Principles and Practices for Effective Websites

A web developer is the one who designs a website. A website is the online face of the business and a web developer makes sure the face is tidy and presentable to the target audience. Designing is the main element of any website and a front end web developer makes sure to follow design principles so a website can get an appealing look. 

Design principles are basics that a web designer needs to follow to bring out a well-presented website. You can call it rules, but the principles of design are not as rigid as rules; rather they are a guideline for creating a user-friendly website. 

Driving forces for a website:

Web developers focus on a few things so they can create a multipurpose and user-friendly website. A website should be made keeping in mind:

The purpose of the website:

One of the most significant driving forces for developing an attractive website is the purpose. Defining a purpose for creating a website helps the developer to create a blueprint of the content that would go on the website. 

While designing a website don’t go with the flow. Find your purpose, be it selling the product, telling your business story, or selling courses online, you should be aware of the content that would go on the website. The purpose of making a website will help you plan the content for your target audience. 

The designing goals of your website can be general or specific depending on the content and end goals. A purpose will help you plan the specifics of your website beforehand. 

Content of the website:

Content is a significant part of a website. One has to be careful while choosing what to add to the website. Once a web developer is familiar with the purpose, deciding the content becomes easy. You can plan out the content before starting to work on the website. 

The content should deliver the message clearly so their target audience can easily understand the concept of the website. The content on your website should focus on quality instead of quantity. 

Appealing visuals:

The more the visuals, the better your website will become. A web developer should focus on visual elements for the website to make it attractive. An appealing visualisation will help the target audience to stay on the website for more time. Visuals are easier to comprehend than long text. 

A web developer can smartly use the visuals to make a captivating website. The main aim of any website is to gain organic traffic that would help in increasing the conversion rate. 

Principles of design:

A captivating website is the result of following some guidelines to design a user-friendly website. The guidelines are commonly known as the principles of design. The guide include:

Harmony:

The design should look balanced. The design of the website should be pleasing to the eyes of the viewers. Harmony is the visually satisfying use of the elements both visuals and text which is why it is also called visual hierarchy. 

A web developer has to ensure what types of font, imagery, graphics, types of navigation to use to develop a user-friendly website. You will harmonise the elements by ensuring they all “fit” together. 

Simplicity:

You are making the website for the users, think of them as people who are not as tech savvy as you are. A web developer has to keep in mind that their users are simple people who don’t have time to tackle the technical side of the website. Therefore, keep the things simple on your website. 

A simple website goes a long way in terms of being user-friendly. Simplicity of the website is achieved by using colour contract, typography and imagery. Simple design is the path to clarity of the message. 

Colour contract:

Colour of the website sets the tone for it. Using colours that will go best with your brand is necessary to maintain the ubiquity and uniqueness of your brand. Choosing a colour scheme for your website can become your signature in future. 

Typography:

Readability is an important aspect of your website. If the content of your website is not readable the visitors will not stay for long on your website. Choose the type that is easy to read and ensure not to use a number of types on your website as it will make your website look chaotic. Simple and easy to read fonts bring harmony to your website. 

Imagery:

Use images, visuals, and graphics that align with your content. Use imagery as much as possible but it should be relevant. Keeping in mind the attention span of people, it is better to convey your message in images wherever possible. Ensure the use of imagery is in harmony so the content on the website is balanced. 

Eye-pattern:

Consuming content is a habit and when we are looking at something we usually consume it in the “F” pattern or “Z” pattern. This means our eyes navigate the content in F movement or z movement. 

For web developers this is an effective way to catch the attention of the viewers. They can place the elements, be it text or imagery, in these patterns based on the importance of the elements. Following the eye-pattern will ensure people navigate the content easily making your website user-friendly. 

Easy navigation:

A user-friendly website is one that is easy to navigate. If your users find what they are looking for easily on your website, congratulations, it is a win for you. How do you achieve easy navigation? You follow the above mentioned principles. You ensure harmony of the elements, follow the eye pattern, use colour palettes that go with your brand. All the principles are there to help you make your website easy to navigate. 

Optimise call to action buttons so it becomes easy for users to get what they are looking for. An easy to navigate website helps your business gain organic traffic increasing the probability of conversion rates. 

White space and balancing:

White space is the unused space on your website, which is also called negative space. A web developer has to keep in mind to use the white space effectively to avoid clutter of the elements. 

In order to make an appealing website, web developers might add multiple elements including imagery and text that might overwhelm the user. But the same message can be delivered by optimal use of the white space. Keep the elements on the website that are conveying your message, it could be just a single image and a few words. The goal is to convey a message effectively. Hence, focus on quality and not quantity to maintain the balance of the website. 

Conclusion:

A web developer has to keep their users in mind. The design principles focus on developing a user-friendly website by placing the elements of the website in an optimised manner. 

Users are going to use the website only if it is easy to navigate and access. Make sure your design is conveying the message clearly and has potential to attract a target audience to turn them into customers.