Important Characteristics of Effective Website Design

Whether your goal is to increase brand awareness or sell a product or service, efficient website design services in New Orleans can be the difference between a new conversion and a lost prospect. Your website is how users learn what your brand is all about. The last thing you want is for a poorly designed website to dissuade site visitors from becoming customers. Follow these tips for effective website design, and you should start seeing more conversions in no time:

Characteristics of Effective Website Design

Less is more when it comes to effective website design; the simpler, the better!

The Paradox of Choice dictates that the more options you give people, the easier it is for them to choose nothing at all. In the case of web design, this has never been more true. Having too many options on your website can overwhelm visitors and drastically increase the amount of time it takes for them to make a decision.

Users came to your site with a purpose in mind. That purpose is rarely to admire beautiful graphic design skills. Fancy layouts can be visually appealing, but you never want your graphics to distract users from finding what they came to your website for in the first place.

Take a look at your website. Is there any information on there you don’t truly need? Delete it! Don’t waste precious real estate on your website with unnecessary decorations. Simple, sleek designs have proven long-lasting and sure to withstand the test of time. Plus, they allow users to navigate your site more easily and quickly find the information that matters to them.

Some of the most effective website design layouts are the simplest. Strategic use of white space can bring out the wow factor of your website! White space, also known as negative space, is the area on your website that is intentionally left empty. No, it does not necessarily have to be white.

White space includes the gutters between images and text blocks, blank areas in each page’s margins, and even the space between letters and words. It may not seem like much, but white space is an essential design element and is imperative to effective website design. Web pages without enough white space may appear cluttered, confusing, and even downright off-putting! White space makes a page look clean, sophisticated, and professional. It also helps people focus on the important features of the site.

The majority of the page is void of text and images, leaving a simple, clean design that does not overwhelm website visitors. The eye is naturally drawn to the most important page features since there are no distracting elements.

A Picture is worth a thousand words.

It may seem cliché, but it’s true! Pictures convey a lot more information much quicker than large blocks of text. In truly effective website design, images can also be strategically placed to guide users to where you want them to go. They can act as arrows pointing towards conversion points like “Shop Now” and “Contact Us” buttons.

Notice here how the arrow in the logo points directly towards the pricing option in the menu bar. Furthermore, the positioning of the man on the right side is pointed towards the lead box. These are two great examples of how visual cues on websites can guide users to primary conversion points.

When choosing images for your website, keep in mind that quality is critical! All images should be high resolution and should fit the overall style of your website. It’s also a good idea to incorporate people’s images as our eyes are naturally inclined to recognize faces. If you’re using stock photos, be careful not to choose ones that look too staged. This can come off as cheesy and unreputable.

So there you have it! You should be equipped with the information you will need to create user-friendly, conversion-driven, effective website design.