One of the biggest mistakes that website developers can make is thinking that they are the target user of a website when deciding if a website is good. The reality is that website visitors make the decision every day whether a website is a good one or not.
A poorly performing website will have Google Analytics trends such as a low amount of time on the site for visitors, a low number of pages visited when they do come to the site and very high bounce rates. Since it stands to reason that most web developers don’t want these results, there are some easy tips to make sure this does not happen to their website.
Define a Purpose
The first part of any web design is to answer the question about the website’s purpose. It could be that users are coming to a site for entertainment, or maybe they plan on interacting with a business in some form. There could also be sites where transactions occur, such as e-commerce sites.
Once the site’s purpose is known, the development process can become much more streamlined. So, for example, an attorney interested in lawyer SEO might have a much different website than a photographer highlighting their portfolio.
Group Information Appropriately
One of the most critical elements of any website is to make sure the information on the site gets grouped logically and appropriately. Undoubtedly, a website will function poorly when a variety of information is dumped onto one homepage.
Another critical point is to make sure the navigation is easy for users. Do things such as putting the company logo on every page and let that be a clickable link to the homepage. Nothing will frustrate users more than being unable to quickly find the information they are looking for on a webpage.
Creating a grid on the site allows web developers to make sure things line up appropriately, such as call-to-action buttons. It is also a great idea to add simple touches like having menus on each page that make it easy to visit other parts of the site.
Carefully Consider Content Types on the Page
When creating a website, it is always best to use readily available fonts and simple colors. One of the most important reasons for doing this is because sites often get viewed on various devices, and you want the site to work well on every device.
It is often very tempting for website developers to want to add plenty of visually stunning elements to a website, such as pictures and videos. However, when adding features such as these, it is essential to take care of them because while they may look great, they can drastically increase the site’s load times. Nothing will drive traffic away from your site more than users waiting too long to see what your site contains.
Because the number of choices that can go into web development is virtually limitless, good website design must include a detailed development plan right from the start. If this plan is at the forefront of every decision made about the development of the website, chances are you will end up with a website that looks great and functions well.