When it comes to web design, the saying ‘less is more’ could not be truer. Simplicity is key, as it provides an all-around easier to use design for the user, helps to reduce confusion with navigation, and makes the website look sleek and professional. In turn this can help to produce more of your desired results – for example, more signups, better sales of products, and visitors staying on your site for longer. But, what if whatever you do, you simply can’t get the sleek, simple, minimalist looking result that you desire. There’s no need to worry as by following some simple steps, you’ll be able to simplify your website and start seeing results. Here are some tips.
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Focus on the Essentials
There are a number of cool elements that can be added to websites that aren’t absolutely necessary and can often cause a cluttered looking interface if overused or not used correctly. Unfortunately, many web designers fall foul to these features, thinking that by adding them, the website will look better – a result that is not always the case. This is why when designing a simple website, any good web designer (such as those at Sioux Falls web design) will tell you that you should concentrate only on the bare essentials. The 80-20 rule is a great way to go about achieving this result. When designing your site, focus on the 20% that is delivering 80% of usefulness – this could be reviews, media badges, an online store button, or a subscribe form. The fewer distractions there are on your website, the better chance it has of doing well.
Less Pages
The more pages that your website has, the harder it will be to navigate around, meaning that many users might be put off visiting or staying on your page for long. Having fewer places to explore and less clicks is a key element of simplifying your website design, and you can do this by either merging multiple pages into one, or trimming away pages that aren’t absolutely needed. A great way to do this is to imagine that you are the customer – if you visited your website, what would be the key things that you’re looking to do? Once you’ve determined what it is that your customers want to find out when they visit your site, you’ll know which pages to keep, and which can go.
Limit Colors
With so many color choices out there, it’s easy to see why many web designers can get carried away when designing the color scheme of a site. However, using too many colors can simply become a distraction, so it’s important to choose no more than two or three complimenting colors to keep your website looking sleek and simple. Using different shades of the same color, for example, light blue and dark blue, adds more subtlety to your site.
If you’re a web designer who’d like to add any tips to the above list, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.
