Why web design is not all about designing an attractive website

Web design is not an easy undertaking. It is more than creating beautiful websites for visitors to look at all day long. The numerous drag-and-drop tools in addition to the multitude of themes that are available for designing websites at times make it seem as if this is a simple task, when it is not. The essence of a properly designed website should be on functionality rather than aesthetics. In this article, we cover the top 5 functionality to focus when designing a website.

Use the Right Principles

The effectiveness and success of any website depend on a number of principles. At times, you have to look beneath what is visible on the surface to appreciate the full functionality of the website. Aesthetics will focus on what you and your visitors can see right on the surface. To design the website properly, understand its purpose. A website that seeks to inform and educate visitors is different from one that endeavors to convert them from visitors to customers.

Effective Communication

Effective communication is central to the success and proper performance of any website. Do not place too much focus on the design to the point that it becomes impossible to communicate with your customers. Effective communication would be impossible if you fail to focus on simplifying navigation, improving the layout, enhancing the quality of content in addition to incorporating the right color schemes.

Understanding the “F” Layout

Web designers understand that visitors to any website will mostly focus on the information appearing on the top as well as the left side of the site. The average user will move his eyes from the top to the left. As a result, the most important content on the website should be at the top as well as the left side of the site. For this reason, endeavor to encourage the reader to focus on these parts of the website instead of trying to force him to look elsewhere.

Simplicity

Keeping the website simple is vital to making it attractive to visitors. While paying much focus on simplicity, ensure that this does not interfere with functionality. Design a website that does not feature unnecessary or superfluous information. Do not distract visitors. Keep the readers focused on what you want them to gain from the website. Let the website guide users. Let the website narrate a story to your readers.

Each website should be different from the next one. For that reason, carry out enough research that focuses on the audience you want to target. Design the website based on the devices that visitors will use to read or view information. The research ought to focus on the level of functionality that the site requires.

Mobile friendly

With more than half the Internet users connected online via their smartphones, creating a mobile friendly website is important. This also ensures the site adheres to search engine principles (also known as Search Engine Optimization, SEO) is just as critical.

Conclusion

Therefore, the attractiveness of the website should not take priority over functionality. The ability of the website to attract customers depends on aesthetics just as much as it relies on functionality. Ensure that the website contains sufficient content management systems. Incorporate tools for websites such as Google analytics to keep checking and evaluating the performance of the e-commerce site.