The Importance of Good Web Design

By: robert | Posted: 26th June 2008

The Importance of Good Web Design
The important thing to remember about websites is that there are a lot of them. No matter how unique the information a site provides or the product it sells, there is in all likely hood a handful -- if not more -- of other sites on the internet providing the same service. Thus the question becomes how to differentiate one website from the countless others like it across the internet. What makes one online shopping site more successful than another when they both sell many of the same products for the same prices? The answer is good web design.

There are a few important tricks to remember when it comes to web design. A website should be well organized, easy to navigate, and attractive. A homepage serves as a portal to all of the content on the website. Consider it the site's abstract. It should clearly present to users all the information, products, and services available to them. If a homepage fails to provide users with a clear path to they content they are seeking, they wont hesitate to abandon the page and return to their search engine. There is no faster way to lose a customer than sloppy web design.

A good web design partitions the information on the site into categories and subcategories on the homepage. For example, a website selling cars might arrange the available vehicles first by manufacturer, then by model, and finally by year. Therefore any user looking for a 1996 Buick Regal is only three easy clicks away from finding what they want.

In general, as long as content is cleanly and clearly organized, the fewer clicks it takes a user to arrive at any piece of information on the site, the better. If content is buried too deeply inside the site, the likely hood increases that users will either be unable or unwilling to locate what they want. If poor web design makes visitors feel lost or confused they will simply find another site.

Lastly, the most obvious -- yet perhaps most overlooked -- aspect of good web design is appearance. The homepage must convince users to stay and explore its content. Good web design should utilize pleasant color schemes, avoid loud looking backgrounds, use easily readable fonts, and stick to a general theme. Web design must also be consistent. Sub-pages should always look like they belong to the homepage. This is so that users will at all times feel like they are on the same website. If every page follows a consistent theme, when visitors find the information they are looking for on one of the site's sub-pages, they will associate that success with the site as a whole.

Proper web design helps build the repeat visitor base necessary for a successful site. It is important for any website builder to remember that getting visitors to the site is only half the battle. The other half is keeping them there -- and it is a battle best fought with good web design.
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Tags: search engine, appearance, handful, online shopping, information products, subcategories, clear path, good web design, selling cars, buick