Today, designing a website is easier than it’s ever been with all the content management systems and helpful tools out there. But making web design easier for the inexperienced can also pave the way to a flawed website. The thing is, anyone creating a website today has almost unlimited options when it comes to design. And when you have unlimited options and not much experience, it is quite easy to go overboard and make some bad decisions that will hinder user experience, hurt your search rankings, and drop your conversion rates. But this is certainly not to say that beginners should refrain from designing their own websites, on the contrary, they should do it to learn, and to gain more experience. And while they are doing that, we’d like to give some useful tips to consider to make a cool, functional, and helpful website that visitors would like to come back!
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at our top 10 tips for web design in 2023:
1- Keep it Simple
Unless you have a real reason to do so, there is no need to complicate things- and one rarely does have a real reason to make things complicated, if ever. Yes, it can be tempting to fill your site with more and more components -such as pop-ups, buttons, sliders, forms, photos and/or videos- but this might lead to two undesirable outcomes: tiring the users out, and slowing your website down. Just try to keep your design as clean and to the point as possible.
2- Make it Mobile-Friendly
As we have mentioned in our previous posts, we are living in a mobile world now and majority of the traffic comes from mobile devices. This means that if you want conversions and returning visitors, you have to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Luckily it shouldn’t be a sweat, as if you are using web templates (more on them later), most of them today are designed with this in mind. Still, with every new feature you are adding to your website, make sure you test it on mobile first.
3- Make Sure Your Site is Easy to Navigate
No one likes it when they are unable to find what they are looking for on a website and the menu structure is incomprehensible. As we have said in our first tip, there is no need to complicate things, so you need to make sure your menu structure is easy to understand and navigate. The more complicated your structure gets, the more difficult it will be to understand your website, and less likely the people will stay.
4- Always Make Site Speed a Priority
As we have mentioned countless times before, website speed is quite important as it directly affects both the user experience, and your site’s ranking in search engine results. No one wants to spend time in a slow website, and honestly, why should they? So with every design choice that might have an effect on your website speed -activating plugins, uploading media, etc.- make sure you are not making your site slower.
5- Use Quality Images
Images are an important part of the website, and although they are quite easy to obtain, finding quality images is another story. Images found from Google searches may not come with the ideal resolution, and most of the times you are actually not even allowed to use them! There are a couple of options when it comes to finding good images though; for example, you can always search for free images with an appropriate Creative Commons license, and you can always opt for a premium service such as Shutterstock- which will cost, but will certainly make your life a lot easier when it comes to finding proper images for your posts, etc. But of course, one has to keep in mind that if the images are too “stocky” that might turn the viewers off as well. Try to find a balance- and remember, hiring a graphic designer is always an option if you have the budget.
6- Use Social Share Buttons
Sharing is caring, and if you want people to care, you better place social share buttons on your site. Where to place social share buttons? There are different opinions on that; some say they should be placed at the bottom, as placing them on top might distract users, while others believe they should be on top, visible at all times without users having to look for them. And some say (and some studies show) they shouldn’t exist on pages with a specific call to action. You can try different approaches, and find out what works best for your website.
7- Keep Experimenting
Unless you have a truly perfect website -which you probably don’t- you should keep experimenting with new ideas and designs and see how your audience likes them. A/B tests are a great way of doing this. Basically, with an A/B test you can test the two (or more) different versions of a certain variable. Now, this variable might be a landing page, and you can experiment with two different designs, and see which one gets more user registrations- or whatever your conversion goal is. You can do this yourself or check out A/B testing tools such as Omniconvert and AB tasty.
8- Be Careful with Outgoing Links
It’s always cool to help your visitors- let’s say you have a long, beautiful blog post about your niche, and at some point you direct your users -who would like to get more information on the topic- to an external site, which you know will certainly interest them. That’s great, but remember, with every outgoing link, you are opening a door to your users that leaves your site for someone else’s. This is not to say don’t do it, again- it is great putting relevant links to your posts to help your audience and we encourage it as well, but maybe don’t be too liberal about it, especially on certain pages. It is OK in a blog post, but on your homepage or a page with a CTA? Not so good. So remember to not overdo it.
9- Take it Easy with the Plugins
Content management systems such as WordPress will make it easy for those who are inexperienced to design their own website. This is cool, but one of the most common web design mistakes beginners using CMSs do is installing too many plugins -additional software for extra functionality- to their website. Installing too many plugins may lead to issues such as security breaches, site crashes, and slow loading speeds! Bu of course, this raises the question, how many plugins are too many? Well there is no single answer to that question. Some sources will tell you that 20 is a good maximum number, and you should never exceed 30. If you want a clean, easy-to-manage, stable website, try to keep that in mind.
10- Avoid Hectic Color Palettes
Color palette plays a very important role in web design, as it can help to make browsing a pleasant experience for visitors, but it can certainly do the exact opposite! At this point, it is important to understand how different colors relate to each other, as you will need to create a sense of harmony with them, to make browsing your site as visually pleasant as possible for your users. Don’t put too many colors too close together, as it will create a visual noise that will bother the users. Try going with a simple palette, and use neutral website colors for the background.
Bonus: Consider Using Website Builders (and Templates!)
If you have zero experience in web design and no technical knowledge, website builders and templates will help you a lot to get started, as they make things quite easier!
Website builders are basically pieces of software that aim to make the process of building a website easier, with simple-to-use interfaces. Using website builders, you can quickly set up components of your website with basic drag & drop actions, and customize it. For different types of websites, there are different types of website builders such as online builders, drag & drop builders, content management systems, and more. You can check them all out, and make your choice.
Website templates can be described as predesigned layouts for websites with thematic display features and helpful functions. They have predefined font types, colors, and basic functionality, so all you have to do is to apply them to your website, customize if you wish, and your pages will be ready! There are virtually unlimited amount of themes out there -some are free, some are premium- meaning you can easily choose one that suits your needs and budget.
Conclusion
OK- let’s look at it this way; to truly excel, a website needs to be;
- User-friendly,
- Helpful,
- Fast,
- Functional,
- And of course, pleasing to the eye.
This means, with almost every design choice, you should be able to check at least one of those boxes above. You might have the most informative blog post on a subject, but if the page takes 5 seconds to load, it doesn’t matter- you’ve just lost your audience. Or you might have the best-looking template, but if your menu is a mess that is impossible to navigate, again, your visitors are gone… In other words, your website is only as strong as its weakest part. Aim to make it as solid as possible in every sense.