Website Design: Things to consider
When building a new website there are some key points to think out before any coding is done. At Andgate Systems we know this and guide clients through the many decisions that must be made. With a clear thought process and plan the website design should take into consideration the following key areas:
1. Purpose. Seems obvious, but what do you need your new website to do? Is it local online advertising, ecommerce or brand promotion? Each page of your website should have a clearly defined purpose to engage with its audience and convey the companies/ organisations message.
2. Content/ communication. In today’s fast paced online world it is essential to communicate quickly and clearly. Some effective website design tactics include: clear headlines, use bullet point to convey important information and organise information into bite sized chunks. Clear, well written content wins every time and helps deliver the desired user experience.
3. Typeface / Fonts. Clear easy to read fonts are very important. Fiddly intricate fonts can hinder readers. Clear fonts such as Ariel are much easier to read online. Any quality website design will have a consistent typeface throughout the website and few changes in size of typeface too.
4. Colour / Design. Think complimentary colours and simple clear palette. Seems obvious but contrasting text on a plain background is easier to read. White space and background feels modern, clean and uncluttered.
5. Images. Choosing engaging pictures and placing them well within the website can help lift a page and keep viewers’ attention. Infographics, videos and graphics can speak a thousand words and clarify your message and brand image. To keep consistency of quality of images consider using professionally taken pictures or buy stock images.
6. Navigation. How easy is it for the user to find what they are looking for? On fining your website the design should use breadcrumbs in the form of buttons for users to follow. The general rule is all information should be found within 3 clicks. A logical hierarchy of pages and drop-down menus will ensure all information can be found quickly. If it’s a bigger website with lots of content or products think about a search bar so specific search terms can be used.
7. Layout. A web design with a well-defined grid based logical layout always looks better. Randomly placed, hap hazard content on pages looks messy and isn’t as engaging to the user.
8. F. Pattern page Design. People read English left to right. So, don’t try and force a reader to do otherwise. Important information should be top left and everything else should follow on from there.
9. Load Time. A well-designed website should load quickly. A slow loading website might well get passed over for a quicker competitor by search engines and consumers alike. Images must be optimised to scale and size, efficient short code should be used, minify html / CSS / Java script compressed to speed up load time. This all boosts the user experience and portrays your organisation in the best light.
10. Mobile users. A huge amount of web traffic now originates from mobile phones and tablets. As such your web design must be responsive to mobile. This will allow the website to adjust to different widths and retain all its message. Non-mobile friendly websites are frowned upon by search engines.
11. S.E.O (Search Engine Optimisation). This is the process of optimising your website to show higher in naturally generated search engine searches. New, text rich, relevant content added on regular intervals attracts Google and other search engines. Using key words and phrases in everything you put into your website design all builds up over time to become a powerful tool.
Building an attractive website full of great features and packed full of the latest tech is what we do. Here to guide our clients from day one Andgate Systems are digital experts.