Six Crucial Elements of Great Web Design for 2019

Great web design can make or break the success of your digital marketing efforts, and elements that aren’t obvious that may seem like tedious minutia can actually affect your bottom line by influencing conversions and action taking. On the other hand, a poorly designed website can be a real turnoff for visitors, driving them away before they’ve had a chance to engage with your business, digest content, or make a sale.

Your website should strive to create a positive experience for your visitors, and a positive experience is built on the foundation of your web design. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the most crucial elements of quality website design.

1. Clean and Organized Code

Clean and organized code may not be the first thing you think about when you consider great web design principles because it exists behind the scenes. Furthermore, with the advent of high-level design platforms like WordPress, some small business owners can build a website visually without ever so much as editing a single line of code. Clean and easy to write code may not seem like a big deal at first, but keeping things organized can save you hours of headaches down the road.

Spaghetti-noodle code isn’t only hard to read, it’s hard to change and update. The only constant on the Internet is that things are always changing, and will continue to do so, and being able to edit your website to adapt to the latest changes is a must. For that reason, I’d recommend following clean code guidelines to ensure you website’s nuts and bolts are nice and tidy.

2. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP’s)

The importance of accelerated mobile pages is only increasing as time marches forward. Given that more users query Google from mobile devices than desktops, it only makes sense to have mobile pages highly optimized for extremely fast loading time. Although AMP’s are rumored to be a ranking signal, we can’t see the proprietary search algorithm’s code, and cannot say for sure.

Nevertheless, AMP’s will aid SEO because both speed and mobile-friendliness are confirmed ranking factors. Furthermore, AMP’s provide for a better user experience on mobile devices, which should be one of your main goals. Always seeking to provide a better user experience aligns with Google’s core values, and helps ensure your website doesn’t plummet in the rankings when the next big Google search update rolls out.

3. Simplistic Yet Robust Color Palette

A color scheme can make the difference between a website that really pops and one that’s boring and hard to read, or even just plain ugly. It’s a common practice to incorporate a brand’s colors into a website’s theme, but do be aware it isn’t always feasible, and sometimes it’s better to tone things down a bit to avoid looking hideous.

In fact, it may even be advisable to forgo elaborate color pallets altogether in an effort to create a more neutral website. For instance, take a look at Microsoft’s official home page, and note the absence of distracting colors in the website’s design, which allows the images to be the real hero. Try to avoid pungent colors that sting the eyes, because they will only distract your audience and make it more difficult to digest your content.

4. Consistent Branding and Page Layout

With regards to your branding, consistency across all your website’s pages is key. If you’ve recently updated a logo, colors, name of your company, or other similar characteristics of your brand, you need to ensure that they are exactly the same on all of your content. You should strive to make the identical, right down to the font you use, to create uniformity. Why are consistency and uniformity so important? Well, there are three main reasons.

First of all, consistent branding makes your business more easily identifiable. One of your goals should be to eliminate as many distractions a barriers to action taking as possible for your visitors. If they notice your logo doesn’t look quite right, that something just looks a little off, they may think your website is a fake imitation or a scam. These roadblocks can lead to missed sales opportunities.

Secondly, having consistent branding and web design make your business look more dependable. Thirdly, consistent branding helps promote trust, because visitors and customers have a tendency to trust brands they recognize and have had a positive experience with in the past.

5. Space to Breathe

Even if you’re not claustrophobic, I think everyone can relate to a somewhat trapped and helpless feeling when we’ve been closed in by a cluttered mess. An overly cluttered website can incite feelings of confusion and irritation, which is why it’s crucial to provide visitors with enough whitespace to alleviate feeling overwhelmed.
It is necessary to break up long paragraphs and thick walls of text to make your content more digestible, but you should also intentionally incorporate empty space into your design. The space need not necessarily be white; whatever the color you choose, the empty space should exhibit cleanliness and a clutter-free environment.

6. Clear and Concise Calls to Action

You don’t get what you don’t ask for, and visitors need guidance and intentional copy to prompt them to take action. Calls to action increase the likelihood that a visitor will make a purchase, download more of your content, sign up for a mailing list, or otherwise engage with your business. Failing to incorporate calls to action in your content is a sorely missed opportunity to increase conversions.

Final Thoughts

The most effective digital marketing strategy demands a quality web design that is well thought out, intentional, and refined. If you lack the skills to design a professional website and digitally market your business, reach out for the help of an experienced professional now. We live in a digital era of social media and search engine marketing; if you aren’t engaging in these marketing channels, you’re business is suffering and missing out on massive opportunities.