A strong web presence is essential to good business. Having a website is a given but it is important to make sure your website is a winner. You need a well ordered, appealing and informative site that is easy to use. Your site should be offer incentive for visitors to return and should offer them a good experience while they are there. Here are 5 essential elements of good website design

Color is Paramount

Websites offer a visual experience and your website needs to have an effective and pleasing color scheme. The color you choose should complement your branding and logo. It is important to ensure that the color scheme works to highlight your logo and not to overpower it. Contrasts can work well as too much harmony in the color scheme can make your logo disappear into the background.

colors have strong associations and these should be considered in making decisions around color. For instance, green is seen as a natural and calming color and would work well for an eco-friendly product. Blue gives a sense of reliability and is often used by lawyers or medical practitioners. Color is really important in sending a message consistent with your brand and the products and services you are offering. Experts like Simple can offer you great advice on color. It is worth making sure your color decisions will maximize your brand.

Be Consistent in Theme

Your website should have a strong theme that carries across all of its pages. While your homepage will typically be more eye-catching than other pages, it must still carry the same theme. Layout should be consistent throughout the site so that visitors feel like they know where they are. Keep images relevant to the theme of the page to consolidate the message of your page. Disparate imagery can be confusing and will detract from the impact of your page.

Fonts

The font is the type of lettering you use on your website. Fonts should be consistent across the site and should match your brand. You wouldn’t choose a whimsical font for a mechanical product for instance. There are two types of font, serif and sans serifs. These can be used together to create a contrast, but clarity and readability must be considered. Sans serif is cleaner and easier to read in smaller sizes.

Ease of Use

One of the most important aspects of your website is that it should be easy to use. Navigation needs to be obvious and not confusing. Your pages should not be too cluttered as this will make it difficult for your visitors to know where to look. Make sure your pages load quickly as website visitors will not wait around for a page to load no matter how pretty it is.

Contact Information

It is imperative that your contact information is clear and easy to find. You can have the most visually dynamic website in the world but if your customers don’t know how to contact you, it’s worthless. While most people look online prior to purchase, many still want to contact a real person.