are you might feel a little bit lost, greatly perplexed and arguably incredibly annoyed. Because of that you will probably leave that website and will avoid it in the future. That is bad and you should not allow this to happen on your website.

Keep in mind all the time — overstuffed pages kill site dead. Not only it scares the users and potential customers — it is also rather unpleasant from an aesthetic point of you.

There is no reason in pulling off tour de force — you need a website that will provide valuable information for its users in a convenient manner. That means — keep it simple and functional. Users don’t need to guess what button does what — it must come intuitively.

Multi-platform format

In this day and age — the computer is not an only option for web surfing. There are smartphones, tablets, hybrids, etc, etc. However, not everyone adapts their sites to different platforms.

The result might not be as critical as previously mentioned overstuffedness — but it makes the case of needlessly inappropriate format for the platform.

It is important to make appropriate versions of the website for each platform for sake of convenience and respect for the user experience. Page layout is dependable on the size of the screen so it is important to put the most important elements without breaking the balance.

Summing up

There are many more elements of website design but these are the most important — you can’t succeed without them. Simply by following them you are doing half the work and avoid lots of unfortunate things that can occur otherwise.