If you want your business to get the attention it needs to succeed online, you’ll need to make sure you use all of the best web design practices. However, these practices can change over time, so it’s not uncommon for a site to become outdated every few years.
If you’re ready to improve your site, you’ll want to make sure you know about these five best web design practices. These tips and trends can help ensure your success, so keep reading!
1. Design for Mobile First
You must design your website for mobile users first since they make up most of the internet. It will never gain traction if your site doesn’t run well on mobile devices. According to Statista, mobile devices make up 54.5% of all website traffic worldwide! This number will also continue to grow well into 2022.
When you design a site for mobile-first, you know that you’ll immediately have access to a large audience. However, it’s more challenging to design for a smartphone than a computer since you have less screen space to work with.
That also means it’s generally easier to make a site with mobile devices in mind instead of making one for PC screens, then transitioning it to work with smartphones. The limited screen space also ensures that designers make a clear, easy-to-understand website format right from the start.Â
If you’re unsure how to do this, an Atlanta web design agency can help you through the process. These experts know how to make their sites mobile efficiently, so you won’t have to stress out about it.
Overall, you must consider mobile users when updating your sites in 2022. We’d have to say that this is the most important web design practice right now. If you follow it closely, many other design practices will naturally fall into place- so don’t skip it!
2. Include More Accessibility
Adding more accessibility to your designs ensures more people can interact with your site. People appreciate when a website is accessible, so you’ll want to ensure you always use the best accessibility practices.Â
There are a few different ways that you can do this. You’ll want to combine these two primary methods to make an accessible website with a great design:
Easy-To-Read Text
The text on your website must be easy to read. Most people will give up if they can’t find what they’re looking for immediately. Plus, the easy-to-read text means those with visual disabilities are more likely to have an easier time accessing your website.
You can increase readability by using simple, clear fonts and contrasting colors. When the text contrasts the background well, it’s much easier to read!
Use Keyboard Navigation Practices
Including keyboard navigation practices allows those with visual or motor disabilities to navigate your website. They can use the keys on their keyboard to scroll through buttons, text, and links when you include this practice in your design.
3. Include Strong Brand Identity
Brand identity has always been a huge part of website design. However, it’s more important now in 2022 than ever before to have consistent branding. There are millions of websites out there- you want your audience to be able to recognize and clearly remember yours with ease.
Your branding should include a consistent logo, color theme, and imagery. Plus, typography is also very important. Even the consistency of the language that you use can impact your website. You’ll have to build a recognizable voice unique to your brand.
As a web design practice, the sooner you implement brand identity, the better. Working on your website is easier when you already have an established tone and visual theme.
Overall, a strong brand identity has always been important, but it’s also still an essential element this year.Â
4. Integrate SEOÂ
You’ll want to make sure that you also work on integrating search engine optimization, or SEO, into your design. This practice can help your site land a high-ranking spot on search engine results pages. You’ll naturally get more traffic to the site when that happens, so it should be one of your main goals this year.Â
You can use keywords on your site by mixing them with the rest of your written content for the best results. Here are a few other important elements you’ll want to include in your website to boost SEO.Â
- Responsive web design
- Relevant links from optimized websites
- Short and descriptive URLs
- Relevant header tag or the title (H1 header)
- Good meta descriptions on posts
Integrating SEO becomes natural the more often you do it. Don’t forget that SEO also revolves around making high-quality pages!
5. Use Clear Visuals
Finally, you’ll want to use clear, understandable visuals. Images give your viewers more context and better help you to convey your message. Many people browsing the web also want images to break up the text. Otherwise, it can be too boring for them to read, so they lose interest.
Organizing your text well and using images to break it up is very helpful with audience retention. You can successfully incorporate photos, illustrations, product images, videos, and more. If you can’t make high-quality visuals on your own, it’d be a good idea for you to contact a web design agency in your area.
Clear visuals also work best when you use a structured hierarchy- the most important images draw attention to them. Your viewers will naturally understand where to look when you use a hierarchy. This practice has plenty of benefits!
Keep Your Website Updated
To summarize, there are five key practices you’ll want to use to keep your website up-to-date this year. These include designing for mobile, adding more accessibility features, using a good brand identity, integrating SEO, and using clear visuals.Â
If you can do all that, your site will surely experience heavy growth this year! It sounds overwhelming, so just take it one step at a time. And don’t forget that quality web design agencies are waiting to help you make the website possible.
