Principles of Creating Effective Web Designs to Attract Visitors

Principles To Follow For Creating An Effective Web Design:

Before you start following any principles, it is important for you to understand the mentality of your users. Start thinking from a user’s perspective and understand their ways of interacting with a website and its features.

Analyze User’s Mind:

Putting yourself in a user’s shoe is not that difficult. Analyze yourself when you are in a store and the way you act as a customer. Yes, this is exactly the way your visitors act when they see your website. Honestly speaking and we all will accept this fact; most of don’t even read the entire text of the website. Your user will quickly scan your website and whatever feature attracts him in the first place, it will be clicked. This is normally how a user will browse through your website. Following are a few things that users’ will appreciate in your website:

-       Quality content:

Users’ are always looking for quality content and if they find desired content on your website, they will ignore the minus points of your website i.e., layout OR flashy advertisements. So, make sure you provide them with quality content.

-       Scanning the content:

Highlight important points in your website. Always keep in mind that users will not read the whole content, they will only scan it.

-       Users are always busy:

Web users do not have much time and patience to explore your website. You should work on providing instantaneous satisfaction to your visitors, as a web designer.

-       Users’ don’t always make the best choices:

Your website should have a good optimization because users’ are used to click instantly on links they like instead of searching in the first place.

Principles of Effective Web Design:

If you want to a have an effective web design, you should follow the rules mentioned below:

1. Simplicity:

Your website will adaptable for users only if it is not-so-complicated. I know and I understand that you want your website to look great however; this does not mean that you should fill your page with nonsense. The distractions will only confuse your visitor. So, make sure that you keep your website simple and if you are a good designer, you will make sure the simplicity looks attractive too.

2. Don’t test users’ patience:

In every feature that you provide to users’ through your website, make sure that requirements from users’ end are nominal. If you pop-up long forms in front of a new user, he will simple leave your website and may never visit again. A very good advice to all web designers would be to keep the requirements minimal related to personal data because this is exactly where a user will get annoyed.

3. Avoid Waffle – Only facts:

As mentioned above effective content if very important for any website. Users’ don’t like it when you waffle and exaggerate the facts. If you want to win the trust of your visitors, make sure you mention everything clearly and precise. Only mention the important stuff and rest of the useless stuff should be scrubbed out.

4. Expose your features properly:

I personally love one thing about modern web designs. They provide a proper guidance to users in order to begin their surfing on the website. You must have seen steps ‘1-2-3’ and this is exactly what I have been talking about. This is a great way to make users’ see the features available in your website and how to reach them.

5. Effective Writing:

The content of your website should be written in web style catering to web users’. You need to talk business and avoid anything else. Also, make sure you use the web terms for specific features on your website. For instance, ‘Sign Up’ is always better than ‘Start Now.’ Effective writing includes; precise and to-the-point sentences, scan-able content, which includes headings and like I said, common web language should be used.

6. Avoid distractions:

If your website doesn’t really have anything to do with social networking websites, try not to add ‘follow’ links on the main of the page. Yes, promoting your website on social networking websites is a great way to get an increase in traffic however; it can always prove to be a distraction for users. If you want your users to focus on their main goal, avoid such distractions and remember these are distractions only if your site does not need them.

7. Effective usage of White Space:

White space’s importance is often underrated. White space can actually make your website look attractive and welcoming. It gives users a break from all the new complex web designs. White space is actually very effective. Why? Because it brings the simplicity effect, is soothing to the eye, makes layout look beautiful and last but not the least, the content can be scanned easily.

8. Web conventions are good:

Just because your website’s design is conventional, it does not make it a boring one. In fact this is a great way to save your visitor from learning and guessing process. Visitor will already know where the features are and they will not have to find them.

9. TETO Principle:

TETO is a casual term used for test early-test often which means testing your website is very, very important. You must know that testing of a website should be a repetitive process. You should conduct usability tests to make sure that your web design is an effective one.

10. Do not make it difficult for users:

Confusing, misleading and putting your users in a difficult situation, is not good. I have seen websites asking for Zip code and not many of us know the correct one so why ask?