When it comes to web design, there’s a lot of amateurs but decidedly fewer experts. Real web design experts know not only how to customize a template – they know the real tricks, tips and secrets about building a website from the ground up and understand how to structure the content, flow, navigation and SEO to get the best results. While no one becomes an expert over night, understanding a few of the popular myths and real methodologies about website usability will help you to optimize your business’ web presence in a way that provokes real results.
layout the look the right way – 3 tips
1. Make skimming easier but laying out important information in an “F” shaped pattern. – When surveying web users, analysts discovered that, as expected, most users skim webpages. What they didn’t expect? Users skim in an “F” shaped pattern (also known as the Golden Triangle), reading left to right and then top to bottom down the left of the page, then occasionally skimming across again. How can this help you? Remember to use bullets in your web content that makes skimming information in this manner even easier for readers.
2. Don’t worry about “the fold.” – Below the fold refers to the area not immediately visible when you navigate to the website because the user would have to scroll down to see it. Traditional web building myth has urged web designers and developers to keep all important information “above the fold.” However, new data indicates that users actually ENJOY a certain amount of vertical scrolling and expect to encounter that when viewing a web page. Just follow the “F” pattern content flow and your most important information should reach the eyes of the majority.
3. Maintain your whitespace to maintain your readability. – Don’t go into information overload mode when designing your website. For the most user-friendly and readable structure, maintain clean fonts, margins and plenty of white space. Users will read your content faster and, if it’s been well written, take those cues to delve further into your site where you can then deliver more detail-laden information. However, throughout your site consider how color, line-heights, tracking and typography will influence the end-user experience.
Every business is different which means that every company website will be different. Make your website a true reflection of who you are in order to attract customers, but make certain you consider them too. For best results, make sure to communicate your identity in a way that is easy to find, read, navigate and understand.
