UI/UX Design 27 Dec , 2021 Prerequisites for successful website design. Valdis Strautiņš If in the past it was important for the company to have a website and could not be very stressed by the visual design, then nowadays, the design of the website plays a very important role in attracting and retaining the attention of visitors. And an unsuccessful design of the site can negatively affect the desire of a potential customer to stay on the site, or to purchase a product or service on a particular website. Nowadays, the word design is no longer just a visual design. When developing a website, the web designer must understand not only the connections and layouts of colours and images, but should pay special attention to the user’s experience of the site – the site should be comfortable, transparent, highlighted buttons that promote the visitor to a particular activity, redirect to the desired form of pages or contacts, and all of this must also be beautifully designed, so that the user finds the site both convenient and visually attractive. The task is not simple, because each industry has its own nuances, which the web designer must know. In this article we will share tips on what are the prerequisites for creating a successful design of your website so that it attracts and retains your target customer. Define your brand To create a successful brand that will work on potential customers, you need to take into account several things. Identifies the desired market Identify the potential buyer or group of customers you want to target your product or service. The target market consists of people and companies, which are the most likely buyers of the offered service. Companies with many products can have many target markets, each offering a different product. The target market can be broadly defined by: Sex Nationality Age marital status Residence income level Each of these characteristics can be studied in more detail, trying to identify a specific target market by individual characteristics. For essential and consumer products, the definition of the target market will be less important than for specific, niche products and expensive goods. Conducts competitor research The main goal of competitor research is to find and evaluate Google’s TOP competitors. Understand and analyze their strengths and weaknesses, evaluate and compare the main internal and external SEO factors of their website, and keyword positions. Often, when conducting research of competitors, it happens that with relatively small adjustments and investments, the customer website is able to overtake all the found competitors of Google TOP. As a result, receiving most of the visits, which significantly contributes to the development of the business, the first offering the service sought. Defines the identity of your brand The definition of brand identity is simplified – a set of elements that allow you to evaluate how potential customers will perceive your company’s brand. The visual elements of the brand, or the visual language of your company’s brand, include elements such as: Logo Color palette Design system Letter Font Iconography photographs/graphic elements Choosing a website design When designing a website, you can choose one of the finished templates, or an individually designed design. Depending on your choice, the development costs will also change. The solution of the stencil will be cheaper, but more functionally limited. Individual solution, in principle, without restrictions, but accordingly even 3 times more expensive. Master The website template is a ready-made design and content management system (CMS) in one place. They can be available both free of charge or for a fee on various websites. Stencils contain the possibility to adapt them to specific needs, for example, change colors, layout of information, create page navigation and mood as close as possible to the customer’s needs, however, the frame or stencil remains the same. It is very important that your page is friendly to all devices, on different screens – computers, mobile phones, tablets. Therefore, when searching for a template for a page, pay attention to it being “Responsive”. Custom design Unique website design opens up unlimited possibilities for realizing the design and functionality of the website. Choosing the creation of a unique website design, the designer will start with the creation of a home page design. After its coordination, the creation of the other unique designs of the unique internal pages (sections) of the site is carried out. Priority for usability One of the most important basic conditions for your website is its usability, so that the site keeps the attention of visitors and achieves its goals – to purchase a product or service, apply for a consultation, read articles, fill in contact forms, apply for news, etc. User Experience (UX) The goal of the UX development process is to improve user interaction with the platform and the company’s products, as well as to promote a comfortable, light and pleasant feeling when interacting with technology and functionality. The design of the UX should be designed in such a way that users want to stay on the website without leaving it in the first seconds. Create a visually pleasing look, structure and properly designed content, include suitable CTA buttons. The website must be easy to use from any device – both computer and mobile devices. We have already talked about UX in previous articles and explained what it is. Visual hierarchy The visual hierarchy of a Web design is a way to point out which objects are the main ones and which are secondary. In addition, the hierarchy also shows the link between objects and which of them are the main ones, and which are subordinate. follows 3 rules of the visual hierarchy: Arrangement – the layout of the site interface is one of the most direct ways to control the visual hierarchy of the website – by placing elements at the top of the visual hierarchy, placing them in front or center. Spaces – spaces in your site interface guide users’ eyes and affect the visual hierarchy in two ways:Proximity – proximity is a powerful tool for a web designer, as it can express the functionality of the site. Closely adjacent items, users tend to perceive as similar. Negative space – usually it is called white background blanks. In web design, this is a beginner error. The right amount of empty spaces, among the most important elements, will keep them in the spotlight. Style – personal style, such as usage textures, graphics and image type, affects the visual hierarchy and allows you to express the personality and mood of the website. Try to maintain the same style on all pages of the site, whether images, articles, and video content. Button Different types of buttons can and should be placed on the website, which will encourage the website visitor to do the actions you want on the website. On the website you can place buttons with links to other sections or resources, CTA (call to action) buttons, which invite the customer to perform a specific action – buy, order, log in, fill out a questionnaire and other actions. The layout, size, shape and even color of the buttons are also very important. Readability Incorrectly formatted content can make the website a nightmare that the visitor can easily close with a “cross”. Readability is a basic principle of printing. Make sure that your website uses clear fonts and convenient font sizes, text colors contrast well with background colors (as a rule – the brighter the color, the harder the text is to read) and there is enough blank space around the written content – spaces. These are not all aspects to be taken into account when designing a website, of course, but these are “must-have” points that need to be taken into account if you have decided to create your own site and want it to have a high-quality, visitor-oriented design. If you have decided to create your own website and you need the help of professionals who will create your site according to the latest web and web design standards, apply for a consultation and our team will be happy to help you.