The Eight Rules of Web Design
If you create websites, you are aware that your top priority is to make your designs fun and useful. For those who have only recently begun developing websites even with the top web design tools available now at their disposal, it may be a daunting undertaking. To make it easier, I’ve put up a short list of dos to bear in when putting together your next site design project.
1. Maintain consistency in your interface
Consistency in interface design across the board in a product is one of the pillars of strong UX. All of the pages on your website should have the same general layout and style. Usability and UX can benefit from consistency in navigation, color schemes, typefaces, and writing style.
Practical advice: Start by making banners design’s usable. The sword of consistency has two edges. Making other elements of your website consistent if the initial design is flawed will lead to consistently subpar design. So, make the design usable before making it consistent.
2. Create simple navigation
Usability’s foundation is navigation. It is the primary method of engagement on the Internet. To make sure that visitors can find what they’re looking for, a website must have good navigation.
Practical Tip:
Maintaining top-level navigation for the most important navigation alternatives. Because the average human can only hold seven items in working memory, keep a maximum of seven top-level navigation link options. Instead, develop sub-navigation with distinct categories.
- Label navigation choices with obvious names. To make menu items easier for customers to understand, use common terminology.
- Shorten the time it takes users to reach their goals. Create your navigation so that it takes the fewest amount of clicks to take people where they want to go. The three-click rule, which states that you never should readers have to click more than three times to find what you want, should be kept in mind when building a website.
- Include navigation choices in your website’s footer. Visitors anticipate finding navigation choices and contact details in the footer.
3. Modify the color of links visited
In the navigation process, links are crucial. Users may unintentionally revisit the same pages if visited links don’t change color. Making decisions on where to go next is made simpler when you are aware of your past and present locations.
4. Make your pages simple to scan
Users are more inclined to scan a page rapidly than read it from top to bottom when they visit your website. For instance, users will browse a website’s pages until they find the information they need to find certain content or finish a task. And as a designer giving out graphic design services, you can assist them by creating an effective visual hierarchy.
- Take into account normal scanning patterns. Westerners typically read from top to bottom and left to right. Visitors will have to adjust to a design that deviates from this pattern. The information on websites with good banners design is often organized in an “F” or “Z” reading shape.
- Maintain a grid-based design. You can arrange information using a grid style so that it is simpler for website users to read and understand the content.
5. Treat content with respect
Your website’s copy is equally as crucial as its design. The majority of information on the internet (more than 95%) is textual. A good website has both outstanding design and amazing content; even if your site is brilliantly designed, it will be no more than a frame without any content. A designer’s responsibility is to make sure the banners design supports and enhances the content.
Practical advice
- Verify that the website’s text is pertinent. The relevant text adds nothing to your visitors’ experience and could confuse them. Make an effort to write copy so that each line of text is beneficial to your readers.
Avoid using jargon. For ease of understanding, Your website’s text should be as simple as possible. and concise as feasible. Writing for all reading abilities by using terms that are transparent and simple to understand for everyone is a safe bet.
6. Verify your webpage for mistakes
A minor mistake can quickly ruin a magnificent piece of art. Here are some typical things to consider:
- Beware of broken links. When a consumer clicks a link on a website and is met with a 404 error page, it might be easy for them to lose patience.
- Look for mistakes on your website.
- Ensure that all media content loads flawlessly, with no broken videos or photos.
7. Reduce the number of options.
People’s decisions are influenced by the number of options they have; the more options the less activity they generate. Your user will have to ponder too much if you give them too many options. It’s preferable to reduce the number of options to enhance the likelihood of interaction.
8. Get visitors to scroll
Users are more likely to convert by buying something, signing up for a subscription, or getting in touch with you if they scroll deeper down the page and spend more time with it. The content at the top of the page is crucial even though most users begin scrolling as soon as the page loads. Visitors form impressions and expectations of quality based on what is displayed at the top. Individuals do navigate, but only when the content just above the fold is sufficiently interesting.
Practical advice: The information at the beginning of the page establishes the tone for the reader. Users are more likely to search for additional content on a website that offers them high-quality content.