How Website Design Affects User Experience
Website design isn’t just about having a pretty site; it’s about providing a good user experience. Meaning creating a positive experience for your potential client or customer on yo. r website.
Well-designed websites are easy to navigate and provide a good user experience. In this post, I’ll share some of the best website design tips and tricks to help you create a website that creates a great experience for your website users.
What is Website Design?
Website design is the first impression that website visitors have of your website. It’s what they see when they land on a page and how you choose to present content or information to them.
The website design includes the placement of elements, colors used, images and graphics, text layout and readability, and the overall user interface.
How Does Website Design Affect User Experience?
Website design is a core component of user experience (UX) because website visitors and users are more likely to stay on your website if it’s well designed. Your website should be easy to navigate and use, therefore having readable fonts and colors that don’t cause eye strain are very important. If you want people to read what you have written, your website needs to be user-friendly so it is easy for people to actually digest what you are showing them.
Another critical factor of user experience is making sure that your website is mobile-friendly, especially as more and more of your visitors will likely be visiting your website from their mobile device. So your website design definitely needs to look good on all devices and screen sizes.
What Makes Website Design Great?
Great website design is a combination of things like the visual layout, website navigation, ease of use, and user experience. If your website’s not easy to use or doesn’t have excellent usability, then people will leave.
Think about the last time you used a badly designed website and how frustrating that experience was. When it’s hard to operate the website and find the information you want, it’s unlikely that people will stick around.
Your website pages also need to have structure and flow. When someone visits your homepage, for example, are your links and content internally linked and connected in a way that makes sense? You want to be creating a thoughtful experience through your website and curate a journey that leads interested people towards working with you.
Another important note is that great website design is also accessible for people with disabilities or additional needs. We should all be making accessibility a priority, especially with our website and business presence.
How Can You Improve Your Website's Design?
There are many things you can do to improve your website design and make it more user-friendly. Here are some of my best suggestions:
Use an easy to read font like Arial or Verdana for your main text font
Stick to a limited color palette with strong contrast between your light and dark colors
Use whitespace to help break up content and make it easier to read
Map out your website pages and sitemap before you start designing and creating them
Website design is a high-level skill. If figuring out DIYing your website yourself isn’t cutting it for your business, investing in a professionally-designed website template might be worthwhile.
Wondering when is the right time to DIY your website vs hiring a professional designer? Read this article for my honest take on when to hire a web designer.
Your website is often the first place potential clients will visit, so it’s vital that your website is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and has a great design. Your website is the biggest piece of your business and brand, which is why investing in a great website is one of the best business investments you can make.
If you want to save yourself a lot of headaches creating your own well-designed website, check out my signature website design program for non-techy entrepreneurs Work Your Website!
