Important Web Design Elements

We often talk about accessibility and compatibility (further down the article, for instance) when we look at web design, but we should also take a long glance at usability. When visitors come to your pages they want to be able to access the information you provide and use your website in the way it was intended. If they cannot do this then they will be dissatisfied with the entire experience and are unlikely to convert to customers, click your advertising links, or perform any other desired action. While this is only a small portion of the important elements for a site, implementing these will ensure that you offer users a good experience.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a major part of web design, especially for service providers and organisations. Theoretically, providing a website that is inaccessible to disabled people, can lead to prosecution under the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act 1995). While this is actually unlikely to happen, you can deter a lot of potential customers by offering a site that is not easily accessible. Provide alternative text for all images, and ensure that your site is created using valid HTML and CSS code. Also ensure that users can, should they wish, enlarge the text on your site. These are only some basic guidelines, but important nevertheless.

Compatibility

Website testing is important. When you come to test your site, try to test on a variety of web browsers, operating systems, and computers. Also test on varying screen resolutions and Internet connections. While the majority of people use Internet Explorer and have a Windows operating system, this certainly isn't true for every person that could potentially visit your site.

Page Loading Speed

Pages need to load quickly with the most important information displayed first. Any content that loads slowly should have a place-holder that displays while it is loading. Visitors have a very short attention span and if your homepage doesn't load in a matter of a few seconds, preferably quicker, then they will quit your site and look for one that is quicker. Consider using smaller or more compressed images. Condense pages by breaking larger pages down into a main page and supplementary pages if necessary.

Easy Navigation

Navigation should be easy to spot and equally easy to use. Text navigation is often the best and the navigation bar should have a prominent position on every single page of your site. Categorise pages if you have a large number but ensure that the deeper pages are easy to find as well. Provide a site map and a search box if necessary.

Use A Template

Use a template that includes your logo and name. Website visitors want to see some consistency between the pages of your site and don't want to see errors creeping in, links that can't be clicked, or other problems. Many of these problems can be avoided through the use of an accurate template that is then populated with the relevant information for each separate page.

Headlines, Titles, And Other Text Formatting

Large blocks of text are difficult to read. Break them down using titles and subtitles. Use other text formatting to make the content of your pages more appealing to the human eye and easier to digest for the human brain. Shorter sentences and paragraphs, when compared to paper print, are required and desirable on the Internet.

Why Design Matters

The design and layout of your website will help to determine its success. At the very least, a good design prevents users from having reason to leave your site and visit another. Clean and crisp websites that load quickly, are easy to understand and navigate, and are accessible and compatible for all are usually more successful.