Web designers are constantly finding ways on improving their clients’ website accessibility, SEO, and ease of use. These are such basic yet important aspects that the overall success of the website hugely depends on these three factors. After all, users are more inclined to visit and stay on websites that are easy to use, answer their questions, or help them make a purchase decision.


There are countless tricks in improving website usability. However, these essential website design strategies should be the first thing you focus on when building your new website.


1. Ensure your website has good color contrast.

 


Do you know that up to 90% of snap judgments are actually connected to colors? No wonder why a lot of brands consult eagle-eyed visual specialists, creative artists, and skilled graphic designers for the right colors for their websites.


Check out these guidelines to improve the color and contrast of a website.


Some Designer Guidelines for Great Color Contrast

  • Find a good contrast between your text and background. You can determine which colors are complimentary by using a color wheel. Select your text’s accent color or link color. Then draw a straight line to the opposite side of the wheel. That color should ideally be the color of your background.

  • Ensure that your background are not too dark or too light, making your content difficult to view.


2. Choose a great typography.

 

 

Virtually all websites contain text. Thus, when you start a website, remember that typography is incredibly important; in fact, it can make or break a website. Can you imagine a website with entire blocks of text in Sego Script or some other obscure font? You’d have a headache making out those words! Nobody wants to use a magnifying glass to read the text on your website!


Choosing and working out font variation, sizes, tracking, and kerning can be tough. Fortunately, this simple guide can help you achieve the right font for your text content.


Some Designer Guidelines for Improved Typography

  • Choose a font that is easily recognizable and easy to read. Helvetica, Roboto, Open Sans, and Georgia are classics. If you want a commonly used or licensed font, make sure users can read it easily.
  • The recommended font size should be 14 px. That’s because mobile screens are smaller than desktop screens. To compensate for the limited view, your font must be sufficiently large.
  • Do not bold, italicize, or capitalize whole words needlessly. Underlines should only be used when there’s an anchor text and hyperlink involved.
  • You can use the Golden Ratio Typography Calculator to determine the ideal size, line height and width, and characters per line (CPL) of your chosen font for your website.

 

3. Improve the website’s layout.

 

When you build a website, ask these questions. How accessible is your website? Is it easy to use and navigate? Can users easily find the information they need easily, without having to dig for buttons, links, and menus? Much of traffic and customer acquisition depends on how a website is laid out.


A good website layout emphasizes readability, uses visual hierarchy effectively, and has a noticeable call to action (CTA). Designers should remember that the whole objective of a website is to satisfy a client’s goal; to drive sales, promote a product or service, convince readers to join a cause, or simply sign up for more information. The website’s layout should be geared towards accomplishing these specific objectives.


Some Designer Guidelines for Better Layout

  • Lay out headers and web pages in a way that is instinctive to visitors. For example, most people naturally read from left to right. Thus, put the most important information towards the top and left side of the page.
  • Design the page so that the most important elements can be seen at a glance when someone first visits the site. In other words, don’t make them scroll.
  • If possible, add graphics, images, and animation to increase the user’s level of interest. Visual elements also enable users to understand and digest information more quickly than just blocks of text.
  • Use white space to create a clean and clutter-free design that is easy for the eyes. Good use of white space eliminates confusion and helps guide the reader's eyes through your site.
  • Unless you are catering to a specific audience, avoid using complex words or jargon. Use simple, easy-to-understand words so that your visitors will stay longer on your website. Know that if visitors have a hard time understanding your content, they will most likely leave your website, which increases your bounce rate (i.e. the percentage of viewers website who will leave the site after viewing only one web page) On the other hand, simple, easy-to-understand content encourages viewers to stay longer, decreasing your bounce rate and improving your SEO.
  • For call-to-action buttons, choose bigger font size and use your accent color as background color to increase the likelihood of capturing users’ attention and reducing the chances of visitors hitting a wrong link.


Clear color contrast. Simple and readable font. Improved layout. Following these three simple but practical tips will help make a positive impact on your new website design.