Web designers, like many creative people, can often get caught up in the detail of their creation. They then tend to forget the real reason behind the creation of the website they are designing – namely to promote a brand or service to the web user, and ultimately convert interested browsers into paying customers.
The reality for the majority of Duluth web design is that the interests of your target market dictate the style of your website. As difficult as it may be for many designers to accept, the most high tech and cutting edge design trends are of no use to the majority of audiences. Websites which win prizes for design are very seldom the same websites than win consumer popularity awards.
Essential Elements
Form follows function, and never was this famous maxim more applicable than in the world of web design. All good Duluth web design has the following elements in common:
* Navigational Clarity – Web users like to feel familiar with the navigational elements of a website. They like a search bar that’s always in the same place at the top right hand side of the screen, for example. They like breadcrumbs to help them navigate complicated paths. Basically, they are used to certain core navigational principles and are reluctant to have to learn a whole new set of principles when they arrive at your site for the first time.
* Audience Suitability – You aren’t designing your website for yourself. It is imperative to keep your target audience in mind when creating your site.
* Navigational Speed – it’s amazing what effect just a couple of extra seconds of load time can have on your audience. Almost one third of all consumers will start abandoning a website if it takes longer than 5 seconds for a page to load.
Other critically important elements are:
* Content – optimized for search engines, but written for human beings.
* Graphics – they shouldn’t congest the site, or make it slow to load.
* Layout – help the user find the information they need at a glance.
* Color – a great way to establish brand personality.
* Fonts – Stick to “web-safe” ones that all browsers can read.
For Duluth web design that encompasses all these elements and more, visit Website.com.
