While there are elements within a website that are constantly changing, there are some basic components that have consistently set a good website apart from a bad one. When people think good vs bad design, they consider the look and feel of a website. And although a valid point to consider, the elements that make up a good website goes beyond its appearance.
When people visit a website, they expect the browsing experience to be as effortless as possible.
Good Elements:
Responsive
Mobile FIRST! We can’t emphasize this enough, a responsive website is non-negotiable. Since majority of your website visitors will likely view your site on their mobile device, you need to ensure your website adapts to different screen sizes. This means your focus needs to be placed on the content. With the website’s objective in mind, display all content according to that which will take priority.
Clear call to action
One of the main goals of a website is to get visitors to take action, this means your call to actions have to be strategically and clearly featured throughout your website. Any good website will have a call to action in both the first and last sections. Without a clear call to action, your visitors won’t know which steps to take next. If the aim is to have them fill out a form, sign up for a newsletter or purchase a product, your instructions have to be as clear and as understandable as possible.
Text to image ratio
Text heavy sites are as bad for business as websites that are laden with images. A good balance between text and imagery makes it easy for visitors to browse your website, find the information they are looking for and to take the necessary action.
Bad Elements:
Poor navigation
Navigation bars and menus are the defining element that’ll either make a website useful or useless to your visitors. Like call to actions, these need to be strategically and carefully displayed. Bad navigation will result in members not knowing what to do next and this will make browsing unfriendly to your visitors.
Lack of contrast
A lack of or low contrast website is dull and boring. Having contrast between all the elements adds prominence and character to your site. To get a well-balanced website; consider variations of big and small elements, texture, the colours you’re using or different imagery styles.
Mismatched colours
Your brand colours are crucial to your business, and it’s important to consistently use your colours throughout your branding, on your website as well as your social media. If your brand colour scheme is made up of a selection of colours, it may not be necessary to use all your colours throughout your website. Using colours that will complement one another will make your site attractive to visitors.
With so many elements to consider and the barriers they pose to helping you achieve your website’s objective, it’s important that you design with your user in mind.
