The Perks of a Well-Designed Website

With $130 billion spent online in the UK last year, it’s safe to say that websites are now a key priority for any organization. As well as providing another (or entire) revenue stream, websites are often the first interaction a potential customer will have with a business and will affect buying decisions within seconds. If a website doesn’t grab attention within seconds, doesn’t work properly or, worst-case scenario, doesn’t look trustworthy, then customers will look elsewhere. Nowadays, having an optimized website that is user friendly, works on different devices, and reflects your business mission and values is crucial. That is precisely why you should have it done by the best professionals in the area. Web design Surrey based specialists are an excellent example of a company that can provide you with professional services following your business needs and objectives

Mobile first web-design

There is a logic behind designing the mobile site first, designing a mobile site is the hardest, and therefore it should take priority. Once the mobile design is taken care of, designing for other devices should be easier. The opposite approach to this is designing a site that is full of complex features, before stripping them away for the mobile version. Through implementing this technique you run the risk of treating the mobile design as an afterthought and end up with a trimmed down experience.

Time is limited

Once a website has traffic (which is another challenge), ensuring that visitors aren’t tempted to leave is a fundamental part of web design where companies spend a lot of money. Whether it’s an interactive site with slick animations or too-good-to-be-true offers right at the top of the page, grabbing customer attention is super important.

The average website visitor will make a decision whether the site or even product is for them within 7 seconds, so being concise and using the best images, text, and title will ensure that only the most important information can be summarised in a few seconds. Bombarding users with block text, hundreds of images and things like small print and a hidden price if products are being sold are definite turn-offs for web shoppers with limited time.

What does a good website look like?

In the early days of the internet, basic HTML pages with a few lines of text and a selection of images usually did the job, but now even the smallest websites have some truly innovative design tricks to help gain and maintain traffic.

The user interface of a website is its secret weapon when it comes to capturing attention. There are lots of dos and don’ts when it comes to colour and layout, but keeping things simple is a good way to make sure visitors are focused on the product or service and not the multicolour sidebars and annoying page music. Navigation is probably the most important part of any user interface, with simple submenus over long lists of pages or products the best way to help customers find what they’re looking for.

Having a unique selling point is another key feature found on the most successful sites. Some companies will already have an established brand that backs up their product and can be translated to a web page design, such as a colour scheme, logos or brand message that makes the site stand out from the crowd, but the site itself can also add originality.

Online casino providers face a lot of competition, therefore they must ensure that they do something out of the ordinary to grab the visitor’s attention. 777.com is an excellent example of originality through great design. In a sea of gambling websites that feature bland virtual gaming rooms or slot machines, they stand out thanks to a carefully chosen nostalgic feel, a theme that runs throughout 777 casino.

777 Casino include black and white images on their website, this ensures that the visitor is firmly reminded of a previous era. The theme of the website is consistent with the images from a previous era.

Objects that are now redundant are present on the site, again, this reminds the visitor of previous times. Nostalgia is created through including these images on the site, their presence is in-keeping with the other graphics that are present.

The graphics are simple, this ensures that the visitor is not distracted, but the colour scheme makes them feel welcome. The graphics look as though they are hand-drawn, this along with the selection of colours ensures that there is a 1950’s feel to the graphics.

There is vintage-style font included on the site, this helps to retain the 1950’s America theme. The colourful images compliment the black and white photographs.

All images courtesy of 777 Casino

The entire site has the feel of a 1950s Las Vegas diner, complete with jukebox and themed games that you won’t find anywhere else on the internet. This interface helps players to experience something different, which is a big plus in an industry where virtual games can sometimes blend into the crowd.

777 Casino have also included long scrolling on their site, the benefit of this is the increased amount of content that is available on the homepage. This saves the user time in finding what they want to read about. This is a unique feature among gambling sites, it is clear that 777 are determined to stand out, the font and the graphics ensure that the site is unlike any other modern day casinos.

An area of endless investment

The problem with a constantly innovative and exciting website is keeping up with trends and preferences, which can be expensive with constant web development or changes to a website. Devising a web strategy is the best solution for this, with engaging content, high quality photos or images that change on a semi-regular basis and plenty of visibility for offers or featured products.

Good website design can be achieved with a few tips and tricks, but spending a little extra to stand out of the crowd and having a site which functions perfectly will be the difference between success and failure, especially with 87% of the population in the UK expected to buy something online by the end of 2017.

The latest trends in web design

Recently there has been a shift in website design, there is now less focus on making the site look ‘pretty’ and added efforts to improve the quality of content. The best websites now present content in an intuitive and efficient way. The content is often presented on a colourful backdrop, this is done to catch the reader’s eye, infuse more personality into the site and ensure that they don’t become bored.

The parallax web design

The parallax web design is very common, it involves the web page’s background moving slower than the foreground. Many websites tend to go overboard with this technique; it is best used sparingly, here are 30 great samples of a well-designed parallax website.

Flat design vs. Realism

Realistic design involves 3D textures, drop shadows and reflective shimmers. Recently there has been an increase in the number of flat design websites, it is thought the simplistic nature of these sites appeals to the visitor. Both styles can be effective when they are done well. Flat design is often referred to as simple, clean, modern, trendy, and colourful. Illustrations are kept to a minimum and it often results in the site loading quicker than a site with a realistic design.

The future trends of web design

It appears the future rule for web design is ‘less is more’, designers are expected to keep illustrations and animations to a minimum in order to highlight the content on their site. The design of the website is vitally important to attracting to visitors to the site, if the visitor becomes overawed then it can have a detrimental effect.

Impressive technology has resulted in an increased number of people visiting websites through their mobile phone or an alternative device, these numbers are only going to increase in the future. It is important that web designers take this into account, the site must be easy to navigate on a range of different platforms.

Key Points

• 75% of users admit to making a decision about a company based on their website.
• 94% of a user’s perceptions are design related.
• The average website visitor will make a decision whether the site is for them within 7 seconds.
• Keeping a site simple is a key component to good web design.
• Having a unique design and product are two of the key factors when it comes to effective web design.
• The increased usage of mobiles has caused many web designers to design the mobile site first.
• Spending extra on good web design can be profitable in the long run.