4 Critical Web Design Elements For the Success of a Website

May 7
08:36

2009

Woody Longacre

Woody Longacre

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These four Web design elements are critical components to the long term success of your website.

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Web design is perhaps the most important aspect of a website. It has a direct effect on the appeal and popularity of a website,4 Critical Web Design Elements For the Success of a Website Articles and it actually determines how successful the website is going to be. A website that is poorly designed will most likely be a failure, no matter how much marketing you do to promote it. Even if your website attracts visitors, it must have the appeal to make them stay. Website owners should learn as much as possible about web design, so that they can create winning websites that are a pleasure for the visitor and a financial success for the owner.

Basically, web design refers to the development of web pages to make up a website. Each web page should present information that is relevant to the theme of the website. In the past, web design only involved the development of the content and appearance of a website, but as the Internet has become more popular and the competition between websites has become more intense, web developers began to delve into other design concerns to create a more effective formula for online success. The design concerns of a non-commercial website are varied, and are mostly dependent on the objectives of its owner. On the other hand, commercial websites have a fixed set of design concerns and issues that are paramount to having a successful website.

Content refers to the information (text, graphics, videos, pictures, audio, etc.) that is presented in a website. Having engaging and useful content will make your website more enjoyable and worthwhile to visit. You should make sure that your content is relevant to the theme of your website. If you're selling car wash products through your website, you should only provide information about car washing, car washing products and how your car wash products benefit the visitor. Going off topic of the main theme is definitely detrimental and will drive your visitors away in disgust. It is important that the information is well-written and interesting, so that it can compel your visitors to take action.

Usability of a website determines how easy it is for your visitors to find information and navigate about the site. If your website has an easy-to-use interface and a convenient navigation setup, your visitors will actually enjoy going through your website. Internet users do not like to spend too much time trying to figure out how to get the information they want. Ideally, they wish to be able to get the information they are looking for in just one or two clicks. You can make the information in your website more easily accessible with good navigation.

Appearance of your website is important. The graphics and the written content on your website should complement each other, so that there will be a certain sense of consistency throughout your website. If your website has a consistent theme, it will look more professional and appealing to your visitors. The layout of graphics and text on a webpage is somewhat of a science. There have been many studies on what works and what will cause visitors to leave. For example, there are specific areas on a website that people naturally look within the first moments of seeing your website. If these key areas are appealing then a visitor has a much higher probability of staying. If these areas are trashy then the visitor is likely to make a quick exit.

Visibility of a website is required in order to draw adequate visitor traffic. In order to be successful you will have to improve or boost the visibility of your website to gain the traffic you need. This can be achieved through online marketing strategies, such as paid advertising and search engine optimization. You can actually improve your search engine visibility by using keywords and key phrases relevant to your topic in your design and content. Submitting articles to article directories and creating backlinks (links from other websites) to your website is another way to promote the visibility of your website.

Having a good web design will not only bring more traffic to your website; it will also make sure that your visitors will stay for a longer time to explore it. If your visitors feel comfortable and compelled enough, they may just buy something from you. You will only stand to gain if you spend more time and effort to create a well-designed website.