Creating a website is one of the best ways to market any business or service. All consumers, regardless of demographics or interests, turn to the Internet to find what they are looking for. It has become essential for brands to be digitally present within the online channels of their target market. While social media is just as crucial in promoting your brand, what sets the website apart is the freedom it gives you in starting from scratch. From how it works to how it looks, creating a website will truly test your creativity. As all web experts know, “with great power comes great responsibility.” There are a lot of factors to consider when making a good website. Here, we share three simple tips to get you started.
Users at the forefront
In the process of creating a good website, the user experience should be at the forefront in terms of priorities. There is no website if there are no users, and the website will not be sustained if the users are unhappy. The ideal user experience is one that satisfies the needs of both its owner and its user, so, it is imperative that you lay down the foundations that will guide you to reach your end goal, which is a website that will entice and encourage your customers to stop by and stick around.
One of the ways to ensure a good user experience is to adapt a user-centric design upon the development of the website. A user-centric design is a design process that is done in iterations, where the developer’s prime focus is the user’s needs at every phase (source). Developers will have to utilize a mix of investigative methods and tools, which can come in the form of surveys and interviews, and generative methods such as brainstorming. The main goal of a user-centric design process is to create an accessible and highly usable product for the users, as well as a product that explicitly understands the users, its tasks, and the digital environment it’s set in.
Another essential step in creating an effective user experience for a website is applying different UX laws. Laws of UX is a great resource material that designers can look to for different UX concepts and best practices they can use in building their websites. These include the Law of Proximity which states that objects that are grouped together or in close proximity are assumed to have the same functions, and Cognitive Load that states that users have a capacity in which they take in information (source). Such laws allow developers to design based on founded research and insights on user behavior when it comes to using and interacting with digital products, helping developers envision an ideal user experience that they may want to apply in designing their own websites and applications. The laws of UX are great guiding tools for developers when crafting the user experience of digital products, and when applied, work hand in hand with the user interface to create the best possible experience for users.
Design elements for a good website
A great website is a balance of design elements that prioritize both looks and functionality. There are various website design elements that can be used to achieve this.
One of the bases of modern design is the minimalistic approach, which allows for a clutter-free interface. By focusing on simplicity, especially on the homepage, users can navigate the site easily as more detailed information is neatly tucked away in the site’s subpages. This not only looks clean, but also keeps the user experience focused.
Responsive design, which means that a site works on all devices from desktops to mobile phones, is another important factor in web design. Adopting a mobile design is a must, especially considering over 70% of Filipinos surf the web on their phones (source). It’s important to use flexible images that resize automatically according to the device, so the site works as it should on any screen size. By prioritizing responsive design, you can reach a wider audience and increase user satisfaction and engagement.
Fast loading times are just as important as responsive design for users. Optimizing images and using web-friendly sizes can reduce load times and prevent potential visitors from bouncing off due to slow performance. Subtle animated loading screens can also keep users engaged during short wait times and add some interactivity without overwhelming the user as they navigate your site.
Along with this, typography also plays a significant role in establishing a clear visual hierarchy and making content easy to read and consume. Using readable web-friendly fonts keeps things consistent and overall improves the user experience.
Finally, elements such as interactive features and consistent branding tie everything together. Micro animations and hover effects can make a site more engaging. Consistent color schemes, fonts, and custom icons can reinforce the brand. These design choices improve user interaction and recall, as one study shows that users can mistrust a website based on its design alone. Custom illustrations and visual cues help make a site more unique and create a deeper connection with its audience. Together, all these different elements make for a cohesive and user-friendly experience that stands out in the digital space.
Examples of a good website design
When it comes to some great examples of website design, several standout examples showcase how different brands approach user design with creativity and efficiency.
Apple leads the way with its clean, minimalistic homepage that emphasizes a strong visual hierarchy. The balance between text and visuals intuitively guides users through the site, making navigation seamless and the content easily digestible.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) excels by leveraging familiarity in its design. The consistent positioning of elements across its platforms has set the standard for user experience and design, creating a sense of ease and predictability that users appreciate. This familiarity serves as the base model for the design of many other websites.
Payment processing platform Stripe utilizes a polished design for its website–both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional with its effective use of whitespace, clear visual hierarchy, and fast loading times to ensure a smooth and efficient user experience. Its mobile responsiveness is another highlight, making the brand’s website a prime example of what it means to marry form and function effectively.
Fat Choy, a Vegan-Chinese restaurant, is another notable mention. Its straightforward, clean layout avoids unnecessary clutter. It uses consistent branding elements throughout the site, highlighting the brand’s distinct visual identity. Although its website lacks e-commerce features like online ordering, the utilization of other design elements within the site still allows for a cohesive and positive user experience overall.
These websites demonstrate the power of thoughtful design in creating user-friendly designs that are both functional and visually engaging.
Once you have the vision of how you want your website to look and how you want your customers to interact with it, it’s time to bring the vision to life through populating your website with content.
Striking a balance between interesting and optimized content
The Internet is a vast pool of information, but that also means entering the online space puts you into a very large market of competitors. Everyone has the same goal: to be seen. There are a lot of ways to ensure visibility online, and the most popular one is free!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most useful skills that you can use to increase visibility on your website. As its name suggests, SEO allows you to optimize your website for the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). A better SERP ranking puts you higher on the search results page, allowing for more visibility, more clicks, more chances for conversions, and more chances for revenue.
While SEO requires a lot of different technical knowledge, tiny steps make a world of difference versus none at all.
Utilizing the SERP
The Internet is now the go-to for information because of its convenience and accessibility. Similar to the simple logic of TikTok videos starting strong to keep users’ attention, your main goal should be getting your website on the first page of the SERP. When was the last time you clicked the next page after looking something up on Google? Don’t remember? We thought so.
This is why it’s important to determine your market and study how people search. When we start brainstorming on keywords to target, common sense would make you choose those with the highest search volumes, but the intent behind it is more important (source). We go back to the vision of your website–what are you trying to sell?
If you were creating a website for a Japanese restaurant, you could utilize your specialty as one of your keywords instead of the no-brainer “Japanese restaurant” search term. For example, “yakitori restaurant in Manila” or “sushi bar in Pasig” are much more niche keywords that immediately set you apart from other Japanese restaurants. Going back to search intent, users who surf the web the more specific search term are more likely to turn into actual conversions.
The secret formula to a good website
A good website should match its target market’s search intent. Keyword research and optimization are important skills to maximize to make this happen. Anybody can do it, but not everybody does, especially considering it isn’t as simple as flooding or spamming your website with your targeted keyword over and over to increase visibility.
SEO works like being graded by a teacher–your SEO is scored based on a lot of different factors, and keywords are just one of them. This is where creativity comes into play. The real challenge is being creative and technical at the same time. How many keywords can you use, and how seamlessly can you add these to your content? You want your keywords to reach your market, but to make them stay on your website, you need to find the sweet spot of interesting and optimized content.
Generating conversions through a website may seem daunting, especially since you don’t get to directly communicate with your market. Let your website do the talking! A good website is interesting and engaging, through functionality, visuals, and voice. Make it easy for your potential customers to use. Make it easy on the eyes. Make it easy to read and understand. Make your visitors’ first impression last, one that encourages them to stay. Every good website starts with a strong vision. What’s yours?
Words by Aina Barleta, Euclid Reyes & Ysa Lansang
Art by Gabriel Ortega