Designing a good website is like baking a cake. You need to find the right balance of ingredients to make the best possible product. Like a cake, almost anyone can make a website, but to make yours stand out from the crowd, you need to make sure everything is just right.

So, if you’re wondering how you can improve a website, there are several easy tips you can follow to make your website shine. Here are the 10 simple things you can do today.

 

1.Make sure your Website design is Responsive

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What is Responsive Design: 

The simplest definition of Responsive Design is to design a website that can dynamically adapt to the requirements of every user and platform. Responsive Design aims to react to a user’s behaviour and adjust according to the platform, orientation, and resolution of the screen. 

Why Responsive Design:

One of the biggest problems in modern website design is how to make websites look good on every device from the smallest smartphone to the biggest desktop computer. It isn’t practical to implement different designs for every device, and Responsive Design is the best solution. It allows websites to be coded to respond to any situation that they may encounter and consequently, rank higher on the Google search algorithm.

What that includes:

Responsive design is a vast topic, but some broad features are at the core of every good design.

  • Adjustable Screen Resolutions – To cater to all screen sizes.
  • Flexible Images – That can resize to different aspect ratios.
  • Multiple Layout Templates – For more coherent display on different devices.
  • Dynamic Content – That displays or hides according to available screen space.

 

2.Aim for a more Mobile Friendly design

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What this means:

To create a mobile-friendly design to ensure that a website is optimized for mobile devices. How this differs from a responsive design is that it focuses on the actual layout of information rather than its response to factors like screen size.

Why you should do it:

In the second quarter of 2020, mobile devices generated 51.53% of global website traffic. This number is a clear indication that investing in a mobile-friendly design is not only a massive advantage but also a necessity.

How to do it:

Designers need to adopt a Mobile-First approach while designing websites to ensure a smooth experience for all their users. An ergonomic layout needs to be designed that is aesthetically pleasing but also retains all relevant information and is optimized for touchscreen use.

 

3.White Space is your friend

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What is White Space:

White space is as the name implies, just white space. It is the space on a page that is left intentionally blank between all the content. Tactfully used white space creates simple and elegant designs which nowadays are the industry standard. It is an implementation of the classic motto “less is more”.

Why White Space is important:

Clarity of content is one of the most important aspects of website design. Aesthetics are a massive part of modern website design, and white space is a big part of it. Proper use of white space increases the readability of content and website performance. It can also be used to emphasize certain parts of a website strategically.

How to use white space:

White space is the simplest of all techniques to implement. It should be used in all aspects of a website, including the text placement, image content and interface design. The result of good white space usage is simple but effective; there is only one place to look at.

 

4.Include a Call to Action

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What is a Call to Action?

A Call to Action is a direct prompt on a website that urges a user to perform a specific task. These are often short imperative statements of 2 to 3 words such as ‘Buy Now’, ‘Find out more’ or ‘Get Subscribed’. These can be of any form but are commonly seen as buttons, links, or text.

Why is it important?

Without a call to action, a user has no clear direction or objective after accessing a website. Many users will drift away from a website as fast as they find it if they are not given a clear direction. A call to action takes the content of the website and gives users the option to enact the natural next step. A well-placed call to action helps websites get drastically more engagement with their audience.

How you can use it:

A call to action is extremely simple to implement. Call to actions depend on the type of your content and can be placed at the end of blogs, on the navigation panels, or as pop-ups. For example, an online store would include buttons like ‘Buy Now’ or ‘See Details’ with the promotional images of their products to prompt customers. Red, Green and Yellow are the optimal ‘Call to Action’ colours which catch the eye and urge potential users. 

 

5.Create simple Website Navigation

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What does it mean?

Website Navigation refers to the buttons, bars or menus which offer visitors the ability to visit different pages within the same domain easily. These navigation tools can be considered the map to the entirety of your website and are critical in achieving better user engagement. A well-drafted map is easy to use, but a poorly drafted map is worthless.

Why it’s important:

Simple navigation is often the difference between good and bad website designs. Engaging content is often lost within confusing navigation. A website with simple and clear navigation; on the other hand, inspires the user to interact with the website and generate more traffic. No matter how much content a website has, it must be mapped into clear navigational controls.

How you can use it:

Here are some the best tips you can implement to improve your website navigation:

  • Any two areas of your website should be accessible within or under three clicks.
  • A fixed navigation bar is an essential component.
  • Item labels in navigation links should be concise but descriptive.
  • The main navigation bar should have a maximum of 7 items.

 

6.Highlight your Value Proposition

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What is a Value Proposition?

Value proposition means to highlight the unique value that a website or organization is offering. This proposition targets users interacting with a website and is a part of an overall marketing strategy. This value proposition introduces users to a specific brand, how they operate and convinces users to engage with their content or products.

