When it comes to websites, first impressions last. Like it or not, your audience will judge your site within the first few seconds of visiting it. And if they don’t like what they see, they will likely leave.
Just as you would dress to impress on a first date, you would want to give your audience a great first impression of your brand when they first land on your site.
Having a good web helps you capture readers’ attention and build that “like, know, and trust” factor. It’s also great for SEO.
How do you create a good website design? In this post, we’ll go over some of the best ways to help you do just that. Let’s dive in!
1. Be Careful and Deliberate With Your Fonts
Often, what separates a professional website from an amateur one is in the small details.
While most beginners gloss over typography, professionals choose their fonts designs carefully and purposefully.
Good typography sets the stage for a great user experience.
It makes reading effortless and optimizes the overall flow and balance of your website.
Here are 4 rules of thumb to good web typography:
- Create Font Hierarchy
- Limit the number of font styles you use.
- Use the right line-height.
- Use clear and legible fonts.
1. Create Font Hierarchy
Use fonts that differentiate your Headings, Subheadings, and paragraphs clearly.
You can do this by varying your font size, weights, and styles.
When using different font families, choose ones that are contrasting styles.
For example, if you are using a serif for your heading, consider using sans serif for your paragraphs.
2. Limit the number of font styles you use
Using too many font families makes websites feel disorganized.
To avoid this, you’ll want to limit your font style to a maximum of 3.
When using more than one font style, make sure to use fonts that complement each other.
For example, you generally don’t want to use Display with Script.
3. Use the right line height
In typography, the line height is the spacing between two lines of text.
Too little or too much line height makes reading difficult.
In general, you’ll want to set this to about 30% more than your character height.
4. Use clear and legible fonts
While flowery fonts look creative and fun, they’re often difficult to read.
When it comes to web design, using a clear, straightforward font design is often the winner.
Unless you have incredibly patient readers, I will stay away from fancy fonts.
2. Use A Premium WordPress Theme
We judge a blog within seconds of visiting it.
In this study, users admit to forming an opinion about your website within .05 seconds.
And 94% of those first impressions are based on web design.
So, it’s essential that you invest in a premium WordPress theme for your blog.
A WordPress theme is a template that defines the look and feel of your site.
While it will cost you money, premium WordPress themes enable you to build a unique and professional web design.
Because premium themes are less accessible than free ones, there wouldn’t be as many websites with a similar look.
Premium themes are also more customizable than free themes.
This means you can fine-tune the appearance and functions of your website to make it truly yours!
Another great advantage of using a premium theme is that you will get consistent WordPress updates.
Ongoing theme updates are critical because it ensures that your theme stays relevant and can operate well can with the latest version of WordPress.
In contrast, many free themes are never or rarely updated.
Without regular updates, your blog could be hacked, break, or completely stop working in the future.
When building your blog, take the time to look for a theme that beautiful theme that fits your needs.
WordPress offers an extensive library of premium themes, so you shouldn’t have a hard time finding one that’s perfect for you.
If you need help finding a theme, check out our recommended WordPress premium theme here.
3. Make Your Site Responsive
In early 2014, web traffic on mobile devices exceeded desktop for the first time in history.
In 2019 51% of all website traffic worldwide was on mobile. Trends show that mobile traffic is only increasing.
So much so that Google has shifted to “mobile-first” indexing as its official site ranking preference.
So it’s critical to make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
Design your website so that it’s responsive.
When a website is responsive, it has a flexible layout on a wide range of platforms and screen sizes.
In other words, a responsive website automatically changes to fit the device you’re readers are using.
A responsive design also allows your users to navigate your content on mobile smoothly.
Most premium themes are responsive, so you shouldn’t have a problem with this.
That said, it’s always good to verify before you purchase your WordPress theme.
If you’re having your site customized by a developer, make sure to ask for responsiveness.
Test your site on different mobile devices.
If you don’t have one in handy, you can use the developer tools inside your web browser.
To access the developer tools, use the keyboard short cut cmd+option+J for mac and ctrl+shift+J for PC.
Or click the arrow on the top right corner on your browser then click more tools and developer tools.
Once there, click on the icon (toggle device toolbar) that looks like a mobile device.
That should allow you to see how your site appears on different devices.
Another thing to consider when optimizing for mobile is site speed. How fast your site loads can vary drastically from mobile to desktop.
Google offers a great tool that allows you to test your mobile speed and provides recommendations on where your website needs improvement.
4. Improve Your Site Speed
Fast websites give a professional first impression.
Users associate site speed with trustworthiness, reliability, and efficiency.
In contrast, slow websites give new users a quick negative first impression.
If your site is slow, your readers will feel unsafe, impatient, and unhappy.
Your readers are busy and don’t have the patience to wait for a website to load:
- 47% of people expect your site to load in less than 2 seconds.
- 53% of users exit a mobile website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
- 79% of online shoppers are less likely to come back to a site if they are dissatisfied with the load speed
When your site loads slowly, readers get annoyed and click away.
In fact, site speed is so vital to user experience that Google has made it a ranking factor.
To figure out how your site speed, I recommend you use GTMetrix Site Speed Test. It’s free and easy to use.
If you find out that your site speed is slow, here are some things you can do to improve it:
1. Using large size images can significantly slow down your site. To avoid this, optimize your images for the web. Optimizing images means resizing the file size so that it is small while maintaining the quality of the image high. For this, I recommend you use a compression plugin. For this, I use ShortPixel and WP Smush.
2. Investing in a fast hosting company is an easy way to improve your site load time. I highly recommend Bluehost for beginners. Blue host is amazingly quick for its price. They also have a one-click set-up process, which makes the entire website hosting process very smooth and stress-free.
