5 Basic Rules of Website Design

Let Optimus01 guide you towards an effective and successful website by following these basic rules for website design:

Your website is often your potential client’s first take and impression of your company. This of course means that your website needs to be a true reflection of just how successful, professional and savvy your company is. A website often offers a lasting impression of the company. This means that it needs to be easy to use, informative and have all the necessary contact information. Optimus01 has presented some basic but very important rules for website design and these are as follows:

1. Simplicity is Key
Keep the design of your website simple, neat and easy to manage. If the viewer is presented with an overcrowded and busy website, they may feel overwhelmed and decide to consider a more manageable alternative. If the website is too busy, it can also create confusion, frustration and take too much effort to read. Keeping it simple means that navigating around the website should be easy and obvious. The simpler your website and the pages of your website are, the faster your website will load, keeping your potential clients interested and keen to use your services and products.

2. Website Should be Easy to Read and Navigate
When designing your website, you may feel the urge to design it in the most amazingly bold and adventurous colours, with an interesting but complicated pattern or background. As mentioned previously, to keep potential clients happy and interested, it is important that you keep it simple. This means avoid using dark text on a dark background. This also goes for light, pastel and neon colours. It is best to place your text on a white background, but this is not a definite. Remember to use as much white space as possible as this will make it easier for your clients to read and get the jist of what you are offering without flooding them with too much information. Be sure that the text on your site is big enough to read without using a magnifying class or having to move your seat back to read enormous text. Big text can also come across as if you are shouting at your reader. Make sure that your website is easy to read by keeping the alignment justified and not centred or left or right aligned.

Navigation is a vital part of the success of your website design. Your viewers should be able to move around your website with ease and confidence in where the tabs, hyperlinks and buttons will take them. To ensure that this is the case; label the tabs, make the tabs, buttons and hyperlinks visible and attractive and ensure that they are readable and clear. In other words the navigational tools should stand out, intrigue the readers and be clear.

3. Website Design Should be Consistent
All pages on your website should be similar and indicate to the user that they are still on the site. Consistency is reached by using design and ensuring that the different pages of a website are the same in terms of colour, font size and design, pictures, spacing, logos, headings and other design elements like buttons and illustrations. If your website is consistent, it will ooze professionalism, accuracy and a standard your clients will be confident in.

4. Colour and Design
The colours you decide to use in your website are very important and need to remain consistent and permanent as the colours you use will become a part of your company and the brand. Colours need to be attractive and compliment the other factors and design elements on your website. There should not be a strong contrast between the colours used and it should be easy but pleasant to the eye. Colour is a very powerful design element as it creates mood and environment. Colours also give evidence as to whether a website is professional, fun, for children, men or women. Tones, shades and different colour schemes should also be considered when deciding on the colours you will use for your website.

5. Colour Schemes:

• Monochromatic colour schemes use 1 colour and pair it with neutrals. An example includes red, white and black.
• Analogous colour schemes will use colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. One colour is usually the dominant colour while the other colours enrich the design. An example is blue, blue-green and green.
• Complementary colour scheme is made of 2 colours that are opposite to each other on the colour wheel. This works best with warm colours against cooler colours. An example includes green and red or orange and blue.
• Triadic colour scheme is when 3 colours are used and they are an equal distance away on the colour wheel. An example includes Green, orange and purple.

It is also very effective if you use different shades of one colour in your website design.

Optimus01 will assist you in choosing the perfect colours for your website, business and corporate identity.

It’s all About the Content
The content is the most important part of your website and the design. A great website design will be in vain if the content is not appealing and interesting to the viewer. The website needs to perform the function of offering information. So be sure to design this in an interesting, appealing and easy to read design. The content should also be designed in a consistent, attractive and clear design. Headings found in the text need to be highlighted and stand out. White space is also important when designing a website.

More information on Basic Website Requirements is found on on our website.

Following the Rules
Be sure to consider these basic rules when designing your website. They will ensure that you are on your way to creating an effective and successful website that your client will enjoy using, while increasing your profits and reputation. Be sure to allow Optimus01 to assist you in creating the perfect website.