Why it’s important:

A value proposition is not an irrelevant statement but often the defining factor for your website. Every piece of content on a website is valuable, and the Value proposition is the most important component. A well defined and emphasized value proposition helps to achieve customer conversion and to build brand image and trust.

How to add it to your website:

You need to identify what makes your website or your organization stand out and display it clearly for all to see. For example, an electronic product website may choose to display a central image highlighting their free 2-year warranty. Your unique value proposition once added to the pages most frequented by visitors will help you create a better brand image and traffic for your website.

 

7.Add Social Sharing options

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What is Social Sharing?

Whenever we read a particularly interesting article or see a really good product out natural desire is to share that with our friends. It is tedious for users to copy and paste the link to a website, however, and they might not bother. Social sharing options make this much easier by integrating simple buttons to automate this process. These buttons allow a user to automatically share the content in front of them to any social media platform of their choosing.

Why you should use them:

As of January 2020, there are more than 3.8 billion social media users in the world. Social sharing options don’t just allow users to share your content conveniently; this, in turn, generates exponentially more traffic for your website. It also allows users to connect with your social media accounts if you have any. For a successful website, social sharing isn’t an option; it’s a necessity.

How to implement:

Social sharing is extremely easy to implement on any website and for any content. These buttons can be added at the end or sidebars of any content. The most popular websites include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many more.

8.Use Color Theory for a better design

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What is Color Theory?

Colour theory is the study of how people interpret different colours. It is a practical guide to creating a more aesthetically pleasing design for a website and should not be ignored. It consists of three main components: Contrast, Complementation, and Vibrancy.

Why is it important?

Human psychology is an extremely important aspect of website design. Colour theory exploits this psychology and creates more impactful content. For example, Taxis are yellow, because it is the most noticeable colour and associated with urgency. Colour theory is used frequently in website design and can drastically increase the impact of any content. 

How you can use it:

Colour theory must be incorporated into your colour scheme to use it to your advantage. To do that you need to choose the best colours which match the personality of your website. Here is a basic rundown of the most common colours: 

  • Red: passion, anger, love, confidence
  • Orange: youthfulness, cheer, warmth, hunger
  • Yellow: sunshine, happiness, energy, optimism
  • Green: nature, fertility, balance, cleanliness
  • Blue: water, tranquillity, trust, power
  • Purple: nobility, power, elegance, wisdom
  • White: peace, balance, purity, simplicity, winter
  • Gray: neutral, sophistication, balance, wisdom
  • Black: exclusivity, modern, power, sophistication, mystery
  • Brown: earth, stability, tradition, nature
  • Pink: love, romance, femininity, baby girls, humanistic
  • Turquoise: tranquillity, clarity, compassion, healing

In addition to this, the combination of these colours also needs to be chosen with care and deliberation. A detailed guide for choosing colours can be found here.

 

9.Optimize your website

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What this means:

It simply means that you need to ensure that your website is running smoothly. You need to check the responsiveness of your website and remove any obstacles impacting performance. By enhancing your website and removing redundant content, you make it much more desirable for all your users.

Why it’s important:

An optimized website with lesser content is far superior to an unoptimized website filled with content. If a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, it is highly likely that a user will close the site. It is imperative to have a site that loads quickly and contains concise, relevant information.

How you can optimize your website:

There are two simple steps you can take.

  • Increase Speed: Invest in better servers and remove bulky extensions or add-ins to ensure your website can load in the fastest possible time. 
  • Remove unnecessary content: To reduce repetition and prevent users from feeling bored from seemingly unprofessional content. 

 

10.Have an SEO Strategy

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What is SEO?

SEO is the last item on the list, but it is the most important design aspect of any website. It stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the practice of tailoring the content of a website to improve its standing in Search Engine Result Pages.

Why is SEO so popular?

When you talk about improving your website, the first thing most people will tell you about is SEO. A proper and focused SEO strategy will allow your website to rank much higher on search engine results and generate valuable organic traffic. It also makes your content more relevant and interesting for your users, and this is why it is such a popular practice.

How to create a successful SEO strategy:

A successful SEO strategy will uplift many aspects of your website. These are the basic techniques you can adopt today to improve your website.

  • Keyword Optimization: SEO ensures proper keywords usage to improve SERP standing.
  • Backend Optimization: Adding an SSL certificate, Proper Indexing and creating genuine backlinks.

 

To Summarize

Although there are many things you can do to improve a website, we’ve explained some of the most effective tools and techniques you can use today. These tips help you can improve the interface, aesthetic, reach, and content quality of your website.

Once you start implementing these tips, you will see positive results for your website right away.