3. Use well-developed, reputable plugins. Some plugins can significantly slow down your page load time because it loads too many scripts. Take the time to test if any of your plugins are slowing down your site. If so, deactivate it and find a replacement immediately.
4. Use a theme that’s optimized for speed. Some themes load slower than others due to complicated layouts and unnecessary features. To avoid this, opt for a lightweight theme. You can always add features using plugins later.
5. Have a Simple and Focused Home Page
Having a homepage with a thoughtful design is key to every professional-looking blog.
Your blog’s homepage is the page that comes up in a browser when someone types your main domain in their address bar.
For example, The main domain for my one of my blogs is https://pixelsandwanderlust.com/.
There are two key things to be mindful of when designing your homepage: simplicity and focus.
When readers land on your home page, they should know what your site is about quickly.
Be clear about what you do and how you can help them.
This is key if you want new visitors to stay and explore your website longer.
Also, make sure your home page easy to read and navigate.
A quick way to do this is by using white space generously.
While this may sound like a waste of real estate, it is essential to building a good web design.
White space prevents web pages from being cluttered and confusing.
Don’t cram all your content into a small space.
Leave white space in between to make it more digestible to your audience.
You also want your homepage to highlight only one call to action.
Don’t give in to the temptation to emphasize everything your blog has to offer on your homepage.
While this may sound like a good idea, it will only lead to confusion and overwhelm.
Confused readers click away, so this is the last thing you want to do.
Before finalizing your design, decide what you want to accomplish with your homepage.
Then focus only on that one-call-to action and minimize the rest.
Because it’s not just having a beautiful homepage, it’s about having one that gets you to your bottom line: conversion.
6. Use Unique, High-Quality Images
We judge a blog within seconds of visiting it.
That means your blog’s images need to be amazing if you want your readers to trust and like you.
In this study, customers reveal that they value a product’s image is more important than the product descriptions and reviews.
So, don’t lazily choose low-quality, generic photos.
Take the time to find high-quality photos that will make you stand out.
If you can, hire a photographer or videographer
Before your readers can trust you, they first need to get to know you. Generic stock photos don’t help them do that.
Rarely do readers trust a faceless entity.
If you want your readers to fall in love with your blog, you need to be willing to show them photos of yourself.
And by hiring an experienced photographer, you can ensure that your photos will come out looking professional and sleek.
7. Invest in a Proper Domain Name
Stay away from using a free domain name that’s registered under the hosting company name.
Having a website address like mydomainname.wordpress.com is far from professional.
It sends a signal that you’re an amateur who’s not willing to invest in your blog.
To be credible, your readers must know that you and not some other company actually own your website.
You’ll also want to stick to using letters.
Avoid using a domain name like my-domain-name.com.
Hyphens and numbers make it difficult to spell and pronounce your domain name.
If you can, use a “.com” domain name extension.
While you can certainly succeed with a “.net” or a “.org,” a “.com is the most familiar and easiest to remember.
Remember, your domain is the foundation of your brand.
It is how your audience will find, remember, and talk about your business.
So don’t hesitate to invest time and money into getting the perfect one.
If you need a new domain, I recommend registering through NameCheap.com.
Or you can get one year free domain if you host with Bluehost.com.
8. Have a Business E-mail Address
This one is critical if you’re trying to build a professional brand.
A professional email address creates a sense of trust.
Can you imagine receiving an email from myname1715@yahoo.com instead of contact@yourcompanyname.com?
Your emails will look spammy, and your readers won’t take you seriously.
Email is one of the most common ways you communicate with your customers, so it’s essential to have a proper address.
The great news is a business email address is cheap and easy to acquire.
Many WordPress hosting companies offer free business email address as part of the package.
If you sign up for Bluehost, you get a free domain name, web hosting, and a free business email address.
9. Have a Well-Designed Logo
A logo is an integral part of your brand’s identity.
It’s typically the first thing website visitors see when they land on your site.
A well-designed logo evokes professionalism, trust, and credibility.
For these reasons, you must make having a well-designed logo a top priority.
A proper logo doesn’t have to cost you a fortune, either.
There are ways to create your logo without spending a dime.
In the first year of my blog, pixelsandwanderlust.com, I used a logo I made using Adobe Illustrator.
Alternatively, you can use a free logo generator like Zyro Logo if you don’t know your way around Illustrator.
If you’re looking to create a text-only logo, I highly recommend checking out Creative Market for beautiful fonts at an affordable price.
If you have a few hundred dollars to spare, then I recommend going to 99 designs.
99 designs offer quality logos for as low as $300. I use their service for all my websites, and I’ve never been disappointed.
10. Keep Your Navigation Bar Clear and Simple
Your site’s navigation bar or menu bar is what visitors use to navigate through your website.
A poorly designed nav bar makes your website look confusing, lousy, and amateur.
So it’s essential that you design it thoughtfully.
Your navigation bar should also be clear and straightforward.
While we love and celebrate cleverness and innovation, their really the last thing you want when it comes to your menu bar.
Clever words, fancy fonts and unique icons may be creative and fun, but they come at the expense of clarity.
Most visitors are impatient. And if they have a second trying figuring out where to go, they’ll click away.
So make sure to design your nav bar so that it’s intuitive for your readers.
You’ll also want to keep your menu bar consistent across all pages.
You do not want the map through your website to keep changing. That would defeat its purpose.
Finally, keep your navigation bar simple.
You do not need to highlight every page on it.
Doing so will only confuse and overwhelm your visitors.
Focus only on critical pages.
Remember, your menu bar is one of the most valuable real estate on your website, so treat it like one.
Conclusion:
Design is more than just having an attractive website. It’s about creating a good experience for your visitors. One that is critical if you want your readers to trust and like you.
Don’t gloss this one over. Whether you’re setting up a new site or already one, take the time to make sure your design is as exceptional as the products, services, and content you offer.