A few thoughts on what makes for good website design.

What takes web design to the next level is not how clever or cool your website looks. It all comes down to great UX, short for user experience. Regardless of how many bells and whistles your website has, if users can’t find what they need or navigate around it easily, it’s not doing the job it has been designed for.

At Harrison Carloss we’ve worked on a great many website projects over the years. Here we outline the basics of what makes for effective web design.

Make it recognisable as your website.

With literally millions of websites currently active, make it clear that this is one is yours. Fonts, colour palette, photography styles, graphical elements, icon styles and tone of voice - all should be consistent and adhere faithfully to your brand guidelines.

‘Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.’ - Forbes

Hierarchy & clean design.

Think of the page design like a pyramid, with your most important information right at the top to grab the reader’s attention. Get your key messaging above ‘the fold’ (the first screen users will see when they click onto your website). Beginning with a strong headline allows you to talk about how you or your products benefit your user. As users navigate through your site you then ensure you have relevant content to build firm foundations to back up your claims with testimonials, case studies, your experience, what companies you work with, your credentials and so on.

Rule 101 of good UX is the easier your website is to use, the better. From a design perspective this means clear headings, large titles, subheadings and paragraph copy. These also make for good SEO.  Using white space lets you break up your website into sections and makes it a more enjoyable user experience. Sectioning also allows you to group imagery and copy together to full advantage.

Remember: many people skim read, so get your key information under larger headings so they can find it quickly. Lastly, stick to two or three fonts as too many detract from your content & visual hierarchy.

Clear calls to action.

Calls to actions are how you get customers to convert into a sale or lead, so make it clear from the outset what you’re asking them to do or what you’re offering.

Include one contrasting colour in your palette for call to action buttons throughout the site. Don’t use this colour for anything else, so when it is used it’s clearly a call to action. Use strong action words on buttons, e.g. Submit, Click Here, Shop Now, Call Now.

Micro interactions & visual feedback.

A good website should always give visual feedback to improve user experience, to help them understand the site and navigate easily around it.

Examples of micro interactions and visual feedback include buttons or text that change colour, shape or size when you hover over or click on them. Or a loading symbol so you know the website is doing something and not stuck. Or a button changing from submit to complete when you fill out a form.

Be responsive to mobile users.  

People expect a website to work as well on their mobile device as on their desktop, so everyone should be able to access your site regardless of their device. It’s worth checking analytics to see how people view your site.

With that in mind, it’s important to put buttons in places the thumb can reach once you scale down. For instance don’t put your main CTA in the top left as it’s out of reach.

According to 2022 research, mobile devices make up 58.99% of global website traffic.

Optimise your site for search engines.  

You build a website so people will read it. To get more people to read yours, make sure search engines can also read it.

Build the relevant heading tags (H1, H2 etc) into it. Use alt tags on your images. Include keywords & meta data. Link to other relevant high ranking sites. And consider creating landing pages for PPC campaigns.

Consider your audience.

The purpose of your website is to help customers find what they’re looking for, so think about your demographic. By answering the questions below you can then think about content:

• How tech savvy are they?
• Are they on a desktop or mobile devices?
• Would they understand the icons you’re using without context?
• Are they teens, working professionals, trades people etc?
• Is it an impulse purchase or a large ticket item that needs more detailed information, and would they want to enquire first?
• Does your imagery reflect the service or products you are offering?

Do you have a web design project coming up and would appreciate some expert advice on how improve your user experience? Get in touch with our team at Harrison Carloss at hello@harrisoncarloss.com or call us on 0330 133 1639.