When a visitor goes to a website, they don’t want to have to wonder if they are in the right place.
A layout that tells a story
Good design tells your visitor who you are and leads them to a call to action in a fast, efficient, and pleasing way. A call to action is an instruction to the visitors to provoke a response, whether it be to purchase a product, call a number, fill out a contact form, subscribe to a newsletter, or to learn more.
The main call to action is usually included in the space with the largest visual attraction on the site, generally the center of the screen. This can be achieved by overlaying text & a button on top of other imagery or even a background video.
Most of the rest of the layout is secondary, meaning its information that is to be included and found easily on the site if the visitor tends to look for it. Just remember that whitespace and organization on your website are your friends!
A Great Logo & Color Scheme
If you have a logo with too many colors it can be difficult to incorporate them into branding and web design. Generally, you do not want colors that clash. You want colors that complement each other.
Contrast is key to drawing attention, take a look at colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel. These are colors that are direct compliments of each other.
Beautiful & Easy to Read Typography
If a font is difficult to read, it is normally a sign to move on to another site. There are types of fonts out there that are meant more for experimental graphic design and others that are meant for reading. Just because a font looks awesome doesn’t mean it should be used. If the text on your site is hard to read, your visitors are going to move on.
Stock Photos vs. Real Photography
Within the past couple of years, stock photography has been a huge business – a library where you can find any type of imagery to imaginable. But they are on a downward trend because many of them look the same. It some cases it’s not too difficult to spot stock photography on a site anymore. It has been shown that some visitors will completely ignore the content if they find the visuals to be boring. Be careful when using stock photos, make sure they are unique and don’t skimp on paying for great photos.
Or… be original. Depending on your website or business, it is important to show your personality. Be a champ and get real, custom imagery for your website, you will be glad you did.