The Anatomy of a Perfect Website: 10 Elements Every Designer Should Know
Published on 18th March 2024
The perfect website - it’s a puzzle that, due to the nature of digital, is constantly changing, needs regular updating and keeping up with the latest trends can be a nightmare. However, certain elements of a website don’t move, and every designer should know them.
What constitutes a perfect website?
When building a website, there is a list of basics that any website designer needs to start with. These include navigation menus that help and guide a visitor, call-to-action buttons that stand out and persuade a potential customer to click, security measures that keep customers’ details safe and create trustworthiness, images that are big and bold to draw attention, striking headlines that catch the eye, and colour schemes aligned with your brand.
But there are also a series of elements that really should be included as part of the web design development.
10 important elements of web design
When creating a website, as well as the basics, 10 elements must be included as part of the design process.
1. A design that’s responsive.
Did you know that a website that isn’t responsive will frustrate 48% of users? If you have a non-responsive e-commerce website, you will likely lose as many as 43% of consumers to competitors. These are serious figures to note and underline how important it is to ensure your website adjusts to any screen size from different mobile and desktop devices.
2. On-brand.
Maintaining a consistent look and feel with your brand is important for your customers. Ensuring your logos, web colours, fonts and even the language you use is on-brand will encourage 66% of consumers to pay more for your product or service. The reason is that you are providing them with a positive and engaging brand experience.
3. Bold imagery
Using generic stock pictures just doesn’t cut it anymore. Statistics reveal that using photos that are more creative and complement the design, as well as the layout, often have conversion rates that are 48% higher. Therefore, choose images that are aligned with your products/services and will create a positive impact on your business.
4. Clear and easy navigation.
It’s so frustrating if you can’t find what you’re looking for on a website. That’s the same for 44 out of every 100 visitors to small business websites. Ensuring clear and easy navigation could increase conversion rates by as much as 18.5%. When visitors explore your website, they will find what they are looking for and probably discover more about your company, too.
5. Contact details.
You can have the best website on the internet, but if you don’t add your contact details, you’re likely to lose the sale. Staggeringly, 49 out of 100 small businesses don’t display a phone number on their website. When you see that 8% of people will abandon their shopping cart if this detail is missing, it’s a simple element to fix. To establish trust, and transparency, and be user-friendly, it’s important to provide a telephone number or a contact form.
6. Attention-grabbing headlines.
David Ogilvy said that 5 times as many people will read a headline compared to the body of content. Therefore, a headline that is catchy, persuasive and punchy will grab visitors’ attention by the scruff of the neck.
7. Above the fold content.
First of all, let’s explain above the fold. It is the information on your web page that can be seen before having to scroll down. When you see that 77% of website visitors don’t scroll down the screen, reading only what’s above the fold, the content must tell the visitor who you are, what you sell, how your products/services can help them and why they should buy from you immediately.
8. Maximising your content.
There are multiple forms of content you can use on your website. One simple rule that every designer and marketer should know is that your content should drive an action from your visitor (preferably a positive one!). Adding blogs, videos, infographics, and other downloadable content could increase conversion rates by 86%. For e-commerce websites, providing multiple views of products and different images can increase sales by 58%.
9. Big, bold CTAs.
Calls-to-action (CTA) buttons are imperative on a website. Whether they are text, graphics, or both, they must persuade your visitors to take a specific action, like going to your shop, requesting a callback, downloading a white paper or registering for a newsletter. Indeed, a website with CTAs can boost click-through rates by 2.75 times. Make them big, bold and colourful to stand out, and you could benefit from 5 times more clicks.
10. Trust indicators.
So, what do we mean by trust indicators? They are testimonials, online reviews, guarantees/warranties, awards or recognitions and association memberships. They demonstrate to your website visitors you can be trusted. 72% of consumers confirm that positive reviews will encourage them to trust a business more. This is supported by business owners, as 65 out of 100 agree that reviews and their company reputation are the most important to them.
When it comes to website design, ensuring these 10 elements are incorporated into the design process is important in creating a successful website.
At it’seeze, our network of experienced website consultants throughout the UK and Ireland is highly experienced in creating well-designed and versatile websites that align with your brand and reflect your business. We employ a range of SEO activities that will ensure your business is found online. It’seeze helps small businesses design and build websites that are fully SEO and keyword-optimised. Get in touch with us today to start your it’seeze journey.
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