Every day, more and more people are realizing the power that comes with access to the internet. Anybody, whether you’re a business owner, blogger, an aspiring website designer or if you just want to sell some of your old junk on the web, building a website can be incredibly beneficial to you. It is important, though, to keep in mind some of the basics and ground-level tips for website design.
Use Social Media
Nearly a third of the world’s population now uses some sort of social network on a regular basis. Integrating social networking into your website has become easier than ever before, and the benefits far outweigh the time spent learning how to make it work. It can often be as simple as linking to a Twitter feed or maintaining a Facebook page for your business that connects to your website.
How Your Site Looks Matters
Studies have shown that 38% of people will stop using you are using an unattractive website layout. Figuring out what best suits users’ eyes is a key aspect of successful website design. The layout, color scheme, iconography and imagery of your website has a major impact on keeping users there. Whether you’re looking for a “wow” factor, or want to keep things as minimal as possible, you’ll need to stay aware of what works for your site.
Your Site Needs to Work
Studies have shown that nearly 40% of users will leave a website if it takes too long to load or if the site’s pages or images don’t work correctly. The most important aspect of website design is that your site has to be usable. Make sure to regularly test your site navigation and make sure all links are working, and if not, try to figure out where the issue is. Hint: check the HTML.
Mobile Optimization
More people than ever before are using their cell phones to browse the internet. If your website looks great on a computer but ugly and unusable on a phone, chances are that you are going to lose a lot of potential customers or users. See what you need to do to make sure your site functions properly on mobile devices.
Learn About SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, has become incredibly important to know about in today’s modern age of digital marketing. Research SEO strategies and see what might work best for you. There are plenty of options out there, ranging from maintaining a regularly updated blog on your site, to outsourcing marketing to another company to take care of it for you. Whatever you choose, it’s important to follow through on this aspect of website design to stay afloat amongst the countless number of websites out there.
Do you have any other tips for those looking to work their way into website design? Leave them in the comments below!
