More people are on the internet now than ever, and are spending increasingly more time on the internet, so it is imperative for any business to have a good website. So then, how is it possible to determine what is good web design and what is bad? There are generally a few criteria each website is graded on, and the criteria is important no matter where the site is based out of whether it’s Beijing or St Petersburg:
Social media Integration
There are over one billion people on Facebook, which translates into one out of every six living human beings on this planet. That is a pretty big deal, as social media has become the new frontier for businesses to brand themselves and get out into the public eye. Good web design recognizes this and where possible takes advantage of social media to keep a business relevant, for example distributing ‘reward’ coupons to loyal customers who like a page. Even a brick and mortar store in St. Petersburg needs social media.
Good Web Design Includes Search Engine Optimization
If you google the term ‘burger’ the search engine will spit out approximately 142 million results in the span of three seconds. Search engine optimization is what can tip the odds in a business’s favor by correctly optimizing the page so it ranks higher than its competitors. True, you can build your own website, but unless you have the training and knowledge of search engine optimization all you are doing is building a billboard on a dead end street. Good web design will use the “white hat” school of SEO so that they and their client don’t end up blacklisted by search engines, and so that when a customer googles a business in St. Petersburg they will be on page one instead of one hundred. As an aside, few people like clicking on ads so save your money and spend it on people who will get your page ranked organically.
Design Principles
Modern web design principles have evolved since the nineties, and it is important for a website to be designed by following these basic fundamentals:
Contrast
Do not be afraid of white space. Contrast grabs the eyeball and makes text and imagery stand out. The black and white minimalist look is also quite popular these days for that reason.
Alignment
Have you ever seen a crooked picture frame at someone’s house and it offended you on a moral level and you instinctively had to fix it? Alignment of words and images is important because if they are off center or out of alignment it messes with people’s vision and looks terrible. Alignment also matters with grouping. In modern design, you do not centralize an image and text like one would see in a garage sale flyer as it looks busy and clustered.
Repetition
Repetition is not just using the same words over and over again, but rather it refers to making sure a message can be read one way, and only one way. For example, if a page is talking about the best burgers in St. Petersburg the word burger should be repeated throughout and if product or meat is used it may cause unnecessary confusion in the reader.
Ease-In Page Navigation
Lastly, it’s important that in modern web design the website actually be intuitive to navigate. Nothing aggravates the end user, except for maybe the font Comic Sans, than an unintuitive navigation interface. Pages should be intuitively labeled, and the information that one is looking for should be easy to be found. For example, in the previous example of burger places in St. Petersburg it should not be more than a click to find out how much burgers are, or where the phone number of the restaurant is to make a reservation.
You are now better equipped to understand modern design, and if you’re in the St. Petersburg area and are looking for the best in web design, call Strategic Media at 727.531.7622 today!