The internet is filled to the brim with web design tips. Different people have opinions on what the perfect website looks like. Since the design is subjective. What one person may like, another might find ugly. So the experts at Futuristic Bug, the top website designing company, have compiled some web design tips and tricks that can help you to create an enticing website.
Web design is one of the most important factors for the success of your website and your business. Almost half of the people say that the design of a website is their main judging factor of the credibility of a company, thereby influencing conversions, bounce rate, and more.
So below are some research-based tips that will help you in improving your web design.
1. Make Website Speed an Absolute Priority
Not many people talk about speed in the web design sphere. Research shows that it affects bounce rate over user satisfaction, conversions, and revenue.
If your website is slow, visitors will not stay on the website. Since users care, search engines also do and factor your webpage loading speed into their rankings. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you invest in making your website as fast as possible.
2. Leverage the Fold
Research says that users spend 57 percent of their time above the fold with a sharp drop afterward. So to keep the users engaged on a website for long, it is essential to follow the guidelines-
- Use a clear and descriptive headline- You have to explain to your visitors what your website can offer them. You must highlight the perks of using your website.
- Include a call to action – If you want to convert almost every visitor that visits your website, the fold is the correct time to begin the user journey. You have to ensure that your CTA is clear and visible.
- Include media – Images, videos, or audio help in emphasizing your point.
3. Take Advantage of Hick’s Law
According to Hick’s Law, the more choices an individual has, the longer will be their decision-making time.
There is a captivating study on this phenomenon. In the study, people in a supermarket were given more or fewer varieties of jam to try. In the end, those who had more choices ended up buying nothing compared to those who had fewer choices.
This applies to your website as well. If you limit the choice you give to users, you will be able to boost your conversion rate. Start by reducing the number of menu items, limiting form fields, focusing on one call to action, only displaying social buttons for networks you are active on, and sticking to one goal per page.
In this way, you will be able to move users towards the choices you want them to make.
4. Keep it simple
The notion of few and simple also applies to your design in general. A major study by Google shows that visitors do not find visual complexity affable. The gist: complex designs are not that good-looking to people.
So you must do the below mentioned things-
- Rethink the sidebar – More websites are getting rid of the sidebar and going for the single-column design. This clears all distractions and puts the focus on the content only.
- Stick to standard layouts – People appreciate familiarity and can freak out at the site of non-standard website designs. Therefore, it’s better to stick to familiar design tropes and layouts. You can still figure out ways to be unique.
5. Avoid Carousels, Sliders, Tabs, and Accordions
Website owners love carousels! Unfortunately, according to research, they are pretty useless!
Notre Dame University has fascinating results based on their study. The site admin at the university noticed that the first slide on a carousel got almost 90 percent of the clicks while the rest went largely ignored.
90 percent! This shows that the other slides were there unnecessarily. So it is better to ditch them.
Tabs and accordions have the same problem; they are often ignored by visitors. This is supported by the fact that very few visitors read the entire page. Most people merely scan and will not be motivated enough to make extra clicks to view your content.
6. Prioritize Scrolling over Clicking
If you do not compress information into sliders and/or accordions, just put everything in one long page, including the stuff usually tucked away. It works!
There is a fascinating case study by Crazy Egg to support the point-of-view. They went from having a simple, short sales page to one that was 20 times longer than usual.
The result: conversions were up by 30 percent!
This shows that users like scrolling over clicking.
7. Direct Attention with Visual Cues
The main function of web design is to guide users. Give different weights to different elements, thereby directing focus where you want it.
You can do this by taking advantage of the fact that humans tend to look in the same direction as the people they see in advertisements.
8. Use People in Pictures
Apart from using them to direct attention, it is a great idea to include people in images on your website. Humans like connecting to other people in real life as well as on the Internet. This is the reason why there are About Us pages on blogs.
Therefore it is advisable to use images of real and genuine people on your website. Just say a big no-no to stock images.
9. Use the Right List Order
You can use both ordered and unordered lists to make information more accessible. But, even in this case, human attention is fickle.
This happens due to the so-called “serial-position effect”. The effect states that in a list, you are going to remember both the items in the beginning and at the end. The middle section is largely forgotten.
The lesson here: When listing specialties of your product or services, you have to make sure that you put the most important data either at the first or at the last.
10. Leverage Social Proof
Last but not least, comes our final web design tips. It is about “conformity bias”. Conformity bias is the tendency of people to follow what others do and copy their actions. If a crowd of people approves of something, others are more likely to follow it.
Always show that others have a great opinion of your website, content, product, or service, new visitors are likely to do the same.
You can easily do this by showing numbers of social shares, media mentions, and/or testimonials from popular individuals.
Conclusion
Web design is a complex topic and is a factor with a lot of impact on the success of your website. You must rely on research for advice, and this blog is the best place to start.
And, if you are looking for end-to-end website design services, then don’t forget to reach out to our experts with years of rich experience in providing customized services according to your business needs.