There is so much written about web design and the rules seem to change so frequently, you would be forgiven for being confused. Web design remains one of the most important factors in a successful business but exactly what makes a ‘good’ website or even an ‘excellent’ website is still subjective.

So, instead of talking about the benefits of hiring a Craft CMS Developer or which website host is best for you, let’s talk about the most important principle of web design: simplicity.

People Trust Familiarity

When people visit a website, they usually want to see something familiar. This is because familiar is much more intuitive; people know what a hamburger menu is because they have seen it elsewhere.

While creative website design might be exciting, always bear in mind that most people won’t be willing to play with a site unless it is engaging or they are able to trust their intuition. What might seem like a clever alternative to you might be off-putting to others because they don’t know what to do.

If you do want to create a website that is totally different (and incidentally, that is the main benefit of hiring a Craft CMS Developer), you should add prompts or guidance to allow people to learn and familiarise themselves with your design.

Easy Navigation Keeps People Interested

One of the best ways to improve your bounce rate is to make it easy for people to navigate through your website. If they can’t find what they are looking for quickly, they will give up and try another site.

The reality is that even a few seconds can make the difference so the more obvious you can make navigation, the better your website will do.

Putting links within your content is a good way to encourage people to take a particular journey through your conversion funnel, but the way you lay out your menus and even the content on your landing pages all has an impact.

As you write content, always think about where you want the consumer to go next. Then you just need to add your links.

Visual Simplicity Looks Expensive

It’s a strange thing, but people like the feeling of space, even in a virtual landscape where ‘space’ isn’t really a thing. This is why white space or blank space is so important in design: it creates a sense of calm, improves readability and directs the user’s attention to a particular thing. Just look at the Google homepage.

One of the main mistakes websites make is crowding the front page with too much information at once. Given that you can put as many pages on your website as you like, splitting information up into more manageable chunks will simplify your message and keep your users on track to convert.

Simplicity may sound easy but the reality is that the most simple things are often the things you have to work hardest to achieve. To get started on your own website, start with your most basic principles and then refine and build from there.